Lethal Heating: 12/07/20

07/12/2020

The Singaporean Using Nature To Boost The Economy — While Fighting Climate Change

Straits Times - Tee Hun Ching

After 16 years abroad, prominent conservation scientist Koh Lian Pin has returned to tap new areas for growth, to help Singapore emerge from the Covid-19 crisis stronger, and greener

Prominent conservation scientist Professor Koh Lian Pin says “we can aspire to emerge from this Covid-19 crisis stronger — and greener”. PHOTO: NICKY LOH

As countries went under lockdown earlier this year, stories about nature staking its rightful claim on planet Earth brought some cheer to a world spooked by a deadly disease.

Professor Koh Lian Pin, however, was receiving some troubling reports: Desperate, people across Asia and South America were resorting to illegal logging and wildlife poaching as the pandemic pummelled economies worldwide. Their actions put endangered species such as Sumatran tigers, rhinos and orangutans under even greater threat.

“Although there were positive stories about cleaner air and wildlife reclaiming their space, the Covid-19 situation has also resulted in higher impacts on natural ecosystems,” said Prof Koh, who helms the new Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The prominent conservation scientist returned to Singapore in March under a National Research Foundation scheme, after spending 16 years working in institutions across Australia, Switzerland and the United States.

Prof Koh, 44, is well-attuned to the perennial tussle between protecting nature and safeguarding livelihoods.

After all, his job includes weighing the environmental costs of economic growth in crafting approaches that inform Singapore’s policies and decisions on climate challenges.

The worst public health crisis in a century has unleashed a global economic bloodbath. It is hard for people to worry about the planet’s health when they are fretting over their next paycheck.

But while the exact origin of the novel coronavirus remains a mystery, Prof Koh said, “There is little doubt that an important measure to prevent future pandemics is to avoid further destruction and degradation of our natural ecosystems and to reduce our exposure to wild sources and vectors of zoonotic diseases.”

Unsustainable farming, mining and forestry practices often damage and encroach upon nature, driving wildlife into contact with people.

Blueprint for going green

Increasingly, countries are aware that charting a green path forward is critical to their recovery — and the world’s survival.

A New Nature Economy report released in January by the World Economic Forum noted that US$44 trillion (S$55.3 trillion) of economic value generation — or more than half of the world’s total gross domestic product — is moderately or highly dependent on nature.

For instance, factors like a stable climate, clean water and pollination are crucial to the global agriculture sector worth US$2.5 trillion. So prioritising nature’s assets is vital to countries’ economic welfare.

The pandemic, said a follow-up report in July, is a wake-up call for the world to “change the way we eat, live, grow, build and power our lives to achieve a carbon-neutral, ‘nature-positive’ economy and halt biodiversity loss by 2030”.

“Business as usual,” it warned, “is no longer an option.”

Prof Koh, who is part of the Emerging Stronger Taskforce, is helping to draw up the blueprint for Singapore’s green aspirations and economic recovery. PHOTO: NICKY LOH

Singapore is heading in the right direction as it works to rebound from the Covid-19 crisis. It has targeted sustainability as one of the key areas of economic growth, and an industry-led group was tasked by the Emerging Stronger Taskforce in June to quickly develop and execute concepts for this sector.

Other such coalitions — called Alliances for Action — have been set up to do the same for areas including robotics, e-commerce and education technology.

The focus on sustainability, as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, is set to grow in the post-Covid reality. More investors are using ESG criteria to evaluate potential investments, which the Sustainability Alliance sees as a chance for Singapore to develop related solutions and services to meet its own needs as well as global demand.

Prof Koh, a well-known researcher in the field of sustainability and environmental science, is helping to draw up the blueprint for the city-state’s green aspirations. He is part of the Emerging Stronger Taskforce, which was set up in May to guide the country's economic recovery from the pandemic.

Prof Koh on a recce field trip to the Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia in 2017. PHOTO: KOH LIAN PIN

The new centre he heads focuses on harnessing nature to help fight climate change. Solutions include the conservation, restoration and improved management of forests, wetlands and agricultural lands. These strategies allow more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to be absorbed by plants and soils and stored as organic carbon — a process known as carbon sequestration.

Such cost-effective land management strategies, says Prof Koh, can save up to 11 billion tonnes of CO2 a year globally. This works out to nearly 80 per cent of China’s carbon emissions in 2019, which were estimated to be 13.9 billion tonnes.

Singapore as a carbon hub

Reducing the concentration of CO2 — the main greenhouse gas driving global warming — in the atmosphere would help mitigate the effects of climate change and build climate resilience.

With the growing concern over climate change and sustainability, Singapore is also looking to position itself as a carbon services hub in Asia to generate new jobs and economic value.

