EcoWorldly

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South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s public approval ratings took a dramatic nose dive last month when he okayed a deal with President Bush to import low-grade US beef — banned since the 2003 outbreak of mad cow disease – into South Korea. Demonstrations, first against US beef and then against the president himself, swelled throughout the country, climaxing at weekly protests 80,000 strong in the capitol. Oops.

So how do you make an angry populace happy again? President Lee decided that the best way to appease voters (and mark his 100th day as president) was to pardon 2.8 million petty thieves and scammers, and also to give drunk drivers a clean driving slate. Does anyone follow the logic here?

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Starting things off with a bang, Chile declared a permanent ban on whaling on the opening day of the International Whaling Commission’s annual meeting. The Pacific Ocean-bordering country is playing host to the conference, where tensions are running high. One goal of the conference is to get enough countries to vote affirmatively to create a new whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic Ocean. But this plan might be stymied by the meeting’s own chair person.

In an effort to build consensus, the chair person of the conference urged for there to be little debate and no voting at the meeting this year. The goal is to “pay it forward,” and use any additional good will that is created this year at next year’s meeting with the hope that more can be accomplished. Many environmentalists find the chairman’s plan to be intolerable, as they claim that Japan is using “scientific research” as an excuse to hunt approximately 1,000 whales each year. But Japan isn’t the only country ignoring a 1986 ban on commercial whaling that was agreed upon by the commission. Read the rest of this entry »

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil producer is going green. At least in its first ecologically sustainable paper manufacturing venture. A carton paper manufacturer is making good its concerted efforts in environmental sustainability in the desert kingdom to recycle paper and raise consumer awareness about eco issues.

In a joint effort, the country’s paper manufacturer, Middle East Paper Company (MEPCO) and Tetra Pak Arabia will, exchange expertise and experiences in the recycling field and MEPCO’s role will be to collect, sort and do the actual recycling work. Beverage carton recycling will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites.

The partnership will address the issue of recycling thousands of cartons that get discarded by households and other establishments across Saudi Arabia on a daily basis, the first of its kind in the Middle East region.

The collaborators hope that apart from making a mark on the environment, they will be opening the recycled products, largely post consumer food and beverage cartons, to a wider international market, and follows successful trials conducted to demonstrate the recycling ability of Tetra Pak cartons by MEPCO.

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What can we learn from China?

As new figures condemning China as the world’s biggest producer of CO2 were reported in the Western world last week, many observers shook their heads and pointed their fingers towards the East as an excuse to avoid personal responsibility for climate change, before moving on to the next news item on their Chinese manufactured computers and plasma tv screens.

China may be the dirty nation of the world today, but what went widely unreported is the fact that of all nations, and despite a reluctance to commit to too much during climate negotiations, China is taking the kind of direct action that Western democracies in all their self righteousness have so far failed to do.

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World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a report in 2006 that documented the plunder of natural resources by human activity and warned that the globe itself could be outstripped in its capacity to support life, rendering the earth extinct in under 50 years.

Based on scientific data collected from across the globe, it revealed that more than a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity in just over the past three decades, because of, among others, increased emissions of green house gases into the ecosystem.

Unless consumption of natural resources was cut and the destruction of vital ecosystems was stopped, human life and that of thousands of other animals and plants would not be sustainable hence the suggestion that the earth itself could be extinct by 2050. In short, the demise of biodiversity will be the death of life on earth, as we know it.

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Understandably, developing countries face unique challenges in addressing concerns related to the environment. Apart from the environment, poor developing countries have more pressing and immediate problems that oftentimes present themselves so forcefully that politicians are forced to make too many compromises, particulalrly on environmental issues.

But simply ignoring “going green” will indeed destroy the base of natural resources that developing countries need for sustainable economic, social, and political prosperity.

“For most, emission reduction is not a viable option in the near term. With income levels far below those of developed countries and per capita emissions on average just one-sixth those of the industrialized world developing countries will continue to increase their emissions as they strive for economic growth and a better quality of life,” says Eileen Claussen, President of Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

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Contrary to popular opinion, bicycling can potentially damage the environment due to the increased longevity of people engaged in physical activity, says Karl Ulrich, a Wharton Business School professor.

Ulrich argues that the greatest environmental peril society may face is the looming prospect of slowing the aging process, and bicycling potentially contributes to slowing aging.

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Bicycling it isn’t always easy. Busy streets, honking horns, and inadequate city funding for bike lanes and paths can make bicycling an uphill battle. However, with green in the news, the economy in a slump, and summer on its way, it’s getting easier to find reasons why there are some 1.4 billion bicycles and only about 400 million cars in the world today.

This week, EcoWorldly authors from six continents contributed articles on bicycling in their country. With exerpts from those articles and others in the blogosphere, here are seventeen very good reasons to bicycle no matter where you live. Click the headings as you go to read more.
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Note: this article is part of this week’s EcoWorldly cycling series: Cycling and its importance in countries around the world.

In Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, you bicycle at your risk in spite of the clear advantages to the environment and physical health.

Next to the pedestrian, the bicycle is regarded as the lowest in the mode of transportation chain.

Chiang Mai’s roads team with vehicles of all sorts and ubiquitous motorcycles that screech, hoot and zig-zag through the traffic.

If anything, the undefined movement of the motorcycles poses the biggest threat to bicyclists. They are forced to stay on the edge of the road where they can potentially ram into the curb. The absence of bicycle tracks on many roads further worsens the situation.

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Note: this article is part of this week’s EcoWorldly cycling series: Cycling and its importance in countries around the world.

In South Korea, it’s easy to tell a toned, avid cyclist when you see one. You’ll know by his killer ninja looks.

Underneath the cyclist’s sleek helmet: a bandanna. Below the rim of the bandanna: steely sunglasses. Wrapping from the bandanna to cover the rest of the face: a hard face mask.

All in all, the cycling outfit looks like something straight out of a ninja movie. But what battles are there for a modern day bicycle ninja to fight? Just as in a Hollywood film, these ninja lookalikes toil to protect the young and the old from a common threat. And as it turns out, that ninja-like mask and outfit isn’t just for show. It protects bicyclists from a very real enemy.

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