Green Pulse The Straits Times

Local solutions are critical for vulnerable millions as the scorching heat rapidly melts snow and ice across the fragile "third pole".

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

As the planet warms, with north India’s plains sweltering under an unprecedented heat wave, Himalayan glaciers are melting faster than ever before. On current trends, glaciers in just the Eastern Himalayas, which include Nepal and Bhutan, will lose up to 75 per cent of their ice in the near future. 

The accelerated melt will expand existing glacial lakes, and form new ones. The new and enlarged lakes are a hazard as they can burst their banks and let loose all the water in flash floods downstream. In October 2023, a lake in Northern Sikkim breached, destroying an entire dam and 33 bridges downstream, killing scores of people. 

But that is only one aspect of the impact of planetary warming on the so-called Third Pole - which supplies water to around 1.5 billion people. The climate crisis is a water crisis which is already affecting half of Asia. 

In this episode, Green Pulse host Nirmal Ghosh discusses the complex factors at play,  and their implications, with Kunda Dixit, the Kathmandu-based publisher of Nepali Times, and visiting faculty at NYU in Abu Dhabi where he focuses on climate; and Dr Bandana Shakya - also based in Kathmandu - who coordinates the Landscapes portfolio at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:34 There is plenty of water; just not where it’s needed

3:53 Data sharing is critical but the process is inadequate

7:17 Depopulation of some mountain districts is up to 30 per cent in the last 10 years

12:20 Appreciating potential of co-designing nature-based solutions

17:20 Sometimes scientific collaboration is much easier than political collaboration

18:33 One major concern now: Climate despair and climate anxiety among younger people

19:30 Failure of governance has led to large parts of the Himalayan region being in food deficit

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg) and Fa'izah Sani

Edited by: Fa'izah Sani

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

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Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read ST's Climate Change microsite: https://www.straitstimes.com/climate-change

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

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ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

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Investors are on the hunt for companies that not only cut greenhouse gas emissions but also transform industry and society. 

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

There’s growing investor interest in companies at the cutting edge of green tech innovation. Specifically, companies whose solutions aim to cut greenhouse gas emissions while helping industry wean itself off fossil fuels and switch to greener and cleaner materials. 

More than ever, green-tech investment is needed. Much of the energy we use to produce electricity, power our industries and our cars produces emissions that are heating up the planet. It's like we're stuck in a vicious cycle as climate impacts worsen. 

The good news is there are private companies working on solutions that can provide green power to industries, boost battery efficiency, even create a new type of leather from mycelium, or fungal fibres. The green solutions out there are growing quickly as more entrepreneurs move into this space.

To find out more about this, ST's climate change editor David Fogarty hosts Meghan Sharp, global head of Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between Blackrock and Temasek that invests in private companies working on clean energy, electrification, green materials and the circular, digital economy. 

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

1:34 Tell us about your role and what you look for in green-tech companies. 

2:46  What is the investment focus of Decarbonization Partners?

7:13 Of all the available types of green technology, which ones excite you the most?

13:34 Which emerging technologies will attract the most investment in the coming decade?

15:34 And is investment in green technology growing or is there still a large gap?

17:35 “For great companies, there will always be funding.”

Produced by: David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis & Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow David Fogarty on X: https://str.sg/JLM6

Read his articles: https://str.sg/JLMu

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

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#greenpulse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Migratory species are broadly in decline, disrupted by alteration of field and forest habitats, and by hunting in the case of South-east Asia.

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

The East Asian migratory bird flyway is perhaps the most diverse of the world's nine north-south migratory bird flyways, with millions migrating north to south, from freezing latitudes to warmer climates - some shorebirds even fly down to as far as Australia. 

But migratory species are in deep trouble; a recent UN report revealed that nearly half of the world's migratory species are declining in population. Habitat loss has been affecting up to 75 per cent of them. 

The state of birds is one indicator of how humans have altered the environment, largely due to infrastructure developments transforming landscapes. Fragmentation and loss of habitats are key issues for migratory shorebirds as their coastal feeding areas on mud flats along the East Asian seaboard are being reclaimed. 

In this episode of Green Pulse, Thailand-based Philip Round, regional representative of the Wetland Trust and associate professor at the Department of Biology at Mahidol University, and Singapore-based Yong Ding Li, regional coordinator at BirdLife International, join co-host Nirmal Ghosh to talk about what birds are up against. 

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

6:06 Why rice growing is making it difficult for birds to thrive

14:58 Hunting happens on a large scale for the pet bird industry in various parts of Southeast Asia  

20:12 How the use of netting to protect crops, particularly aquaculture ponds, becomes accidentally fatal to birds

24:04 Many government agencies in Southeast Asia are inadequately resourced to enforce conservation measures. 

26:02 Bright spots on conservation for migratory birds 

Listen to related podcasts on birds: 

A visit to Sungei Buloh: How Singapore can better host migratory birds: https://omny.fm/shows/green-pulse-1/a-visit-to-sungei-buloh-how-singapore-can-play-a-b

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg), Lynda Hong, Fa'izah Sani and Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read ST's Climate Change microsite: https://www.straitstimes.com/climate-change

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

---

#greenpulse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why mudflats are vital for dwindling numbers of birds that stop over seasonally.

