Perspective

No to sustainable development
June 20, 2012
It is, of course, a rhetorical question. The plan to hold this year's United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro has been underway for years. However, were the Earth Summit to be held in the capital city of the US state of Alabama from mid-September onwards, any delegates without diplomatic passports might be a little concerned by the implications of Alabama Senate Bill 477. It was signed into law by the state's governor last week and comes into effect three months later, having been unanimously whisked through both chambers of Alabama's legislature in the space of six weeks.
Plasticity Forum Rio
June 18, 2012
The Rio+20 Earth Summit begins in two days time. It provides a platform for world leaders, the private sector, NGOs, campaign groups and many others to come together to discuss how to develop a green economy, how to eradicate poverty and what an institutional framework for sustainable development would look like. For the third Earth Summit (the 2nd was in Johannesburg 10 years ago) there are seven priority areas: decent jobs, energy, building sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness. That’s a lot to cover in three days.
The Blue House in Hong Kong's Wanchai District
June 15, 2012
The social value of a place has not always been a strong basis for heritage conservation in Hong Kong but a sea of change could be on the horizon. The destruction of some of Hong Kong’s most iconic heritage in the past decade – such as the Central Star Ferry Terminal, Queen’s Pier, and Lee Tung (Wedding Card) Street – created a public uproar. It created recognition that certain places have meaning to society as a whole while Hong Kong government processes have been inadequate in engaging the public to identify the value of such heritage sites. Vocal opposition and resentment generated at the time represented a strong endorsement of social views on heritage issues.
Maoist revolutionary Chinese coal miners
June 13, 2012
The latest round of figures on global greenhouse gas emissions makes depressing reading. Last month the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that, after a 3.2 percent rise of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) emission to 31.6 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2011, the world is running out of time to prevent catastrophic climate change. "When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (by 2050), which would have devastating consequences for the planet," Fatih Birol, IEA's chief economist told Reuters.
Hong Kong container port at night
June 05, 2012
It is now widely accepted around the world that shipping emissions need to be tightly regulated in order to protect public health. Various types of port-related equipment and activities, such as cargo handling machinery and trucking goods to and from ports, also generate pollution. Research shows that, in Hong Kong, the combined emissions from ships and port activity are a significant source of pollution that directly affects some 3.8 million people. The city’s shipping and port management stakeholders have been most active in working with local authorities to define a path towards tighter regulation, and have made progress in reducing emissions.
Time to vaccinate the environment
May 28, 2012
The environment is a closely related organism, rather like human beings. In modern medicine, what contribute the most to human health are not advanced diagnostic methods, nor the invention of a variety of cure, but the creation and practice of preventive medicine. Ancient Chinese physicians called preventive medicine "cure before it develops into a disease" (“治未病”). There was a saying: "After a symptom develops into a disease, to treat it, is like trying to dig a well when you are dying from thirsty. It would be too late
Plastic bag protest in the Philippines
May 22, 2012
Cities in a number of Asian countries, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, are currently on the warpath against plastic shopping bags. The cities have passed local laws that ban such bags, on the basis that they clog sewers and drainage canals, cause street flooding, choke animals and are responsible for other forms of environmental damage. China and Taiwan, for example, impose heavy fines on violators. Other countries are appealing for a switch to the production and use of biodegradable bags.
Runnning toward sustainability
May 21, 2012
Avoiding the accusation of greenwashing is not easy for businesses. How do we judge whether a business is truly interested in reducing its carbon emissions and waste, or just wanting to look as if they are doing so? One way is to look at what community events a business supports. Running is a popular sport worldwide, with millions of people taking part in marathons all over the globe. These races need sponsors and race organisers across the world are trying to make their events greener. Sponsorship can help race organizers introduce green measures to their races and in turn, helps the sponsor become aligned with enabling sustainability education and action in the community.
Shanghai skyline
May 17, 2012
The move this week by the US Consulate in Shanghai to monitor and publish the level of fine particulate matter, less than two microns in diameter (PM2.5), in the air around its office has caused a certain amount of confusion and consternation among local residents and officials. The US diplomats are in part to blame for this because, although their measurements are no doubt sound, their data presentation in somewhat misleading. Following in the footsteps of the country’s embassy in Beijing, the Shanghai consulate now publishes the concentration of PM2.5 in micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3) on an hourly basis and also publishes the average over the previous 24 hours at noon and midnight each day.
Bird's eye view of HK International Airport
May 13, 2012
On Monday 23 April 2012 the Environmental Affairs Panel of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) passed a motion requiring the Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) to conduct a social return on investment (SROI) study, a carbon audit and a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in addition to the statutory environmental impact assessment (EIA) which they must conduct in order to secure approval to build a proposed third runway at Hong Kong International Airport. This decision is significant because plans to add a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport were shelved largely because a SROI study showed that the impacts on residents living near the airport outweighed the economic benefits highlighted in the original proposals.
