Climate news and views with Jack Board and Liling Tan. Join our hosts as they make sense of the climate crisis, big ideas and practical fixes for a changing planet.
The views and opinions shared during this podcast series are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. or its group of companies.
Decades of relentless carbon emissions have affected one region more severely than any other – the Arctic. As ice melts at an unprecedented rate, humans and wildlife have already been affected. What needs to be done there, and are there also opportunities? Jaime Ho speaks to Arctic researcher Hema Nadarajah. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hydrogen, a simple and abundant element, has vast potential to become an alternative energy source. But extracting it is not always green nor affordable, not to mention the challenges of storage and transportation. Jaime Ho speaks to Frederic Carron, Vice President, Middle East & Asia, Energy Business, Wartsila on what it all means, and what’s in store for the potential of green hydrogen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Green and sustainable buildings have become an urgent corporate priority. What materials to use, how to get a net zero building off the ground and whether it'll be resilient to the worsening impacts of climate change are questions being asked in the real estate sector. Khoo Teng Chye, former URA chief planner and current Asia Pacific chair of the Urban Land Institute tells Jaime Ho that despite the challenges of cost, commitments and the climate, he is optimistic about change. See omnystudio.com...
At least 50 people died and thousands more saw their homes washed away in recent floods that hit Peninsula Malaysia. Could more have been done on flood management? How can politics, finance, data and technology come together to deal with more frequent, intense and potentially unpredictable storms? Jaime Ho speaks to Renard Siew, Climate Change Adviser to the Centre for Governance and Political Studies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Forests worldwide are crucial to our fight against climate change but researchers have found that 10 UNESCO World Heritage forests are now emitting more carbon than they absorb. How did the world’s most protected forests get to this stage? Can the damage be reversed to restore them as carbon sinks? What is the impact of national efforts and international commitments like those made at COP26? Jaime Ho speaks to Tales Carvalho Resende, project officer at the Natural Heritage Unit of the UNESCO Wor...
Palm oil is so versatile, it's found in half of packaged foods. It's also been identified as a driver for deforestation, when swaths of forests are cleared to make way for lucrative plantations. How has the industry tackled growing pressures to become more sustainable? How are smallholder farmers who earn a living from palm oil supported? And does sustainable palm oil mean higher prices for consumers? Jaime Ho speaks to Olivier Tichit, Director of Sustainable Supply Chain at Musim Mas. See omnys...
From streaming a movie on Netflix, to e-commerce and e-banking, we rely on data centres to process and communicate information at lightning speeds. Yet they are energy and water guzzlers. How are governments balancing the lucrative opportunity of building more data centres but also managing their large electricity footprint? And what does an eco-friendly data center look like? Jaime Ho speaks to Darren Webb, co-founder and CEO of Evolution Data Centers, which specialises in sustainable data infr...
Just what did the most important climate conference since Paris in 2015 achieve? What did nearly 200 countries commit to and where did they fall below expectations? Have a few cans been kicked down the road to Egypt next year even if countries cannot afford a minute to waste? Jaime Ho gets Melissa Low, Research Fellow at the NUS Energy Studies Institute to give us her take. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In a special edition, CNA's climate correspondent Jack Board reports on COP26 from Glasgow. While world leaders and corporate executives huddle in halls and on stages to decide the future of the Earth, he speaks to people who are clamouring for change but have been shut out from having a seat at the table: An indigenous group mother-and-daughter duo from the Philippines, a young man who gave up being a doctor to fight for the planet and a Thai architect. They outline what are “non-negotiables” a...
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the country's goal of reaching net zero as early as 2050. Plans include ending new coal-fired power plants, increasing renewable energy capacity and adopting carbon tax. What are the challenges with implementation? What does it mean for Malaysia’s economy, and role of sectors such as fossil fuels and palm oil? Jaime Ho speaks to Hezri Adnan, Executive Director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...
From this week, negotiators and leaders will gather in Glasgow to negotiate outcomes that will set in place promises made in the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015. On the back of the latest IPCC report which delivered a “code red for humanity”, what can and must we expect at COP26? Jaime Ho speaks to Isabelle de Lovinfosse who works for the British Government as the Head of Southeast Asia COP 26 Strategy, based in Singapore. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Advances in deep learning and computational power have made artificial intelligence (AI) less science fiction and more of a reality as a powerful tool in fighting climate change. But exactly what can it do to help us reduce emissions and mitigate impacts? What are the downsides of using AI to deal with a problem as complex as climate change? Jaime Ho speaks to Markus Kraft, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of Cambridge CARES, the University of Cambridge’s research centre based in S...
With rising electricity prices and growing demand, how do electricity companies balance cost with carbon emissions reductions commitments? Why are alternative energy sources still not a big part of the mix and how can customers help in this green journey? Jaime Ho speaks to Lim Han Kwang, CEO of Geneco and Group Head (Retail, Regulation and Renewables) of YTL PowerSeraya to find out how they intend to hit sustainability targets and embrace green energy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...
