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  The Straits Times 30 Apr 06
Mother Earth gravely ill, so act now
by Radha Basu

MEWR News Release: 12/2006 21 Apr 06
Speech by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaccob Ibrahim at the United Nations Environment Programme Champions of the Earth 2006 Award Ceremony, Friday 21 April 2006, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

The Straits Times 22 Apr 06
Climate change: Two nations can make difference
by Radha Basu

The Nation 22 Apr 06
Environment in Crisis: It's time 'to get to work on policies'
Pennapa Hongthong

The Straits Times 22 Apr 06
Seven champions, seven causes

THEY may not be media stars, but each of the seven people who won the Champions of the Earth award last night have campaigned tirelessly to help 'protect the planet from ourselves', said UNEP acting executive director Shafqat Kakakhel yesterday.

Here is who they are and what they did to deserve the honour:

Mr Tewolde Gebre Egziabher of Ethiopia has been a long-time opponent of private companies patenting plant genetic material such as seeds for agricultural use. He also fights for community rights in Africa.

Professor Tommy Koh of Singapore has dedicated much of his life to drafting key environmental treaties. He chaired the Earth Summit and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Mr Mikhail Gorbachev of the Russian Federation worked tirelessly to encourage water sharing among Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians.

Dr Rosa Elena Simeon Negrin of Cuba, who received a posthumous award, was a champion of small developing island states. She promoted the philosophy, 'Think globally, act locally'. Dr Negrin died in 2004.

The Women's Environment and Development Organisation, headquartered in the United States, has been working tirelessly in trying to help women articulate policy in the environment and development debate. It was the only organisation among the winners.

Dr Mohamed El Ashry of Egypt is the former head of the Global Environment Facility, a multi-billion-dollar fund that helps developing countries embrace cleaner technologies. Dr Massoumeh Ebtekar, Iran's first woman vice-president, helped champion the cause for cleaner production in the country's petrochemical industry.

Climate change: Two nations can make difference
by Radha Basu

HUMAN beings are on a collision course with nature and unless governments and ordinary people do their bit to pollute less and conserve scarce resources, the future of our planet is in serious jeopardy.

This was the sombre message of a band of environment leaders from across the world, who were feted here yesterday at the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) second annual Champions of the Earth awards.

Among the winners were Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh - the only winner from Asia - former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev and tough-talking Iranian leader Massoumeh Ebtekar. President S R Nathan, Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim and UNEP acting executive director Shafqat Kakakhel were at last night's event.

At a press conference earlier, the seven winners made a passionate plea for help in what they said is the biggest environmental challenge we have ever faced. The ongoing battle against climate change was a common note in most of the speeches.

Professor Koh, Singapore's Ambassador-at-Large, said whether or not the battle was won depended on how the emerging Asian powerhouses India and China react. The rapid economic progress of both nations was both a 'promise and a peril', he said. 'If people in these two countries emulate the lifestyle of our friends in America, we will destroy the world,' he warned.

Prof Koh said he hoped that the governments of both countries would find the wisdom to avoid the 'mistakes of the West' and at the same time ensure their people live with dignity.

While agreeing that the battle for sustainable development would definitely be decided in Asia, other winners like former Iranian vice-president Massoumeh Ebtekar felt that affluent nations, which may have prospered by polluting the world, should own up to their responsibilities.

'We are living in an inter-dependent world,' she told The Straits Times. 'Affluent countries should not be complacent about doing their duties,' she said, likely alluding to the United States, which has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty which seeks to combat climate change.

Fellow winner Mohamed El Ashry of Egypt agreed, saying the international community, particularly affluent nations should help developing countries 'address the incremental costs of cleaner energy.'

The lack of water was another key concern. Environment organisation Green Cross International president Alexander Likhotal, who accepted the award on behalf of Mr Gorbachev, said 8,000 people were dying every day because of a lack of access to clean water.

MEWR News Release: 12/2006 21 Apr 06
Speech by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaccob Ibrahim at the United Nations Environment Programme Champions of the Earth 2006 Award Ceremony, Friday 21 April 2006, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore

President SR Nathan and Mrs Nathan Mr Shafqat Kakakhel, Acting Executive Director of UNEP, Distinguished Recipients of the UNEP Champions of the Earth 2006 Awards, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to welcome all of you to the Champions of the Earth award presentation ceremony. And to our many distinguished friends from abroad, I wish you a pleasant stay in this island-nation and invite you to visit us more often.

2 Singapore is proud to host this ceremony, for the United Nations Environment Programme to honour outstanding global citizens with the Champions of the Earth Awards. When Singapore was chosen to host this ceremony, Dr Toepfer, UNEP's former Executive Director, had said that Singapore "has become an inspiration for other nations striving to achieve the goal of sustainable development. We thank Dr Toepfer for his compliment.