A more sucessful example of urban renewal
May 07, 2012
In many Asian cities thriving quarters are progressively being stripped of their distinctive street life. Market pressure is forcing out older residents and local shop-owners, typically in places that have been earmarked for prime real estate development due to their central, high-traffic location. No where is this more visible and dispiriting than in Hong Kong’s older districts. The confluence of Hong Kong's high post-war population growth, limited space for development and the urban design resulted in the development of areas that are socially vibrant and commercially diverse. Today these are situated in older districts where many buildings have become dilapidated, threatening their ability to support the residents within, as well as the street activity on their doorstep.
Uranium ore
May 02, 2012
India’s Forest and Environment Ministry has given clearance to Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), a Government of India enterprise, to start open-cast uranium mining in Meghalaya, a mountainous and ecologically fragile province in north-east India. The clearance comes despite decades of opposition to uranium exploration and mining in the province by locals claiming to be victims of radiation and toxic waste resulting from exploratory drillings by UCIL. The most recent anti-mining protests were triggered by the large-scale death of fish in the Ranikor River, allegedly from toxic waste caused by drilling and dumping into the river but local government authorities ruled out radiation poisoning as the cause.
Gate of Heavenly Peace in the smog
April 25, 2012
China’s air quality is bad – everyone knows that. We should not, however, ignore the fact that China is moving ahead in air quality management very quickly, and we should not confuse achievement with what it still has to do. China is doing a lot of the right things although there is a long way to go. After all, it took the US some forty years to set standards and develop its sophisticated regulatory system. China’s 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015) has specific air pollutant reduction targets to fulfill. Bowing to public pressure, in March 2012 the Chinese government tightened air quality standards and published a phasing-in timetable nationwide.
Green shipping in the Pear River Delta
April 19, 2012
Good news – momentum is building to reduce ship emissions in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Last month, Shenzhen Municipal Human Settlements and Environment Commission informally stated that reducing emissions from ship and port activities will be a primary area of focus this year
Deng Xiaoping eyes China's ecological destrution
April 13, 2012
China's environment is sick, suffering not just a single, isolated disease but widespread epidemics. This is indisputable. And no matter how thoroughly we analyse individual causes, it is clear that without fixing its ill-fated development model, China will be forever chasing its pollution problem and will never get ahead of it. The country is once again in urgent need of an emancipated mind-set, redefining the concept of development to address today's conditions and to bring order out of chaos.
China solar brands
March 30, 2012
March saw a flurry of news whipping around China's solar sector, with most of the focus on the news of the United States Commerce Department's decision to impose duties on Chinese solar panel imports. But a report from Digitimes says Chinese customs' figures show that the country's polysilicon imports in February were up 62.6 percent on January and an incredible 129.6 percent over a year. While these figures reflect only one aspect of the wide-ranging, multi-product solar industry, they indicate a degree of disarray and which is also reflected in the financial results of China's manufacturers.
Congestion charging
March 16, 2012
Shenzhen, which trails only Beijing within China in terms of the number of vehicles it has on its streets, recently announced plans to launch a congestion charge in 2016. Shenzhen has 2 million registered vehicles; five years ago it had one million and its maximum capacity is thought to be 2.1 million vehicles. According to Shenzhen’s traffic bureau the city’s vehicle density is the highest in China, with 300 vehicles for every kilometer of road.
An enthusiastic crowd of nulear engineers
March 08, 2012
It’s silly season in China again; that time (which elsewhere in the world coincides with national legislatures going into recess for the summer) when the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) get together for their annual two-week hoedown. CPCC members, taking up their advisory role on the national stage, seem particularly “full of notions”, as my grandmother was fond of saying. For example Chen Bingde, chief engineer of Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC) and a member of the CPPCC National Committee told China Daily on Saturday that: "In the near future, nuclear plants can be built right next to cities."
Urban well-being
March 07, 2012
People have grown accustomed to believing that the gross domestic product (GDP) is what really matters; that it could be used to demonstrate a society’s well-being. It was, however, never created with this intent. Simply, GDP measures the amount of money that changes hands, but how much we have in our pockets does not adequately tell us how well we are doing, in all the dimensions of our lives.
The EU will get to grips with shipping emissions
March 06, 2012
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) could soon find itself in the same predicament as its aviation counterpart in trying to fend-off European Union regulation on greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation is responsible for 40 percent of the value of internationally traded freight but 90 percent of the world’s traded goods are transported by ocean-going vessels - making the trade implications of an EU move far wider.