There is little doubt that an important measure to prevent future pandemics is to avoid further destruction of our natural ecosystems. Prof Koh Lian Pin, 44, Professor of Conservation Science, Technology and Policy in the Department of Biological Sciences, NUS Faculty of Science

These include legal, financial, engineering, research and consultancy services related to the market for carbon credits as more countries and companies seek to offset their carbon footprint.

The Sustainability Alliance has been market-testing various concepts, such as a one-stop solution for companies to measure, mitigate and offset their carbon emissions.

Prof Koh and his team are providing valuable scientific input to this push — nature-based solutions form a vital supply of carbon credits and are fast gaining traction in international policy and business.

They are currently working on several “priority policy-relevant research projects”, which include technology-based mapping, monitoring and verification of the climate mitigation potential and financial returns of such solutions across the region.

Protecting blue carbon ecosystems

For example, they are studying the potential for cities around the world, including Singapore, to contribute to carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation by reforesting pockets of their urban landscape without compromising economic opportunities, housing and other social needs.

The centre is also beefing up its skills, manpower and other resources in areas such as forest restoration and blue carbon, or carbon dioxide captured by the world's oceans and coastal ecosystems.

By early next year, Prof Koh hopes to expand the centre’s headcount from the current 35 researchers and students to 50.

He was last based in Seattle as the vice-president of science partnerships and innovation at Conservation International, a non-profit environmental group.

It is clear from his impressive CV why Singapore has worked to woo him back under the Returning Singaporean Scientists scheme.

Prof Koh also set up ConservationDrones.org, a non-profit organisation that seeks to build and share low-cost drone technology. His work has taken him to places like Chitwan National Park, Nepal, where he trained forest rangers to use drones for park patrol. PHOTO: KOH LIAN PIN

Named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2013, the old boy of Hwa Chong Institution was a Swiss National Science Foundation Professor at ETH Zurich and, later, the Chair of Applied Ecology and Conservation at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

In between publishing journal articles, speaking at global conferences and giving interviews to international press, he also found time to set up ConservationDrones.org. The non-profit organisation seeks to build and share low-cost drone technology with conservation scientists for use in their research work and to raise public awareness of challenges in their fields.

A bumpy homecoming

After an illustrious career overseas, Prof Koh assumed the post of Professor of Conservation Science, Technology and Policy in the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science in April.

His job titles might all be a mouthful. But his motivation for coming home is straightforward: “My desire to make a long-lasting difference and impact to the conservation of our natural environment in Singapore and the region.”

His return in late March coincided with a spike in local Covid-19 cases. Seattle had been hit hard and early, so he and his homemaker wife were no strangers to strict safety measures or stay-home orders.

During Singapore’s circuit breaker, the couple, who live on campus with their two Ragdoll cats, simply adapted by “running around the block for exercise every morning”.

They had met as biology undergraduates at NUS, when he was “helping her with her crow research and she was helping me with my butterfly surveys”. Since the curbs eased, they have resumed their favourite weekend pursuit of going for long walks.

Prof Koh with his wife, Juanita Choo, and their furkids, Mia (left) and Pickle. PHOTO: KOH LIAN PIN

Compared to the scenic lakes and mountain trails they used to explore when living abroad, the options here must seem woefully limited. But they have discovered other ways to get their nature fix. Prof Koh’s latest hobby is aquascaping, the art of decorating an aquarium with plants, rocks and other natural elements which he finds “very relaxing”.

What is harder to stomach, though, is the rampant use of plastic here. “We were shocked by the number of plastic bags used when we first went to the supermarket,” he recalled with a laugh.

Investing in people, planet and partnership

The “planet or plastic” problem has no easy solution, just like the many ecological conundrums Prof Koh regularly faces. Balancing the competing priorities and trade-offs is always a challenge.

“For example, the need of some rural communities to maintain their traditional livelihoods or expand their agricultural lands may compete with climate strategies that protect or restore forests for carbon storage and sequestration,” he wrote in a May commentary for ThinkChina, an English-language e-magazine by Lianhe Zaobao.

The “triple bottom line” framework of people, planet and profit has been adopted by many socially-conscious decision-makers since the term was coined in 1994. As Singapore strives for a more sustainable economy and further decarbonisation, Prof Koh is aiming for another “p”: partnership.

He has been busy engaging stakeholders from the public and private sectors, educators and civil society to help turn the Little Red Dot into a green one.

His ultimate goal is to devise win-win solutions that are “scientifically sound, economically feasible and socially acceptable”.

“The best policies and solutions will not work unless there is buy-in from an informed public that understands the hard decisions and compromises that will have to be made, as well as the new opportunities that our society can aspire towards as we emerge from this crisis not just stronger but also greener,” he said.