3 Singapore's beginnings are humble. And even with some amount of success in meeting what we had aimed for, we remain keenly aware of our constraints as a small nation without significant natural resources. Nevertheless, right from the time of our independence some 40 years ago, planning for the environment has been a key guiding principle to Singapore?s development. Thanks to the visionary leadership of the then Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his Cabinet colleagues, environmental issues always featured in planning. During the 1960s, poverty and unemployment were serious concerns for Singapore. Entrepot trade on which Singapore had depended was unable to provide employment for the rapidly increasing population. An intensive industrialisation programme was needed to provide employment and livelihood for the people. Nonetheless, over the course of our industrialisation, we never neglected the environment. We set up a Ministry of the Environment in 1972. We designated a significant part of the island as forest reserve and formed a government agency--now the National Parks Board - to ensure that as we grew as a city, we continue to have trees and green spaces everywhere. We started cleaning our polluted rivers. We invested prudently in environmental infrastructure, kept our legislative and regulatory regime robust, stayed abreast with the most advanced technologies as well as fostered a culture of sharing and learning from the best practices of other nations.

4 Four decades on, we see the result of the political will, consistency in policy planning, and support of our people. Singapore has achieved an integrated management of its entire water loop, including the recycle of used water through our Newater plants for industrial and indirect potable application. We are hoping for similar successes in our energy efficient initiatives and our programmes towards zero waste. As a mark of its commitment, the Singapore Government has set up the National Research Foundation with an initial approved funding of S$5 billion over the next 5 years to fund strategic research and development initiatives in Singapore. One new area of focus is environment and water technologies. We aim to build on our experience in management and diversification of water resources, innovative use of membranes for wastewater reclamation and seawater desalination, and capabilities in waste management, pollution control and city beautification. Singapore can collaborate with interested partners to bring these technologies and expertise to bear in the pursuit of global sustainable development.

5 Being party to major multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Montreal Protocol, Basel Convention, Stockholm Convention, Rotterdam Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, Singapore is also firmly committed in the global efforts in environmental protection.

6 We launched our first environmental blueprint, the Singapore Green Plan in 1992, and review and update it regularly. In our quest to attain environmental sustainability, we will continue to emphasise on environmental ownership and public education. We will harness technology and leverage on the innovation and creativity of our people. We will enhance partnership with our public, private and people sectors through engagement and empowerment to bring us closer to the goal of environmental sustainability.

7 Our progress in the environmental front must be set in the context of Singapore's own unique circumstances. And our progress has not come out of the blue. Over the years, we learnt from the experiences of others. And as we learned, experimented and succeeded, we shared this knowledge with friends all over, both from the developing and developed world. We have to when we share this planet.

8 The world today faces many environmental issues. Climate change, mismanagement of chemicals, forest fires and haze, depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity and marine pollution remain serious concerns.

9 And there are also new concerns like pandemics and natural disasters. Three years ago we had the SARS crisis. Now avian flu is a major concern globally. A fair number of our guests here hail from countries that still feel the impact of the Asian tsunami of 26 Dec 2004, the hurricanes that struck North America and Central America, the earthquakes in South Asia, and recently the hurricane in Australia.

10 In every crisis, there is an opportunity - to come together and make things even better than before. The natural disasters and the threat of pandemics have brought across aid and cooperation never seen before. Rising economies of Asia can put in place a sustainable model of economic development that ensures that the environment receives the attention it deserves even as we aim to improve economic growth. This could be achieved through proper environmental planning, investment in environmental infrastructure, deployment of environmentally sound technologies and expansion of the environmental goods and services market.

11 In conclusion, I hope that Singapore's hosting UNEP's award ceremony would be our small contribution towards helping UNEP spread the message of environmental awareness worldwide, Singapore greatly appreciates and admires the active role of UNEP in addressing global environmental concerns. We look forward to continue working with UNEP

12 I speak with much hope and optimism for our future environment also because of the distinguished recipients of the Champions of the Earth Awards before us. These are individuals who have shown what one can do from various fronts to protect our planet. They are shining inspiration for ourselves and our children to admire and emulate. I congratulate you, the award winners, for your passion in the environment and your dedication in the work you are doing. Thank you.

The Nation 22 Apr 06
Environment in Crisis: It's time 'to get to work on policies'
Pennapa Hongthong

Campaigners say states don't need more agreements

Environmentalists urged governments to implement existing global agreements rather than create new ones because the gap is widening between nations' commitments and their actions.

The lack of enforcement of environmental conventions was one of the issues concerning the green campaigners who were named this year's Champions of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Friday night.

Other problems mentioned included water quality, climate change and decreasing biodiversity.

Relevant treaties cover many emerging issues but little action has been carried out, said Masumeh Ebtekar, Iran's vice president, who was named a champion of cleaner petrochemical production.

The award recognises prominent and inspirational environmental leaders who have made an impact at the policy level. Besides Ebtekar, there are six other laureates. These include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev who UNEP says has actively promoted environmental awareness among political leaders.

Ebtekar's concerns were echoed by Tewolde Gebre Egziabher, director general of Environmental Protection Authority of Ethiopia, who won an award for his campaign against the patenting of living things and efforts to promote African community rights.