Synopsis (headphones recommended): In this new 4-part environment podcast series for 2024 - Green Trails - The Straits Times hits the ground with experts in spaces that are critical to the interlinked crises the planet faces: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The next episode drops in June.

For this inaugural episode, our team heads to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the local haven for birds that travel across the world to refuel at.

The society - one of the island's oldest non-governmental organisations - convinced the government to preserve Sungei Buloh as a wetland reserve by showing officials the diversity of birds that depend on the spot.

ST journalist Ang Qing takes a walk with representatives from the Nature Society (Singapore) - Veronica Foo and Tan Gim Cheong.

They talk about the lesser-known Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat, which is key to supporting the thousands of migratory shorebirds that stop over in Singapore between August and March, and why it should also receive full protection from the law.

Read also: Green Trails Podcast: Experience Singapore’s spaces through sound - https://str.sg/qcCm

Read an earlier article on migratory birds: https://str.sg/JtYUU

Discover the Nature Society (Singapore) Bird Group: https://str.sg/wNzGa

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:30 Why is Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve so special?

7:01 Have there been fewer shorebirds at the reserve?

11:15 What kind of man-made features threaten migratory birds?

18:00 Why a lesser known mudflat needs to get stronger legal protection

Host: Ang Qing (aqing@sph.com.sg)

Trail producers: Lynda Hong, Hadyu Rahim, Teo Tong Kai, Amirul Karim, Eden Soh

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Executive Producers: Ernest Luis (ernest@sph.com.sg) & Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg)

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here every 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Ang Qing on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ichp

Read her articles: https://str.sg/i5gT

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

---

#greenpulse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carbon credit ratings can bring much needed transparency and accountability to the market – but is it enough to overcome years of mistrust?

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

Depending on who you speak to, carbon credits hold great promise as a tool to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions to fight climate change. Or they are a scam that fails to deliver what they promise. 

A major problem around the carbon credit market is trust and transparency – do carbon offset projects achieve what they pledge? How can we be sure? And will local communities benefit?

Ultimately, carbon credits should be treated like any other financial asset – they should be held up to scrutiny. And that means they should be rated for their quality and integrity, just like bonds. 

And increasingly that is what is happening. Several companies now offer ratings services for carbon credits to help buyers make better choices and meet due diligence requirements. But will this be enough to answer critics’ concerns about the carbon market?

To learn more about this, we speak to Mr Duncan van Bergen, co-founder of Calyx Global, a carbon credit ratings company based in Singapore.  

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

1:38 What are the main concerns about carbon credits?

4:04 How is trust being restored to the carbon credit market?

6:13 What does a high-quality carbon credit look like?

10:47 Your firm rates credits from projects from highest (A-rating) to lowest (E-rating). What percentage are at the highest rating and what types of projects are these?

14:40 What is the main worry about forestry projects?

20:54 What are the non-carbon benefits of carbon projects and why are they important?

Produced by: David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Fa'izah Sani & Amirul Karim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow David Fogarty on X: https://str.sg/JLM6

Read his articles: https://str.sg/JLMu

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

---

ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

---

#greenpulse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a storied career, the diplomat Professor Tommy Koh also chaired the Earth Summit in 1992 and negotiated the Law of the Sea.

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

The framers of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea did not foresee global warming affecting oceans to the extent that it does - causing acidification and the death of coral reefs - said the top diplomat who was president of the 1973 conference that produced the Convention known as UNCLOS. 

In this episode, Singapore’s ambassador at-large and foremost international environmental law expert Tommy Koh - who also chaired the pivotal 1992 Earth Summit - tells host ST's global contributor Nirmal Ghosh that plastic debris in the oceans now is of severe concern. He adds that the international community has also failed to be good stewards of the world's fisheries.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), unsustainable practices have depleted about 90 per cent of major fisheries - and fishing fleets continue to be subsidised. The total capacity of the world’s fishing fleets is beyond the sustainable limit of the oceans. 

Meanwhile, unlike climate change, the loss of biodiversity has failed to capture the popular imagination even as some scientists are calling the current era "the sixth extinction."

There is hope, however, that the international community is at a tipping point, with people and governments waking up to the danger of this unprecedented loss. 

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

2:22 The blind spot during negotiations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

3:57 Large amounts of marine plastic debris in the ocean is a very serious problem

5:01 Why it is unsustainable to subsidise the fishing industry

6:05  How the man or woman on the street can link the loss of biodiversity to their individual welfare and interest

9:46 What are the shortfalls in efforts to curb global warming

12:43 How densely populated Singapore managed to maintain green spaces

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Fa'izah Sani and Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read ST's Climate Change microsite: https://www.straitstimes.com/climate-change

---

Discover more ST podcast channels:

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

---

Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

---

#greenpulse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.