Prof Koh is hoping for a recalibration of individual priorities too. “Perhaps we don’t need mountains of extravagant food, a vehicle for each family member and, in general, redundant stuff being produced and consumed that does not actually improve human well-being.”

Big changes, as they say, start with small steps.

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Earth Is On The Cusp Of The Sixth Mass Extinction. Here’s What Paleontologists Want You To Know

Discover - Avery Hurt

There have been five mass extinctions in our planet's history. The sixth will be more of a slow burn, and unlike the ones before it, humanity is to blame.

Credit: Capitano Productions Film/Shutterstock

Rhinos, elephants, whales and sharks — the list of endangered species is long and depressing. But it’s not just these big, beautiful, familiar animals at risk. Earth is hemorrhaging species, from mammals to fish and insects. The loss of biodiversity we’re facing right now is staggering, thanks to habitat loss, pollution, climate change and other calamities.

There have been five mass extinctions in the history of planet Earth. We’re on the threshold of a sixth. But extinction events don’t happen overnight. They unfold over millions of years. For humans that live maybe 80 or 90-some years, that’s very hard to wrap our minds around.

To get an idea of how to think about the sixth mass extinction, I spoke to people who’ve intensively studied the first five: paleontologists. I asked them what they’d like the rest of us to know. And I asked them what, in these scary times, gives them hope.

These conversations were difficult. I heard phrases like “dead species walking” and “slow, creeping despair.” But I also heard notes of hope, too.

It's Worse Than It Looks

One reason we don’t always appreciate the gravity of the problem is that we can’t really see it happening. We might read alarming numbers in scientific journals, watch heartbreaking documentaries, and catch news coverage of monster hurricanes and dislodged ice sheets linked to climate change. But biodiversity loss happens quietly in the background of our lives.

Precisely because extinction is long and slow, the effects of the harm we’re doing now will be felt for a long time to come. Jill Leonard-Pingel is a paleoecologist at The Ohio State University and the assistant director of the Orton Geological Museum there. She describes something called extinction debt. This refers to the delay between the damage and the eventual extinction of a species. “If we don’t see the total extinction of a group of animals in our lifetimes, or even a couple of generations, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t fated for extinction,” she says. In other words, we’ve already killed some of the species that appear on T-shirts urging people to save them.

However, the damage won’t always be in the background. Nizar Ibrahim is a paleontologist at the University of Detroit Mercy and a National Geographic explorer. “There will be a point in the not too distant future when we suddenly see and feel this mass extinction all around us very clearly,” Ibrahim says. Ellen Currano, a paleobotanist at the University of Wyoming, points out that this extinction is not like the one that occurred when an asteroid hit Earth 35 million years ago, releasing tremendous energy and igniting global wildfires. “This is a lot slower than that, on the scale of human lifetimes,” she says.

Earth will recover, of course — life is tough. “A key point of extinction crises is that life has always recovered and doubtless will recover whatever we do to the planet," says Michael Benton, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. "However, the recovery can take hundreds of thousands of years, and we most likely won’t be there to see it."

So that’s the bad news. But it’s not all bad news.

It’s Not (Quite) Too Late

Science writer David Quammen once wrote, “Hope is a duty from which paleontologists are exempt.” And of course, paleontologists do see the big picture of how life comes and goes on the planet. As scientists, they are trained to look unflinchingly at facts and not let what they want to see influence what they do see.

But they are also human; and humans would have long since joined the ranks of the extinct if we didn’t have a knack for finding hope, for seeing a way out of disaster. So what gives these scientists hope? Mostly young people, it turns out.

Currano is inspired by the local high schoolers she works with. “We hear all the time about Greta Thunberg — and she is unbelievable — but there are a lot of young people closer to home who are making their contributions.”

Leonard-Pingel points to the work of a new generation of scientists, working in the new field of conservation paleobiology that uses the tools developed by geologists and paleontologists to address environmental change and add context for today’s extinctions. She’s also encouraged by the new generation of environmentalists and activists. “There are things we can do,” she says. “As we use multiple avenues and develop new science, there are ways that we can preserve some habitats and some ecosystems. I don’t think we are fated at this point for this mass extinction. If we begin to take action soon.”

Benton is perhaps the most optimistic of all. “I guess reasons for some hope are that the framework within which governments should act has been set out [in the Paris Agreement],” he says. “Popular pressure will force politicians eventually to do the right thing.” But that, of course, will take a huge amount of pressure, and the young seem to be leading that battle, too.

“If we address all of these issues — and there are many fires we have to extinguish — there is some ground for cautious optimism,” Ibrahim says. But there is no time to lose.

