Special Report: What's in the Water?
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Of course we know that:
"The Earth is a watery place", according to the US Geological Survey
and various UN agencies. But just how much water exists on, in, and above our planet? About 71% of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the
oceans
hold about 96.5% of all Earth's water. Two of the
UN Sustainability Development Goals - 6 and 14
specifically relate to water - but most of the other 15 goals have important watery connections too. For example,
"Life on Land (15)
doesn't exist without water. Because as we've been known to say and repeat over the years: "Water is Life". So this issue of our 12 year old
ABC Carbon Express
both celebrates water in all its forms and places, and alerts readers to the serious problems facing our sources of water - the oceans and waterways of the world. We also don't hesitate - as ever - to repeat that everything is connected! -
Ken Hickson
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Water is Life - from the Amazon Rainforest and River
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We're been watching and listening, agog wth horror, as the Amazon burns and politicians argue over who should to put out the fires and how to fund the protection of a precious and vital global resource. Besides being a massive carbon sink, the Amazon produces oxygen, water, life and livelihood for millions in South America. The Amazon Rainforest is said to be responsible for as much as 75% of its own rainfall, which feeds the nearby rivers through evapotranspiration. The water from the rivers flows directly into the ocean, maintaining extremely important ocean currents, and thus controlling the regional climate. Amazon River, and its tributaries, supply nourishment to people and farmers in Brazil and neighbouring countries.
Read all about it on Mongabay.
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BBC Reports: Drowning in Plastic
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We were impressed with the BBC Documentary series: "Drowning in Plastic", featuring the work of wildlife biologist Liz Bonnin. She works with some of the world's leading marine biologists and campaigners to discover the true dangers of plastic in our oceans and our waterways. We watched her programme on the
Citarum R
iver in Indonesia.
Here's a link.
We also read a very good article based on a recent report conclusively showing the very important link between ocean/river plastic pollution and the changing climate. Isn't it important to address these connected issues?
See this report on Yale and Climate
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Connecting Climate with Water, Waste, Land, Forests, Buildings, Farming, Food & Energy
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Her protests on Fridays demanding action on climate change have inspired children to demonstrate in some 100 cities. Her admonitions to grown-ups to “tell it like it is” have won her an invitation to speak at the United Nations — and detractors who have called her naïve. Now, after sailing across the Atlantic on an emissions-free yacht, Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, has disembarked in Lower Manhattan ahead of her speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit on 23 September.
Read more in the New York Times.
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Doug Woodring is the Founder and Managing Director of
Ocean Recovery Alliance
, which is focused on bringing innovative solutions, technology, collaborations and policy together to impact positive improvements for the health of the ocean. A champion for cleaning up the ocean, Doug was profiled in our 2013 book "Race for Sustainability" and in 2018 he received the
Prince’s Award for Innovative Philanthropy
by Prince Albert of Monaco. Doug is also a supporter of
Green is the New Black
- in Singapore and Hong Kong - and a genuine Green Warrior.
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Transforming The Way We Build
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The International Built Environment Week (IBEW), being held at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 3 to 6 September 2019, is the most comprehensive event in Asia Pacific on the built environment. Organised by the
Building and Construction Authority (BCA)
and supported by
12 Trade Associations and Chambers
,
the inaugural event has the theme “Transforming The Way We Build”. Bringing together more than 12,000 attendees, the IBEW is an ideal platform for industry leaders and professionals from the global built environment to exchange ideas and experiences on policies, business solutions and technologies, as well as explore business opportunities. To set high standards in Sustainability and
Energy Efficiency Management, the convention and exhibition halls will be set at 50% full lighting during the exhibition build-up days, and 75% full lighting during the event days. Indoor air-conditioning will be set at 24/25 degree Celcius to reduce energy consumption during the event.
For the full programme and speakers go here.
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IBEW site visits on Tuesday 3 September, included Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) by Lendlease. Singapore’s first non-residential building with BCA Green Mark Award (Platinum), adopts a sustainability framework through an integrated approach that encompasses environmental, social and economic performances. MD of PLQ Richard Paine is a speaker at IBEW.
