Climate Connections Money FM

Did you know that in just Singapore alone, an average person can eat nearly 390 eggs in a year?

Every stage of egg production contributes to greenhouse gases and other harmful emissions. Scientists from the University of Oviedo in Spain found that the carbon footprint of eggs is similar to that of other basic foods of animal origin, like milk.

So, is there a way to be more environmentally friendly with our eggs?

On this episode of Climate Connections, Vinita Choolani, Founder and CEO of Float Foods lets us in on why she embarked on that journey to create a plant-based egg that can hopefully substitute our love affair with chicken eggs, and where the business is at right now. 

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Audrey Siek

Photo credits: Float Foods

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
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Farmers in India are contending with the impact of climate change every day as their crops are often subject to weather conditions, which are evolving as climate change becomes more deeply entrenched.

Every year, about 30% of agricultural produce is wasted before it leaves the farms. And did you know this food waste contributes to greenhouse gases?

On this episode of Climate Connections, Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder of S4S Technologies, who has seen how deeply intertwined challenges of food waste, rural poverty and gender inequality are, shares the journey she embarked on together with five other university friends, to help smallholder female farmers preserve and market surplus produce.

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Emaad Akhtar

Photo credits: The Earthshot Prize

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change is caused by the rise in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Such gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which are long-lived compounds that can remain in the atmosphere for several years.

But you might be wondering if climate change in turn impacts the quality of the air we breathe. 

On this episode of Climate Connections, NTU Professor Stephan Schuster, Research Director of the Meta-o’mics & Microbiomes cluster at the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering reviews the connection between air pollution and climate change, as well as the tell-tale signs that scientists look out for when measuring air quality.

Professor Schuster also reveals some potential solutions that actually already exist in Singapore!

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Emaad Akhtar

Photo credits: NTU

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
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Calling out to plant parents, as well as those thinking of getting succulents to spruce up your homes! 

Increasingly, many popular ornamental plants are plucked from their natural habitats instead of being grown in nurseries. The consequences of this go beyond our living rooms, impacting entire landscapes and the livelihoods of communities that depend on them.

The highest number of native succulent species - drought resistant plants which are slow growing, long lived, and occur in arid areas - are found in Africa. It might not occur to you that your plant purchase is fueling plant poaching - but since 2019, more than 600,000 illegally harvested succulents, representing 450 different species have been seized by authorities as they transit Southern Africa to overseas markets. 

On this episode of Climate Connections, Dominique Prinsloo, Project Manager from TRAFFIC - who’s done quite a bit of research into the succulent plant poaching crisis - explains what's driving the trade and how you can differentiate between a wild harvested succulent versus a nursery-grown one.

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Audrey Siek

Photo credits: TRAFFIC

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you been to Phillip Island Nature Parks in Australia? 

It’s home to the largest little penguin population - better known as fairy penguins - globally. They’re the smallest penguin species in the world. 

But today’s focus is on another seabird - short-tailed shearwaters that use Phillip Island as their breeding grounds! From this week, four-month old fledglings are starting their migration and the Phillip Island Nature Parks is calling for individuals and businesses on the island to switch off their lights at night.

Short-tailed shearwaters are mid-sized migratory birds that travel from the Southern to Northern Hemisphere each year, migrating from Australia towards Japan, then across to the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea to the north of Alaska. They manage this massive 16,000km journey in under four weeks, all before returning to the shores of Phillip Island (Millowl).

Among the most vulnerable are seabirds, with shearwaters facing the greatest risk. In a series of studies by Phillip Island Nature Parks exploring the negative effect of artificial lights on shearwaters, light pollution is now at the forefront of negative factors disrupting the delicate balance of ecosystems. 

On this episode of Climate Connections, Dr Duncan Sutherland, Senior Scientist, Phillip Island Nature Parks why the night lights are so detrimental to the short-tailed shearwaters during migration season, conservation efforts under the "Dark Sky So Shearwaters Fly" campaign and how you can do your part.

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Audrey Siek

Photo/Sound credits: Phillip Island Nature Parks

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quite unsurprisingly, demand for batteries is expected to increase 30% each year until 2030.

A greater need for batteries to power more electric vehicles means increased demand for metals like lithium, a finite resource whose extraction has raised ecological and human rights issues. 

Lithium mining takes a heavy toll - trees are often cut down to make room for mines, chemicals used in the process can poison waterways, and meanwhile, millions of tonnes of batteries are expected to be decommissioned over the coming decades, creating hazardous waste.

But have you ever thought about how sustainable your batteries are? 

On this episode of Climate Connections, Justin Hung, CEO & Co-Founder of GRST (which stands for Green, Renewable, Sustainable Technology) and 2023 Earthshot Prize winner shares about the cleaner process he developed to make batteries that pollutes less and uses components that can be more easily recycled.

The eco-friendly lithium batteries technology start-up aims to raise US$50 million over the next two years.

Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

Voiced by: Emaad Akhtar

Photo credits: Earthshot Prize

Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.