Informal Roundtable with H.E. Gregory Hunt, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water, Australia

Date: 9 April 2009
Venue: RSIS Conference Room 1, Level B4
Time: 2.00pm -3.30pm

Introduction

The RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies organised an Informal Roundtable with H.E. Gregory Hunt, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water of Australia. As the 29th Fellow of the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship (LKYEF), this event was geared at providing Mr Hunt with the opportunity to engage with scholars in Singapore working on Climate Change and other environmental issues. Participants at the roundtable included colleagues from RSIS as well as counterparts in the National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), who shared their views on a variety of environmental issues. Mr Hunt was keen to know more about Asia’s progress on Climate Change, in particular the scope and responses both at the diplomatic and technical level.

H.E. Gregory Hunt

Climate Change Issues in Southeast Asia

In highlighting the work done by ISEAS on Climate Change, Dr Lee Poh Onn noted two emerging issues:

(1) geo-political issues in the Bay of Bengal; and
(2) Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).

In the former, issues discussed included food and environmental insecurity as well as climate refugees impacting regional security. The latter was about operationalising REDD in Southeast Asia. Mr Hunt noted that REDD has provided developing countries – such as Indonesia and Brazil – the opportunity to strategically change their stance on the environment by demanding developed countries to pay them to conserve their forests. A recent report has also even suggested that there are lack of incentives for REDD. In light of these issues, it remains uncertain how ASEAN will implement REDD to benefit regional as well as global well-being against Climate Change.

Land Use, Forest Management and Global Warming

Participants discussed the issue of carbon emissions from the forestry sector. Dr Shawn Lum and Dr Alex Cobb described the difficulties in preventing carbon release from degradated peat lands in Indonesia – i.e. lands that had been cleared (via slash-and-burn methods) for commercial plantation use. Particular attention was also given to Central Kalimantan, where abandoned degradated peatlands have a high potential of releasing carbon from the dry peat, and thereby contributing to more carbon emissions.

Preventing carbon release would require keeping the land constantly irrigated. However, there are several problems in ensuring this. For instance, keeping water tables at a sufficient height remain difficult given the lack of water and proper irrigation facilities. This is further exacerbated by poor implementation or execution at the local levels. Participants also noted other factors such as poverty amongst small scale farmers and coercion by large corporations as reasons for the lack of effective action against the degradation of peatlands. The inability to empower locals with sustainable economic livelihoods remains a problem in addressing the issue.

While there have been regional efforts – in particular from Malaysia and Singapore – to assist Indonesia to deal with the problem, ranging from changes in legislation to financial and technical assistance, the lack of effective implementation retards any progress. Mr Hunt also noted Australia’s financial and technical assistance to Indonesia to rehabilitate its peatlands.

On the likelihood of a global forests credit system having significant positive impact on Climate Change, it was suggested that REDD would be effective in preventing carbon release from degradated peatlands, but would be less effective in preventing deforestation. This was due to the prevalent problem of illegal logging, where there would always be a greater incentive to extract timber resources.  

Nuclear Energy Developments in Southeast Asia

In studying energy developments in Southeast Asia, Dr Alvin Chew noted that three aspects needed to be considered:

Participants discussed regional efforts in addressing the increasing demand of energy by many of developing Southeast Asian states. The use of alternative fuels has been limited as there is still very much a dependence on fossil fuels. Regional efforts to integrate and pool energy resources include initiatives such as the ASEAN Power Grid and a Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline. Progress on these projects has however been uneven, as it has been easier to connect the Indochina region than maritime Southeast Asia.

Participants also discussed the feasibility of nuclear energy in ASEAN, given the increasing interest and plans by various member states to set up nuclear power plants. Yet, poor safety standards in many Southeast Asian countries continue to suggest that the idea may not be sustainable. By contrast, the availability of advanced technology and effective management standards in Northeast Asia has allowed countries such as Japan to effectively use nuclear energy sustainably. It was thus suggested that Singapore could play a significant role in Southeast Asia by providing technology transfer and training of nuclear personnel on safety issues to regional neighbours who wish to engage in nuclear energy usage. In addition, ASEAN has been working towards a cooperative framework on nuclear energy, and Malaysia has announced plans of establishing a nuclear monitoring facility for Southeast Asia. As to whether Singapore would use nuclear power as an energy source, it was suggested that it is possible, given Singapore’s increasingly diverse sources of energy, such as liquefied nitrogen petroleum (LNG). 

Communicating Environmental Change Through Education

Turning to the issue of sea-level rise as a result of Climate Change, Dr Beverly Goh highlighted the increasing vulnerabilities of coastal communities and the likely scenarios that would result from it. She provided details on the mapping of such scenarios for Southeast Asia, done by scientists under the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP). This project is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia and aims to inform policymakers in their selection of strategic and sustainable adaptive measures to reduce the future impacts of Climate Change.

Observations from the study suggest that there is a low increase in relative sea level change and medium land loss and migration costs by the years 2040 and 2100 for all the Southeast Asian scenarios. Nevertheless, it is also observed that the level of CO2 – carbon dioxide – concentration and size of populations will affect adaptive strategy effectiveness. Suggestions to overcome this include working towards a balanced source of energy and technologies, a reduction of population growth, enhancement of income equity, and allowance for greater convergence in capacity among regions.

Dr Goh also noted and discussed the environmental science modules studies at undergraduate and most post-graduate levels at the National Institute of Singapore – particularly so in the school’s MSc. (Life Sciences) Environmental Science Specialisation program.

Economics of Climate Change Regimes: Towards a Sustainable Framework

Dr Chang Youngho began the discussion on the use of economic models in ensuring sustainable development. He said that this would depend on two important factors: carbon intensity and carbon emission per capita, the latter of which is associated with rights.

Participants also shared their concerns on the problems associated with carbon trading systems. As many carbon traders are from Western states, there is the issue of how effective the absolute targets for limiting carbon emissions are. One concern was that stipulating an absolute target would provide an opportunity to carbon traders to evade their targets, for example when their GDP increases. It would therefore be better to use a per capita target. There is also the problem of carbon leakage, whereby companies shift their factories to developing countries - such as China - to evade carbon taxes. Apart from reducing the ability to control carbon emissions, it would also result in a loss of jobs.

Adding his thoughts on the issues, Mr Hunt noted that a US-China agreement lies at the heart of the problems raised pertaining to carbon emissions. He also observed three waves:
(1) Green Carbon Space, whereby there is reduced emissions;
(2) Clean Energy Revolution; and
(3) Tidal, geothermal and baseload solutions – on which India and Russia would pave the way, and South Africa would also play a proactive role.

Conclusion

Participants were pleased with the sharing of ideas, and looked forward to future possibilities of working together in a bid to fill in the gaps between science, policy and action. Mr Hunt wish participants well for their future endeavours.

List of Participants

H.E. Gregory Hunt
Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water
Australia

Dr Lee Poh Onn 
Fellow
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

Dr Alvin Chew
Research Fellow
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University Singapore

Dr Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi Lum
Assistant Professor
Natural Sciences and Science Education
National Institute of Education, Singapore

Dr Beverly Goh
Assistant Professor
Natural Sciences and Science Education
National Institute of Education, Singapore

Dr Chang Youngho
Assistant Professor
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

Dr Alex Cobb
Postdoctoral Associate
Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM) IRG
Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)

Ms Irene A Kuntjoro
Associate Research Fellow
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

Ms Sofiah Jamil
Research Analyst
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

Posted on: 9/4/2009 12:00:00 PM  |  Topic: Climate Change, Environmental Security and Natural Disasters