The global shipping trade is a vast network of unimaginable scale: 90 per cent of the world's trade is done by sea. But where does global shipping stand within the world’s emissions reductions commitments? And why is it so hard for this industry to decarbonise? Can the industry lower its emissions or is that a bar too high? Jaime Ho talks to Sanjay Kuttan, Chief Technology Officer of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
In 2019, passionate young people organised the SG Climate Rally. But with COVID-19, activism has leaned even further towards social media. But how far can it really go in driving climate action? Jaime Ho speaks to Woo Qiyun who runs the Instagram page The Weird and Wild for her take on how her brand of activism works, and on the challenges and opportunities behind this new virtual activism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
We live in a world where the boom in e-commerce allows us to buy anything we want and have it delivered within the day. Yet we have also awoken to the impact of climate change, and the need to reduce waste and embrace sustainability. So how do we square this circle? Is there a gap between purpose and action? Is it about buying “greener” or just buying less? Jaime Ho speaks to Sharon Ng, Professor and Head of the Marketing Division at Nanyang Business School. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
The home of the future is going to be a sustainable and a smart one so everyone can help reduce carbon emissions. Solar panels on the roof, appliances that conserve energy when not in use and a smart system that tells you how much you've consumed. How soon can these become a reality, how much would they cost and what about the challenge of retrofitting old buildings? Jaime Ho speaks to Manish Pant, Zone President in East Asia and Japan of Schneider Electric. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment has plans to create 55,000 new and upgraded jobs over the next 10 years. These plans need people but what are the skills and knowledge needed? Will passion and pay finally meet for future roles in sustainability? Jaime Ho speaks to two young guests who have already dipped their toes into this green future - Benedict Tan who majored in Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS and S Sandiyashini, a first year Life Sciences and Management student at NUS. ...
The 6th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that things are bleak and the time to fix it is fast running out. Jaime Ho speaks to Winston Chow, Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Singapore Management University and a contributor to the report, on what more governments, businesses and people can do to avoid the worst that will inevitably come. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
The young will inherit a planet very different from their parents. How aware are our students about climate change? What does going green and environmental education in schools look like and how much can they influence others around them with what they learn in class? Jaime Ho speaks to Tampines secondary school students Alexander Chua and Pratibha Naidu, and their teacher, Preeti Sheri. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Ride-hailing companies like Grab and Gojek have announced a flurry of climate commitments in the form of electric vehicles or carbon offsets, including plans for fleets to run on clean energy by 2030. What sort of dent will they make in cutting emissions? What will a switch to electric vehicles mean for private hire drivers and consumers? And how does ride-hailing fit into Singapore’s car-lite vision? Jaime Ho speaks to Andrew Chan, Managing Director of Transport at Grab Singapore in this week’s...
No natural eco-system captures carbon quite as well as the humble mangrove. What are the hidden opportunities and realities of what mangroves can do in mitigating climate change? And what role do such nature-based solutions play amid other strategies countries have to make in reducing emissions? Associate Professor Dan Friess from the National University of Singapore who has studied mangroves for over a decade, speaks to Jaime Ho. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
As nations target net-zero emissions goals, the quest to transform energy systems and shift towards renewables could move the needle on climate action. But how far can alternatives like solar, wind and biothermal still go, and what about carbon capture and storage? Jaime Ho speaks to Francesco La Camera, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on the urgency of implementation and the questions around cost. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Can Asia “radically reinvent” its energy systems and reduce reliance on fossil fuels despite rising demand? What are the “exit costs” when oil and gas companies change their business models? Accenture Senior Managing Director Valentin de Miguel speaks to Jaime Ho on the unique challenges facing the region and what companies and governments can do to make this leap. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In tackling the climate crisis, nations have to transform their energy sector, a key component responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has set out a pathway on what countries must do starting now. But how feasible are its projected milestones and can nations with vastly different resources keep to their commitments? Jaime Ho speaks to co-author of the IEA's report, Dr Timur Gul. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Can Indonesia get to net zero emissions by 2050, and what roles can a carbon tax and natural climate solutions play? And what about the tricky challenges of reducing fossil fuel subsidies and Indonesia's reliance on coal? Jaime Ho speaks to Dino Patti Djalal, Chairman of Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia and fellow at the Milken Institute’s Asia Center. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A new global carbon exchange headquartered in Singapore will allow companies to buy and sell carbon credits. Four founders have kicked this off – DBS and Standard Chartered Banks, state investment company Temasek and the Singapore Exchange (SGX). What does CIX offer that is different? How will transparency and "good quality credits" be assured? Jaime Ho speaks to Mikkel Larsen, the Chief Sustainability Officer at DBS and interim CEO for CIX. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
What role does climate insurance play for corporations, governments and business owners who will be faced with the impacts of climate change? How will these risks be decided and who will pay for them? Jaime Ho speaks to Antonio Grimaldi, partner at McKinsey & Company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Future generations will deal with impacts of climate change so education is key. How are our educators and those who shape our school curriculums dealing with climate change? What does it take to infuse a comprehensive climate change curriculum? Where are we now and how much more needs to be done? Jaime Ho finds out from Associate Professor Chang Chew Hung, Dean of Academic and Strategic Development at National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University. See omnystudio.com/listen...
A nation of 1.4 billion people, the world's second largest economy, and currently the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, what China does matters. But can it keep its bold promises to get to net-zero and how far will it lead from emissions targets to climate technology to international cooperation? Jaime Ho speaks to Chen Gang, Assistant Director at the East Asian Institute at NUS. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