There's more.
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IBEW Diamond sponsor Autodesk already makes its software free to all students and educational institutions so they can have access to the tools they’ll need in their future jobs. Now Autodesk is taking it a step further with a strategic partnership with the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) to provide free access to Autodesk’s newest design technology,
generative design
.
Read more.
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One of the sponsors of IBEW is BBP - Barghest Building Performance - and one of the best examples of its energy optimisation work is what was achieved for LumiLEDs. BBP optimised the central chiller plant efficiency of 0.64 kW/RT by improving its performance by 27%.
You can access the case study here.
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From 4 to 6 September 2019, IBEW 2019 features four co-located trade-shows showcasing the latest innovations and industry solutions: BEX Asia covering the integrated design and planning space, Innobuild (IB) Asia, focusing on construction 4.0, Mostra Convegno Expocomfort (MCE) Asia, zooming in on energy efficient solutions and renewable energy, and Smart Cities and Buildings (SCB) Asia featuring the latest advances in urban solutions and smart cities.
More here.
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Focus on Forests: Watershed Moments
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Tackling the Causes of the Amazon Forest Fires:
We reinforce this report by Professor Andy Lowe in Biodiversity Revolution. He points out that "a key issue for the tropical forest is that clearance for farm land is usually the final act of a resource utilisation cascade; which starts with the selective logging of pristine forest (often illegally undertaken) for high value timber (decking and solid wood products), moves onto broader scale logging for lower value timber (plywood), and finally onto slash and burn clearance for farming". Professor Lowe is a British-Australian scientist and expert on plants and trees, who has served the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime and has been responsible for securing multi-million dollar research funding.
Read more.
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Did you hear about this?
Ecosia.org
is a search engine that plants a tree for every 40 to 50 searches, and it averages about 71 million searches every week. This means that since the company began in 2009, it has planted more than 65 million trees. They are also fully transparent and run their servers on renewable energy. Recently they saw an increase of 1150% downloads in one day as a result of the mainstream media coverage surrounding the Amazon fires. And in response to that, the company is planting an additional one million trees in the Brazilian rainforest.
Celebrating 20 Years of Certified Forests:
Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) started operation in January 1999 as an independent organisation to develop and operate the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) to provide independent assessment of forest management practices. This ensures the sustainable management of Malaysia’s natural forest and forest plantations, as well as meet the demand for certified timber products. The MTCS has been endorsed by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
There's more.
Pushing Boundaries, Advancing Sustainability:
In conjunction with MTCC’s 20th Anniversary Celebration bearing the tagline “Pushing Boundaries Advancing Sustainability,” MTCC is organising a one-day conference on 24 September that seeks to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate the tremendous hard work, improvements and innovative efforts undertaken by forest managers and timber enterprises, enriched by inputs from stakeholders, that have pushed the boundaries and made advancement in meeting the stringent demands of certification in forest management and chain of custody.
Read all about it.
Envisioning the future:
PEFC CEO Ben Gunneberg will be a panelist at the Malaysian conference on 24 September in a session on "Envisioning the future of certification beyond 2030". The dialogue looks at the outlook of certification in the forest industry and timber sector – will certification continue to be relevant in the Fourth Industrial Revolution? What are the key deciding factors, the enabling conditions and quintessential recipes for certification, particularly in the forestry sector? How can certification capitalise on the digital economy and remain credible and effective?
More on Ben and PEFC here.
Trees outside forests:
They are immensely important for rural communities around the world. Millions of people rely on this resource to provide them with food, materials and their livelihoods. If managed sustainably, they can contribute to rural development, food security and reduced poverty – vital Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We find these trees throughout landscapes, from scattered on farms and settlement land, to growing in hedgerows and alongside fields. Often, trees are just one of many crops grown by a farmer or a community. So trees outside forests are immensely important for rural communities around the world.
