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Published on 29 June 2015 Thailand
Permanent Secretary of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry Kasemsun Chinnavaso revealed after attending the meeting that the country’s intention would be proposed to the High-Level Event on Climate Change to be held at United Nations headquarters in New York, the U.S. on June 29th. According to him, Thailand has already achieved a 12% reduction in the gas emission though it is not on…
Published on 29 June 2015 Global
The report, published in the Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, explores the state of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Pacific island countries and the projected climatic variations. “Our goal is to understand the current state with regards to water and sanitation in remote rural communities and overlay our understanding of what climate change is going to do in these…
Published on 29 June 2015 Philippines
Rep. Francisco T. Matugas (1st District, Surigao Del Norte), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said House Bill 5845 authored by Rep. Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica (4th District, Bulacan) shortens the process of reverting the unutilized fishponds to forestlands, which could spur socioeconomic development in the countryside. Villarica said the bill amends Section 43 of Presidential Decree 705, otherwise known as the…
Published on 29 June 2015 Thailand
The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a natural fluctuation of ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that can give rise to El Niño and La Niña, which drive droughts and floods from South East Asia and Australia to the Americas. Financing needs for climate change adaptation -- efforts to adjust to extreme weather and rising seas -- are estimated at tens of billions of dollars…
Published on 26 June 2015 Global
Now, environmental experts are suggesting that some parts of the strategy are, at best, a waste of MONEY and time. At worst, they are setting the United States in the wrong direction entirely. That is the view of some of the world’s top environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club. On Tuesday, they argued in a letter to the…
Published on 26 June 2015 Indonesia
While the amount is small, the move is not an insignificant one. The ICCTF, one of the few national trust funds of its kind, pools and manages funds from different sources to finance Indonesian climate change programs and policies. While the ICCTF could serve as a model for other developing countries looking to secure international support for their climate change programs, its actual progress…
Published on 26 June 2015 Singapore
Engineers design, operate and maintain the infrastructure, housing and transport networks that we all depend on daily. As cities continue to develop, new engineering solutions are needed to address constraints posed by the physical environment and the changing climate. As a small city-state that has built itself to a world-class standing in less than 40 years and gained significant know-how in sustainable urban engineering…
Published on 26 June 2015 Philippines
Combined with rising inequality, the two forces could make the more equal distribution of the fruits of economic growth a "distant goal" for the world's most populous region, where 700 million people — two thirds of the world's poor — still wallow in poverty. "In one country after another, climate change frequently threatens to offset decades of gains in poverty reduction," the report said…
Published on 26 June 2015 Indonesia
“Indonesia has a key role in future discussions, as a country that is geographically unique with a number of islands, climate regimes, and ocean conditions,” Stocker said on Tuesday. The comments come as anticipation grows ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Paris this November. Nations that signed the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change…
Published on 23 June 2015 Feature
This poster exhibits a study that uses Geographic Information System (GIS) to characterize social vulnerability to climate-related hazards of barangays of Tacloban City and Ormoc City using a modified social vulnerability index (SoVI). Source: OML Center 
Published on 23 June 2015 Global
Almost a tenth of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water, and a third to the most basic sanitation. The International Monetary Fund has now pinpointed one of the root causes - the widespread use of subsidies when governments artificially lower the cost of providing water. David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund, said: "What that…
Published on 23 June 2015 Indonesia
“El Niño may get stronger as the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere climbs,” Cobb said. Scientific data shows that the level of CO² concentration in our atmosphere has been soaring for the past 10 years to an unprecedented 400 parts per million. As in previous years, this year we are on the verge of experiencing El Niño. The US National Oceanic and…
Published on 23 June 2015 Singapore
"Taxi drivers can now quickly recharge for the next part of their shifts during a break," say the creators TUM create -- a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Germany's Technische Universitat München -- on their website. According to TUM Create, taxis make up less than 3% of the vehicle population in Singapore, yet account for 15% of the total distance covered by…
Published on 23 June 2015 Cambodia
Large swaths of forest can act as a carbon sink, pulling CO2, a major greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere. But Cambodia has seen a steady decline of its forest cover in recent decades, as commercial development and illegal logging continue. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, EU Ambassador Jean Francois Cautain said the Cambodian government should allow local communities to protect the last 2 million hectares…
Published on 16 June 2015 Feature
It’s located near the equator, meaning temperature increases will be most felt in the region. ASEAN countries lie near the Pacific Ocean, a major generator of strong typhoons. Several parts of Southeast Asia are also low-lying, making them vulnerable to sea level rise. International development group Oxfam recently published a report on how climate change will affect food security and economy in ASEAN. Here…
Published on 16 June 2015 Philippines
On Tuesday, June 9, the Senate committee on climate change discussed the Philippines’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), a list of “post-2020 climate actions” that will help countries achieve the international goal of keeping global warming below 2°C. The goal was agreed upon in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) of 1992. Before the Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris in…
Published on 16 June 2015 Vietnam
Vietnam is the first market in Asia to introduce EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), which enables buildings to reduce energy and water consumption by 20 per cent and lower greenhouse-gas emissions. SGS Vietnam, which is partnering with the IFC to offer EDGE certification, said that over the next six years 20 per cent of new construction projects, equivalent to 70,000 housing units…
Published on 16 June 2015 Myanmar
"Myanmar is very sensitive to climate change. It has suffered the most from climate change in the Asia Pacific region. If Myanmar does not deal with the situation immediately, it will suffer more in the future," he said. "Myanmar has been facing danger in the form of cyclones, flooding, heavy rainfall, hot weather and intense heat for six decades due to its geographical location…
Published on 16 June 2015 Global
“Developing countries need to think ahead and prepare for the effects of climate change without compromising urbanization and economic growth,” says Jai-Ho Oh, atmospheric science professor at Seoul National University, who explained the system at a session of the 9th World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul. The technology, which is expected to be fully operational by 2019, requires the development of micro-weather…
Published on 16 June 2015 Cambodia
The project will last three years and be implemented in both Cambodia and Nepal, with each country allocated $3 million. “Drought and flood are the two biggest constraints to rice production,” IRRI representative Dule Zhao told the Post yesterday. “Now that we have a lot of flooding problems, if the [seed] variety we are using is not stress tolerant then the damage will be…
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