Southeast Asia

Source: AquaNow.info | 2 July 2018…

Extreme weather has pushed intense storms and floods further inland because of rising seas levels, be it in Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam, and produced deadlier heatwaves like the recent ones in China and India—and the dry spells in 2014 and 2015 that threatened Singapore’s reservoir levels. Southeast Asia has built capabilities and infrastructure for disaster management over the years. But climate change has raised the…

Found in coastal waters all over the world, apart from at the poles, seagrasses play a part in mitigating climate change by burying carbon under the seabed for up to thousands of years. Such carbon, stored in coastal ecosystems like seagrass meadows, is often referred to as blue carbon. And this potent ability to mitigate climate change is helping to drive conservation efforts for seagrass…

The change could be particularly dire in southeast Asia where rice is a major part of the daily diet, said the report in the journal Science Advances. "We are showing that global warming, climate change and particularly greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide -- can have an impact on the nutrient content of plants we eat," said co-author Adam Drewnowski, a professor of epidemiology at the…

One of these was Leyte’s Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), which had not been built to withstand a signal number 4 typhoon, the strongest storm category according to the Philippines’ storm ranking. Learning from that experience, the EVRMC is switching to solar power to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that it will continue to have a supply of much-needed electricity…

The multi-tranche Sustainability Bond, arranged by BNP Paribas (BNPP) and issued by TLFF I Pte Ltd, will fund PT Royal Lestari Utama (RLU), an Indonesian joint venture between France's Michelin and Indonesia's Barito Pacific Group for climate-smart, wildlife friendly, socially inclusive production of natural rubber in Jambi, Sumatra and East Kalimantan provinces. This is the first corporate sustainability bond in Asia and the first sustainability…

Taking their haul back to the family yard, they would spend hours separating the glass bottles, aluminum cans, discarded newspapers, and metal. Seah now employs 350 people to help him run Heng Hiap Industries, one of Malaysia’s top five plastic recycling businesses which process about 40,000 tonnes of waste per year from both domestic and overseas suppliers. “Thirty-five years ago, it was just scavenging -…

Mr. Radha Mohan Singh was brought to a close the fourth ministerial meeting between India and the ASEAN union of Southeast Asian countries. The meeting, which focussed on agriculture and forestry, concluded with a commitment on both sides to prioritize projects that take early action on climate change. A joint statement after the summit stated: “we underscore the importance of addressing climate change as it…

Read article here: https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2017/09/14/seeking-better-solution-countries-need-to-conquer-environmental-degradation-at-all-levels-says-undp/ Source: The Star | 14 September 2017

“With the conservation and management strategies that our respective countries are implementing, I encourage convergence of our research and development efforts for sustainable region-wide mangrove conservation,” Cimatu said in his keynote address at the 2nd Asean Mangrove Congress held in Manila from September 5 to 7. Cimatu said that convergence in mangrove research and development is the key to protecting the region against the devastating…

The Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) signed between the two entities gives ADB access to a new funding source to strengthen climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in Asia and the Pacific. GCF works exclusively with accredited entities to support climate mitigation and adaptation projects and programs. The AMA cements ADB’s accreditation which was approved in March 2015. This enables the multilateral development bank…

The ASEAN Biodiversity Heroes is a program designed to recognize outstanding individuals from the ASEAN region who have contributed significantly to biodiversity conservation and advocacy efforts in their respective countries. From an indigenous community leader who is protecting Papua’s forest to a national scientist who is championing coastal resources management, the inaugural ASEAN Biodiversity Heroes honors inspirational and valiant individuals who have risen to the…

Energy demand is set to double this century, with the world’s population reaching 11 billion, up from 7.5 billion today. As the world changes, so will the energy system that powers it, driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions and — crucially for Asia — tackle air pollution that blights so many lives. Coal is a big contributor to that air pollution. This can…

Read the article here: https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/the-star-says/2017/08/06/do-your-part-to-weather-effects-of-climate-change-too/ Source: The Star Online | 6 August 2017

A CDKN report titled, ‘10 propositions for success: Integrating international climate change commitments into national development planning,’ outlines ways to support the successful integration of NDCs into national development planning. The CDKN report recommends that NDCs be consistent with national development policies, and have broad national support and political backing. The paper offers a set of ten propositions, recommending that, inter alia, NDCs…

Under a business-as-usual scenario, a 6 degree Celsius temperature increase is projected over the Asian landmass by the end of the century. Some countries in the region could experience significantly hotter climates, with temperature increases in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the northwest part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) projected to reach 8 degree Celsius, according to the report, titled A Region at Risk…

The report finds that should the forecast 6C (about 11F) rise in temperature by 2100 occur under a ‘business-as-usual’ approach, countries in the Asia-Pacific region will experience dramatic changes to their agriculture and fisheries sectors, land and marine biodiversity, domestic and regional security, trade, urban development, migration, and health. In a worse case scenario the report warns that drastic changes in the region’s weather system…

A report outlines the dramatic changes Asia-Pacific nations would face if climate change continues unchecked. Here are potential effects in the report. POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC All coral reef systems in Asia-Pacific, such as the Great Barrier Reef, would collapse due to mass coral bleaching with a 4C rise. This could lead to losses of almost $US58 billion in reef-related fisheries…

Climate change could push 122M into extreme poverty: UN 'Philippines a poster child for climate change impact' A continued reliance on fossil fuels will see the world's most populous region face prolonged heat waves, rising sea levels, and changing rainfall patterns that will disrupt the ecosystem, damage livelihoods and possibly even cause wars, it said. "Unabated climate change threatens to undo many of the development…

The first-ever analysis of long-term orangutan population trends revealed a worrying decline, they said. An international team of researchers used a combination of helicopter and ground surveys, interviews with local communities, and modelling techniques to draw a picture of change over the past ten years. Previous counts have largely relied on estimations based on ground and aerial surveys of orangutan nests. Some suggested that Bornean…