More from PEFC
Organic honey from the forest:
More than 300 photographers and forest lovers entered their photos in the PEFC annual event, showing humans, animals and handicraft in Uruguay’s forests. With her image Carmen y Giacomo and Alfonsina Pereira won first prize. Taken in the town of Piedras Colorada Paysandú in Uruguay, the image shows the beekeeper Carmen accompanying Giacomo in his first contact with the bees. “Carmen produces organic honey in the forest. Together with other producers in the area, she is in the process of achieving PEFC certification for her honey,” says the photographer.
More here.
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Accreditation in Singapore:
Governments are increasingly supporting industry-led voluntary initiatives – business best practices that provide guidance in areas such as design, products and processes – to avoid spending time to develop requirements or regulations if they are already available in the private sector. An example is the new accreditation programme for the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification’s (PEFC) Chain of Custody Certification.This scheme will not only provide greater support to the industry in meeting the Green Mark requirement for Mass Engineered Timber (PET) to be sourced from sustainably managed forests, but also facilitate recognition and acceptance of certified wood exports to Singapore's key trading partners, who are members of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (e.g. Indonesia, Malaysia, China).
This from the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC).
On 19 September, CEO of PEFC Ben Gunneberg will be in Singapore to acknowledge SAC's recognition of PEFC, as well as speak at a Roundtable/lunch event attended by PEFC stakeholders from the public and private sectors.
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SIEW 2019 Preview:
Accelerating Energy Transformation
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As a Media Partner for SIEW 2019, ABC Carbon Express will do even more than it usually does to preview/promote the event and present stories around the theme "Accelerating Energy Transformation".
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Responsible Business Forum & Award Winners
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Under the theme “Circularity 2030”, Responsible Business Forum 2019 in Singapore will seek commitments to scaling the start-ups, innovations and technologies that will drive the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the circular economy. Five SDGs most directly impacted by circularity will be addressed, those for water, energy, employment, sustainable consumption & production and land & biodiversity. On Tuesday 19 November 2019, an audience of 10,000 next generation leaders in business schools and universities around the world will connect with current leaders from companies, governments, academia and civil society. Together they will explore how circular economy ideas and models could be used to transform businesses, boost future job creation and help societies to achieve the SDGs for 2030.
Learn more about Responsible Business Forum 2019.
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Brands: A Realistic Force for Good
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The judging has been done. The finalists have been selected. Winners will be announced at the Brands For Good 2019 Gala Dinner at Marina By Sands Singapore on Thursday 26 September. Whether you've entered or not, this is a grand opportunity to see and meet all the Brands for Good awards contenders - and the people involved behind the scenes - for this year's awards. To find out more and to register to attend, go to
Brands for Good Singapore.
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Last Word: For Global Good
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Constructing and renovating New Zealand buildings between now and 2050 could pump out climate change pollution equivalent to one million cars on the road every year, a new
report
by New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) has revealed. The report, called
Under Construction: Hidden emissions and untapped potential of buildings for New Zealand’s 2050 zero carbon goal.
Based on publicly available data and information provided by concrete, steel, timber and other sectors, the report suggests that the construction industry could slash emissions by around 1.2 million tonnes of carbon every year – the equivalent of taking almost 500,000 cars off the road.
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After ten years has anything really changed?
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Ten years' ago, in August 2009 to be precise, my book
"The ABC of Carbon"
was published. I spent many weeks/months launching it, talking about it, signing copies at bookstores and being interviewed in media throughout Australia. The quote from Martin Luther King (below) appeared prominently in the introductory section, after statements from Ian Lowe, Tim Flannery, Peter Doherty, Al Gore, Nicholas Stern, Rajendra Pachauri, Stephen Schneider, Ann Henderson-Sellers and Bob Henson. It still ranks as the first - and as far as I know, the only - encyclopaedia of climate change, produced as an ABC learning tool for all ages. I aimed to enhance the communications process on this vital topic by producing
ABC Carbon Express
as an online newsletter/magazine, with this the 236th issue. I have to ask myself - and others - while time has passed, has anything really changed? -
Ken Hickson
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