HONG KONG: Unlike her fellow Hong Kong urbanites toting plastic or paper cups filled with coffee, pet groomer Lucine Mo takes her caffeine hit in a thermal mug with a QR code. The coded mug can be returned to 35 coffee shops taking part in a Greenpeace pilot project aimingContinue Reading
The new addition to the Sumatran rhino herd at Way Kambas, which numbers 10, comes after another baby Sumatran rhino was born there in September. “This birth is the second birth of the Sumatran Rhino in 2023. This further strengthens the government’s commitment to Rhino conservation in Indonesia,” she said.Continue Reading
Over the past two decades, hydropower dams upstream on the Mekong have restricted the flow of sand to the delta. Sand mining to feed Vietnam’s construction boom is also fast depleting resources, according to a major WWF report published earlier this year. With less sand, river flows become lighter andContinue Reading
JAKARTA: Indonesia launched on Tuesday (Nov 21) its investment plan to mobilise US$20 billion in financing pledged by global lenders led by the United States and Japan to accelerate its power sector decarbonisation and called for immediate fund disbursement. Under Indonesia’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) the country seeks toContinue Reading
CHENGDU: At an upmarket restaurant in the hotpot-loving Chinese city of Chengdu, diners plunge sliced meat and vegetables into cauldrons of spicy, oily broth, largely unaware that their leftovers are set to take on a second life as jet fuel. With around 150,000 tonnes of used hotpot oil thrown outContinue Reading
NEW DELHI: Toxic smog gripping New Delhi grew more intense on Thursday (Nov 16) as farm fires raged in nearby fields despite a court-ordered ban, making India’s capital the world’s most polluted city again. Pollution levels have risen since earlier this week after a brief respite and further mitigation measuresContinue Reading
Even when funding is approved, the process is tedious and the money could take years to materialise, said Ms Shauna, giving an example of two projects from Maldives under the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
“By the time the money does come to the Maldives, the entire reality has changed – we’re talking about coastal erosion, about running out of fresh water,” she said.
“People can’t wait for the money to come five years later to address the issue of erosion.”
This has forced the nation to take matters into its own hands and inject funds from its domestic revenue and budget to invest in green transition and adaptation.
The nation is using engineering solutions to put in place coastal protection projects, such as preserving and regenerating coral reefs.
“So far, we have protected about 13 per cent of our reef area. We are using nature-based solutions on how we could possibly use it as a defence mechanism against tidal swells and coastal erosion,” said Ms Shauna.
“We are also looking at utilising new technology to collect data and better design our coastal protection and adaptation measures. So like I said, we’re not waiting for the world to come to us. We are already doing this (ourselves).”
With none of its islands able to meet the freshwater needs of its population of around 530,000 people, Maldives has built desalination plants across the archipelago.
Through land reclamation projects, the nation has increased the size of some of its islands where the land is higher.
However, Ms Shauna acknowledged that land reclamation is a “double-edged sword” that also harms the environment and impacts marine resources.
Maldives is also constructing a floating city that can house 20,000 people using modular units attached to an underwater concrete hull that is screwed to the seabed.
NEW DELHI: Indian scientists plan to seed clouds for the first time to trigger heavy rain in some areas of New Delhi, hoping this will be enough to tackle the smog gripping the world’s most polluted capital for a week, the project’s head said on Thursday (Nov 9). Air qualityContinue Reading
Situated in a lush, green area surrounded by rice fields, the solar farm, funded by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered, consists of 340,000 panels. At 192 megawatt peak (MWp), the farm currently generates enough power to supply electricity for the Cirata area. Widodo said the projectContinue Reading
Small producer Aashish Sharma has been burning produce straw in SAMALKHA, India, recently despite being aware of its effects on local air quality and in New Delhi, the most polluted money in the world, which is about three hours away by road. His asthma brother needs a nebuliser to injectContinue Reading