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(AU) Great Barrier Reef Outlook Worsens To 'Critical' As Climate Change Named Number One Threat To World Heritage Sites

ABC News - Jason Dasey

The condition of the Great Barrier Reef has deteriorated to "critical" — the worst possible rating. (ABC Wide Bay: Nicole Hegarty)

Key points

An advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has re-listed the Great Barrier Reef as "critical"
Climate change is now the number one threat to the World Heritage area
Scientists are calling for government to show urgent leadership on climate change

The condition of the Great Barrier Reef has worsened from "significant concern" to "critical" in a damning world heritage outlook report by a UNESCO advisory body.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) escalated the reef's status to the worst possible rating in its report on Thursday and named climate change the greatest threat to the Australian natural wonder.

The move comes as an influx of tourists return to Queensland after the easing of coronavirus border restrictions, eager to holiday on the reef.

The report also downgraded its rating of four other Australian World Heritage areas: the Blue Mountains, the Gondwana rainforests, Shark Bay and the Ningaloo Coast.

The report found that climate change was a threat in 11 of 16 Australian World Heritage sites, or 69 per cent of them — more than double a global trend of 33 per cent, which represented 83 or 252 sites.

It noted that the Black Summer bushfires had also made a negative impact.

Climate change 'the greatest threat'

The 2020 Conservation Outlook observed "a number of values" that had placed the Great Barrier Reef on the World Heritage List had diminished, with much of the damage done in the past four years.

"There has been a further dramatic decline [at the reef] as a result of the 2016, 2017 and 2020 coral bleaching events," the report said.

"Some of the activities causing a threat to the values of the site can be influenced by the management authorities, such as fishing and coastal development.

"[But] other pressures cannot be addressed at the site level, such as climate change, which is recognised as the greatest threat."

The IUCN is the official advisor on nature to the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

Its report uses the opinions of international experts who weigh up the natural values of World Heritage sites, while assessing how well-protected they are from ongoing and future threats.

'A very grim outlook'

Scott Heron, an Associate Professor in Physics at James Cook University in Townsville, said he was "surprised and shocked" by the deterioration of the reef's condition.

"This is a robust and scientifically rigorous report so I think it is a very grim outlook, with the key threat being climate change," Dr Heron said.

"Three coral-bleaching events in [less than] five years are a swaying factor in terms of the threat to the reef … however, it's not the only threat."

Dr Heron, who is also a physical oceanographer working on coral reef applications, listed inappropriate fishing use, terrestrial run-off, and water quality and pollution as other threats causing the condition of the reef to be compromised.

About half of the Great Barrier Reef's coral has died over the past 30 years. (ABC Wide Bay: Nicole Hegarty)

Adam Smith, Managing Director of Reef Ecologic, which works on community-based reef restoration projects, said the damning report was "expected" but could turn out to be a catalyst to encourage Australians to reduce their carbon footprint.

He cited the example of how people have consciously and successfully changed their behaviour by reducing their use of plastic bags while shopping.

"There are some scientists who say it's all too hard, but others who effectively respond to a crisis," Mr Smith said.

"Humans are smart, and just as we've dramatically transitioned away from plastic bags, more individuals should look to become carbon neutral.

"We need to do this not just locally, but globally."

David Cazzulino, a campaigner from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the report would put "extra international pressure on the Federal Government" to come up with a national climate change policy.

"Australia risks being left behind on the world stage on climate, we risk losing our World Heritage-listed icons and the thousands of jobs that rely on these places for their livelihoods," he said.

"So we need urgent action."

Coral bleaching is now occurring in consecutive years on the Great Barrier Reef. (Supplied: ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)

North Queensland Conservation Council community campaigner Crystal Falknau described the state of the reef as "terminal" and urged stronger action against climate change from government.

"This report is a massive red flag that climate change is happening right now," Ms Falknau said.

"This is the most severe category and it means that climate change has put the Great Barrier Reef on a trajectory that is absolutely terminal and there's no looking back.

"[Governments] need to show strong leadership on a global stage and reduce carbon emissions immediately as much as they possibly can to really reduce the impacts of climate change.

"We showed that when we listen to the science, we can handle a global pandemic and it will be exactly the same for climate change."

She said locals were devastated to witness coral bleaching events occur in consecutive years with their own eyes.

"It's heartbreaking to think that future generations won't have the opportunities to explore this beautiful World Heritage area just like we have," she said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Federal Department of Environment said the report reflected the impacts of extreme weather events Australia has seen over the past year.

It said the report showed "the significant work by the Australian Government … to protect and manage our natural World Heritage properties".

"Australia is committed to playing its role in a global response to climate change, it is investing unprecedented amounts protecting the Reef, in bushfire wildlife and habitat recovery and in supporting our world heritage places," it said.

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