Harvested News

The Covid-19 pandemic is a silent reminder that we are at a tipping point of two of the world's greatest yet invisible enemies — climate change and biodiversity loss. The three global challenges are interlinked. Some researchers are suggesting a link between humanity's destruction of biodiversity and the conditions conducive for new viruses and diseases such as Covid-19 that were once contained in the wild.…

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) said on Tuesday that the Philippines needs to preserve now more than ever its coastal and marine resources to protect its valuable contribution in the field of medicine and providing services for the health sector. “The public should give preferential attention in reinforcing, observing, and developing coastal and marine activities to facilitate the conservation, rehabilitation, and sustainable management of the…

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$300 million loan for state-owned geothermal energy company PT Geo Dipa Energi (GDE) to expand its geothermal power generation capacity. GDE will receive an additional $35 million loan from the Clean Technology Fund for the project managed also by the ADB, the bank announced on Thursday. The company will use the loan to increase its generation capacity…

When Vietnam takes over the ASEAN chairmanship in 2020, the country outlined five priorities to be executed throughout the year. Among all, strengthening the institutional capacity of ASEAN and leveraging the Industrial Revolution 4.0 to address inequality, are the most challenging goals to be realized within a year. Other scholars such as David Hutt, meanwhile, even pointed out that Vietnam’s most important goal is to secure a united…

A new study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that mangrove deforestation in Myanmar is taking place at a faster rate than previously estimated. The NUS study, led by Edward Webb and Jose Don De Alban and published online in Environmental Research Letters on March 3, found that between 1996 – 2016 more than 60 per cent of all mangroves in Myanmar had been permanently or…

Shortages in key commodities have been reported in most of Indonesia’s 34 provinces as the nation copes with the double whammy of the coronavirus outbreak causing supply chain disruption and a dry spell hurting harvests. Garlic, sugar, chili and chicken eggs are in short supply in more than 20 provinces, while rice, a staple food for Indonesians, is in deficit in seven provinces across the…

Timor-Leste—also known as East Timor–is one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia.  It was the center of the world’s attention around the turn of the millennium when, having been occupied by its powerful neighbor Indonesia for almost a quarter of a century, its citizens overwhelming voted for independence through a UN organized referendum in 1999.  In 2002, Timor-Leste formally became the first independent…

From where they're grown to how they taste to when we eat them, very little will stay the same in coming decades. Climate change threatens many of the world's favorite foods. A writeup in National Geographic's Earth Day 2020 magazine by Daniel Stone lists seven "charismatic foods" that we can expect to "morph in appearance, nutritional value, availability, and price as growing regions shift and…

MANILA, Philippines — State weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) recorded blisteringly high temperatures in several stations across the country throughout the weekend. Warning of possible heat cramps, exhaustion, and even stroke, Pagasa reminded the general public to regularly drink water and reduce physical activity during midday to prevent heat stress. "The air temperature in Echague, Isabela reached 40.1°C yesterday, May 9. It…

Members of Cornell’s Humphrey Fellowship Program shared stories of struggle and hope as their countries grapple with climate change during “Global Climate Stories,” an April 22 webinar marking the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Read more.

Today's novel coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the globe. The pandemic has rapidly uprooted life as we know it and left countries across the world scrambling to contain the outbreaks. In just a few short months, billions of people have become jobless, ill, or had their lives significantly disrupted. But this might not be the only infectious disease we'll have to battle in our lifetimes. According to research from…

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala Corp. announced Monday it will fully offload its investments in coal-fired power developments by 2030, joining other big companies around the globe in shifting away from projects that contribute to climate change. The oldest Philippine conglomerate’s energy unit, AC Energy Philippines, is “making a commitment to transition to a lower-carbon portfolio by rebalancing our generation portfolio to grow our renewable energy assets,” Fernando…

Young people questioned by police after sharing photos of themselves criticizing oil companies on social media. On 13 March, Wong J-min skipped school and headed to a glass-walled tower at the Harbourfront complex on Singapore's west coast.  While her peers sat in their classrooms, the 18-year-old posed for a series of photos before the building housing ExxonMobil's Singapore office, holding up messages scrawled on pieces…

The internet has deemed 2020 canceled. And now everyone's looking for a silver lining. But you know what's not a silver lining of this pandemic? Fixing the climate crisis. We haven't fixed it, aren't fixing it, and the way we're talking about all of this is gross. You've probably seen these headlines — that air pollution and heat-trapping emissions appear to be down as the…

Ecosia, a not-for-profit search engine that uses ad generated revenue to fund planting trees, is set to get a visibility boost in Chrome. A change Google is making to its chromium engine will see it added as a default search engine choice in up to 47 markets for the version 81 release of Google’s web browser. Ecosia will soon be included on Chrome’s default search…

Deputy Speaker and Antique lone district Rep. Loren Legarda is pushing for the establishment of edible landscapes and community gardens to help lessen the impact of climate change. She urged the national government agencies, local governments, businesses, offices, industries, and households to set up community gardens and edible landscapes “to help ensure food supply and ecosystem services.” “For a climate-vulnerable and developing country like the…

According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2020, Myanmar has had the highest weather-related losses in the past two decades, alongside Puerto Rico and Haiti. It is said that Myanmar is also one of the most vulnerable countries at risk of the climate crisis. The consequences of climate change can be seen around the world, with natural disasters and rising sea levels headlining global news.…

Four out of five Malaysian students (79 percent) who responded to the Cambridge Assessment International Education survey revealed that they would like to pursue a career that allows them to make a positive contribution towards solving a pressing global issue. The study also found that more than three quarters (77 percent) of the respondents said they would consider a potential employer’s attitude towards their most…

WHEN Malaysia ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016, it joined world efforts in keeping the global temperature rise well below 2°C and to limit the warming even further to 1.5 degrees celcius. This also implies the country is committed to reducing national emissions and adapting climate change impacts. Such climate actions are known as Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Malaysia set its first NDC target “to…

Myanmar is the second country in the world most affected by climate change since the beginning of the 21st century. Deforestation rate was the third-highest in the world after Brazil and Indonesia in 2015. Between 1990 and 2015, 10 million hectares of forest area were lost (FAO 2015). Rangoon is one of those world cities that could disappear under rising sea levels. Irrawaddy river is…