Green Pulse The Straits Times

While the future Long Island will guard against sea level rise, the trade-offs to marine life and the East Coast’s character must be addressed, stakeholders told host Shabana Begum. 

Synopsis (headphones recommended): By end-century, Singapore’s mean sea level is expected to rise by up to 1.15m. Now a top attraction in the area, East Coast Park would be a place to avoid if nothing is done. 

Frequent floods are likely to put the beach underwater in the future, as climate change continues to exacerbate rising sea levels. And if exceptionally high tides or storm surges were to hit, seawater levels could rise up to 5m, breaking through the coast. The entire park, East Coast Parkway, vehicles and void decks at housing estates like Marine Parade in the vicinity could be submerged in water. 

To prevent this reality, there are plans to have a defence offshore. That is Long Island, twice the size of Marina Bay reclaimed off the east coast, with a reservoir in between.

But such a mega project raises many uncertainties and questions. How would reclamation for Long Island change the East Coast landscape? What are the implications for nature and marine life nearby? What do young people - who will live to see the project taking shape - have to say? 

As the June 14 oil spill has shown, human activity - if not managed properly - can threaten coastal and marine habitats, including the biodiversity-rich Southern Islands. 

In this second episode of Green Trails, our team heads to East Coast Park and a lesser known habitat near Marina Barrage - important to threatened species and likely to be threatened by reclamation - to find answers. 

At the heart of East Coast Park, ST journalist Shabana Begum meets with representatives from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and National Water Agency PUB - Mr Lee Wai Kin and Mr Thoo Jung Chee. Both agencies are spearheading the Long Island project.

At the little-known Marina East Drive habitat, Shabana uncovers the wildlife there when she takes a walk with Mr Lester Tan, who chairs Nature Society (Singapore)’s Marine Conservation Group.

In the evening, Shabana returns to East Coast Park to speak with Mr Maximus Tan, 22 and Mr Crispus Tan, 27. These youths - who will live to see Long Island taking shape in the next few decades - voice their aspirations for Long Island. 

Read our previous article about Long Island: https://str.sg/ixC7

Find out more about the mega project here: https://str.sg/6zoP

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:43 What will happen to East Coast if nothing is done to protect the shoreline? 

4:00 How will Long Island defend Singapore from rising sea levels?

11:07 How will the authorities minimise the impact of reclamation on marine life? 

16:13 What are the lesser-known biodiversity havens of the East Coast?

22:04 Lester on whether marine life along East Coast will eventually return post-reclamation

26:22 Reactions from Crispus and Maximus on East Coast's changing landscape

32:53 Crispus and Maximus on life on Long Island, their hopes and ideas

Host: Shabana Begum (nshab@sph.com.sg)

Trail producers: Lynda Hong, Hadyu Rahim, Teo Tong Kai, 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

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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Follow Shabana on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/FEid

Read her articles: https://str.sg/5EGd

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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

South-East Asia has big plans to become a regional carbon storage hub. Can it work or are the risks too great?

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.

For years now, we’ve heard a lot about carbon capture and storage as one possible solution to climate change. CCS, as it is known, involves capturing carbon dioxide emissions from polluting operations, such as power plants, refineries and steel and cement production and injecting the CO2 deep underground. 

And not just anywhere. It has to be the right type of geological formation to ensure the CO2 doesn’t escape. 

But CCS hasn’t taken off quite as well as many, especially those in the fossil fuel industry, had hoped for. There have been several very costly failures.

And yet there are plans to greatly scale up CCS, including the creation of regional CCS hubs. One of these is in South-east Asia, using depleted oil and gas wells. 

This would lock away CO2 captured from industries in the region, or, CO2 brought in by tanker ships from major polluting nations such as Japan. So, is this a good idea? Can it make a difference in fighting climate change? Or, is it just storing up trouble for the future?

To tell ST's climate change editor David Fogarty more about this is energy sector expert Grant Hauber, advisor for Asia for the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis, a US-based think tank. 

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

2:02 What is carbon capture and storage?

4:33 What are CCS hubs and can you explain the regional plans to create them?

8:43 CCS has been around for several decades. What have we learned?

17:10 And what about liability? Who’s responsible for any leaks?

21:01 CCS remains expensive. Will a high carbon price per tonne drive investment?

25:18 And what about alternative methods to remove CO2?

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

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

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

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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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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

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

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

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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

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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.

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

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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.

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.