"The UN Security Council can enforce political agreements, trade embargoes can force through trade agreements but nothing can implement an environmental agreement," said Egziabher.

Egziabher called for an equally strong mechanism to ensure countries stick to agreements and push countries that will not sign up to treaties to sign conventions. "The United States is difficult to deal with on these agreements, and I suppose the world is too scared to force them. They have not implemented the biodiversity convention and bio-safety protocol," he said.

Most environmental issues are associated with a global agreement. For example, climate change was addressed in the Kyoto Protocol, biodiversity in the Convention on Biodiversity and the Cartagena Protocol and toxic waste in the Basel Convention.

"Some problems they wanted to address have become worse," said Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP's deputy executive director.

The Straits Times 30 Apr 06
Mother Earth gravely ill, so act now
by Radha Basu

ON THE eve of Earth Day, April 22, seven environment leaders from across the world met in Singapore to lend their voices to a single impassioned plea - that Mother Earth is gravely ill. And unless mankind stops raping her resources and choking her with its noxious fumes, her future is in serious jeopardy.

The seven, including Singapore's Professor Tommy Koh, Egyptian finance whiz Mohamed El Ashry and Iran's first female vice-president Massoumeh Ebtekar, were feted as Champions of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The award honours individuals and organisations for shaping policies that help nations progress in a way that balances economic prosperity with the health of the planet.

Although many of the winners focused on seemingly local issues such as the lack of water, poverty or increasing pollution, all their themes struck a common chord: that climate change, widely believed to be a result of noxious greenhouse gas emissions, was already upon us pushing the world to the brink of destruction.

Speaking at the awards event last week, Ethiopian winner Tewolde Gebre Egziabher painted a bleak picture of all that was wrong with the natural world: 'Polar ice is melting. The sea level is rising. Ground water is drying up. What is left is being polluted. And so is the air. Species are dying out. Epidemics are devastating human and other life.'

His words are no mere hyperbole. Scientists worldwide now believe that much of what Dr Egziabher described is a result of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted by the industrial world's power plants, air-conditioners and cars. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now believed to be at its highest level in 476,000 years and causing mercury levels to rise worldwide.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, four of the five hottest years on record have occurred in the new millennium. Polar ice caps are now melting faster than ever before. Extreme weather events - including droughts, floods and hurricanes - are also occurring with alarming frequency.

All this is reaping a deadly harvest of human lives. The World Health Organisation estimates that 150,000 people are already dying every year from weather-related tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina last year or the infamous European heat wave of 2003.

The UNEP champions also drew attention to the fact that although international environmental protection treaties existed on paper, little was being done in practice.

For instance, more than 120 countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol. But implementation of that treaty - meant to regulate greenhouse gas emissions - is in jeopardy, with the United States, which accounts for more than a quarter of all emissions worldwide, refusing to ratify it.

While many European Union countries have taken big steps to cut emissions, data for 2004 released earlier this month showed that US emissions are continuing to rise, and are now at an all-time high.

And while countries like China and India are likely to emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases in the near future as they develop, they have made no commitments to lower their emissions.

While the battle for the future of the planet will be won or lost in Asia, many of the environment leaders also stressed the need for affluent countries to play their part in mitigating climate change.

Countries like the US, Britain and even Singapore could help fund the 'incremental costs of cleaner energy' and help their poorer Asian cousins progress in a sustainable way, said Dr El Ashry, who used to head an international fund that did just that.

Asian countries are increasingly taking steps to help themselves. In the past five years, China, for instance, has planted 12 billion trees to try to restore its forest cover and combat flooding and the loss of farm land, pointed out Prof Koh.

Meanwhile, India is actively exploring renewable non-conventional energy sources. Most buses in New Delhi now run on compressed natural gas in order to reduce air pollution.

Singapore too has taken steps - by controlling the number of cars, by reusing water and committing to achieve a zero landfill rate by 2012 by way of an aggressive recycling and waste minimisation programme.

While governments can and must do their part, no battle against climate change can be won unless every citizen in every country becomes a foot soldier.

The UNEP Champions of the Earth, true to their name, have not only shaped environment policy on a world stage but are also helping to save the world through thoughtful little acts every day.

Prof Koh, for instance, switches off lights, fans and the air-conditioning whenever he leaves a room. Dr Ebtekar composts her waste. And American June Zeitlin, who received the UNEP award on behalf of the Women's Environment and Development Organisation, routinely uses public transport at home in New York City.

If there are more such champions, the battle against climate change could be won.
links
Global ‘Green’ Leaders Honored at Environmental Gala in Singapore Singapore/Nairobi, 21 April 2006: press release on the UNEP website Seven ‘green’ leaders, instrumental in bringing environmental issues to the forefront of political action, are today celebrated as the 2006 Champions of the Earth at a gala event hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Singapore Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Related articles on Singapore: general environmental issues
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