Saving Gaia is Back

The third season of the Saving Gaia documentary series will be shown on ChannelNewsAsia starting every Mon from June 1 at 8:31pm (Singapore time) with repeats on Mon 11:31pm, Tues 1:32pm and Wed 5:32pm.

This season’s focus is on Asia’s simple green solutions. Episode 1 is on:

Would you study in a school made out of paper? Or would you use paper made from elephant dung? Sometimes the answer lies in the unexpected, or the simplest of ideas.

The Saving Gaia website is not updated so there’s not much details about the new series nor any new provocative advertisement.

Launch of Low Carbon Singapore

Green Future Solutions is launching our 5th website, Low Carbon Singapore, today.

Low Carbon Singapore is an online community dedicated to help Singapore reduce her carbon emissions and move towards the goal of a low carbon economy. Our aim is to educate individuals, communities, businesses and organisations on issues relating to climate change, global warming and clean energy, and to help them take action and reduce their carbon footprint through useful information, news, tips and resources.

Do take some time to browse around our site at http://www.lowcarbonsg.com. If you have any suggestions to make the site better or to report any bugs, do let us know. Thanks.

Global Opinion Survey on Japan’s GHG Emission Reduction Targets for 2020

This is a call to participate in a global online survey from our friends at Japan for Sustainability.

In preparation for the Copenhagen meeting (COP15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change at the end of 2009, Japan is currently engaged in debate about the country’s medium-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (for the period 2013 to 2020).

After considering public opinion and various other views, Prime Minister Taro Aso will decide on the medium-term targets this June. While environmental NGOs are calling for major emission reductions, industry is making a strong appeal for targets that will not lead to big reductions. A large gap in their positions persists.

Japan that will set its own national medium-term targets, but we at Japan for Sustainability (JFS) would like to ask people around the world for their comments, and then share our findings with Prime Minister Aso and the media here. Please take a few moments of your time to review the background and options being debated (below), then tell us what you think.

http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028987.html

Please reply by the end of the day, May 16, 2009. If you have any questions about this survey, please write to info@japanfs.org.

We will post our findings on the JFS website at the end of May. We very much appreciate your help!

3 Responses to the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint

The Sustainable Singapore blueprint report, “A Lively and Liveable Singapore: Strategies for Sustainable Growth”, was published last week by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development (IMCSD). The strategies in the report were based on the rationale of “The Singapore Way”, which is described as follows:

For Singapore, sustainable development means achieving both a more dynamic economy and a better quality living environment, for Singaporeans now and in the future.

We need the economy to grow. This creates jobs, raises our standard of living, and yields the resources that we need to safeguard our environment. But we must grow in a sustainable way, or else a high GDP per capita will be achieved at the expense of our overall quality of life, and cannot be maintained over the longer term. Protecting our environment safeguards a high standard of public health for our people, and makes our city attractive to Singaporeans and foreigners alike.

We think there are probably three different responses to the Sustainable Singapore blueprint report.

Well Done and Pragmatic

One response from the group of people who accept and agree to “The Singapore Way” is that the IMCSD has done a commendable job in coming up with the recommendations and strategies for making Singapore a lively and liveable global city in 2030. Among many other strategies in the blueprint, Singapore would:

• Reduce our energy intensity (per dollar GDP) by 35% from 2005 levels by 2030
• Improve our recycling rate from 56% in 2008 to 70% in 2030
• Reduce total domestic water consumption from 156 litres per capita per day in 2008 to 140 litres per capita per day by 2030
• Target 80% of our existing building stock (by GFA) to achieve at least Green Mark Certified rating (minimum level of energy efficiency) by 2030
• Reduce energy consumption in the common areas of new estates and mature estates by 20% and 30% respectively
• Implement a large-scale solar test-bed for public housing spanning 30 precincts islandwide
• Achieve a modal share of 70% of journeys made during morning peak hours via public transport by 2020
• Provide 0.8ha of park land per 1,000 persons by 2030
• Implement a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to research, document and conserve biodiversity in Singapore
• Develop a City Biodiversity Index with international partners to promote biodiversity conservation efforts among cities globally

They applaud the comprehensive policies and bold targets to reduce energy and water consumption, reduce waste generation, increase green spaces and biodiversity, reduce business costs and increase R&D.

Although there is no mention of carbon reduction targets, it is understandable to them as according to “The Singapore Way”, the government will not increase business or household costs, and jeopardise our economic competitiveness. Singapore will be pragmatic.

It’s the Environment, Stupid

The second response is from a group of people who do not really agree with “The Singapore Way” because it seems that economic growth is taken as the central goal with the environment playing a supporting role. This is what they believe:

We see [today] a society and a Government whose primary objective is still the achievement of economic growth as conventionally understood and measured, with as much social justice and environmental protection as can be reconciled with that central goal. We envisage a society whose primary goal should be the wellbeing of society itself and of the planetary resources and environment that sustains us all, with economic objectives shaped to support that central goal rather than the other way around. – Blueprint for a Green Economy, Quality of Life Policy Group

They want to see policies that benefit the environment and society in the long run, even if some costs are incurred in the short-term. They hope to see a focus in the qualitative and not quantitative improvement of lives. They are not saying that we should return to caves and stop the economy, they are just trying to bring a greater focus back to the environment, which is actually sustaining the economy rather than the other way round.

No Comments

The third response is a non-response from the group of people who are not interested in a sustainable Singapore, or the group that are more concerned about other issues like Aware, swine flu and the rojak food poisoning, or the group of people who don’t care what the government has to say on anything.

What’s your response to the Sustainable Singapore blueprint that will guide us till 2030?

Image credit: Wordle.

Repeat Telecast of So Simple 2

If you missed the the Chinese TV programme, So Simple 2, shown on Channel U last year, there’s a repeat telecast every Sunday, 11.30am on Channel U (starting today). So Simple 2 is about Peifen’s journey in Australia, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, and her thoughts on simplicity, DIY, LOHAS, eco-friendly, travelling and following your dream. Worth watching for the interesting people and places, beautiful scenery and shots, good editing and a pretty host.