Green Plus Issu 14

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COLUMN of sustainable urban design and Green buildings towards the aspect of social, environment and economy for a better world. Capitalism v Climate change How free market fundamentalism helped overheat the planet and how we should react against the invisible hand There were indeed, important and interesting signs ahead of this upcoming UNFCCC COP 21 in Paris. With the recent key events that Obama has rejected Keystone XL pipeline project after 6 years of review and Vatican leaders have released Pope Francis’s 192 pages encyclical on the environment this year, it is ambivalent to ride on the optimism that COP 21 will deliver what COP 15 in Copenhagen has failed, a legal binding agreement for countries to stay below the 2 degree Celsius increase in global temperature. However, the treaty is not a bargain for the African and other vulnerable countries, as they were pushing for 1.5 degree Celsius instead because 2 degrees Celsius spells genocide for their countries. I am uncertain, as hope is embarking scarcity this time. The world’s governments have been negotiating about their’ carbon’ for my entire life, literally, from the mid- 1990s, and the only thing rising faster than our emissions is the amount of pledges to lower them. So why the paradox occurrence where our global emission is just getting off the charts? Naomi Klein latest anti-globalization trilogy book “This Changes Everything” might refresh your memory on the bigger picture of climate change isn’t about carbon, but capitalism. WE KNEW (KNOW) WHAT IS COMING Let us not fool ourselves that climate destabilization is a hoax, as surveys of the peer-reviewed scientific literature consistently show a 97-98% that humans are causing global Naomi Klein’s latest trilogy book on anti-capitalism “This Changes Everything” warming. In fact, the climate conversation began back in 1988 when Dr James Hansen, climatologist and director of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies, testified that climate change is an anthropogenic effect. While majority Malaysians are clouded with the current political drama and financial hardships, the conversation on climate change has gone into adaptation by building more dams and flood mitigation infrastructures, rather in depth public conversations on cutting down absolute carbon emissions (which our government opted for an absurd 40% carbon reduction as per GDP intensity in COP15). The ecology and economic damages of climate change is prevalent, as seen from the new norm, the annual dry spell and flood on the east and west coast respectively. The weatherman recorded an increase of 0.7 degrees in average peninsula temperature since the 1969, while the mean Malaysian seas level has been rising at a rate of 1.42-4.08mm/ year. Record breaking typhoons, floods and droughts are getting off the charts at various corners of the world, and scientists have also confirmed that we have entered the sixth mass extinction where animals are dying out 100 times the normal rate. Clearly, we are no longer at the terms discussing about preventing climate change, but instead, avoiding catastrophic damages by transiting into a resilience economy. BUT WHAT IS STOPPING US? Many of us have already known this inconvenient truth well, but why aren’t many recognizing and taking the necessary action? Most Malaysians will conveniently browse through the disastrous scenes of typhoon Haiyan or Katrina in grief and anger but back to business as usual the next day. Many want the change but does not want to be the change. Why? Even if, only few that talk about going energy efficient, switching off the light bulbs, permaculture gardening, or green buildings. But what we need here is a radical transformation that will mobilize the mass movement. In which, Klein explicitly pointed out, those huge efforts we yearn to see fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism, the reigning ideology for the entire period we have been struggling to find a way out of this crisis. 58 Greenplus TM MARCH 2016
COLUMN The top 90 companies that are responsible for two thirds of our global carbon emissions (Source: The Guardian) We are trapped because the actions that would be the best chance of averting catastrophe and would benefit the vast majority – are extremely threatening to an elite minority that has a stranglehold over our economy (oil and gas particularly), political process (that is lobbied by rich corporations), and our media outlets. Interestingly from a socialism point of view, a research from Yales found that people with strong ‘communitarian’ (incline towards collective action and social justice) worldviews accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Conversely, those with strong ‘hierarchical’ and ‘individualistic’ (strong support for industry) worldviews reject the scientific consensus. It is always easier to deny reality than to allow our worldview to be shattered. But what about ‘green technology’ attempts in saving the world? Ironically, finding new ways to privatize the commons and profit from disaster is also what our current system is built to do. The benefits goes to the ‘climate-ready’ crops producer such as Monsanto, and big contractors, insurance companies benefiting through disaster mitigation projects. What about big companies and Individuals such as Shell and Richard Greenplus TM MARCH 2016 Branson declaring that environmental conservation is in their agenda? It is nothing more than a public relations stunt, reflected in their tiny investment on environmental obligations. THE CLIMATE CHANGE AND CAPITALISM PARALLELISM The scenario is distinctively identical across the globe. The privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and lower corporate taxation, paid for with cuts to public spending. The occupy wall street movement echoes the real world costs of these policies, the instability of financial market, the ever widening rich poor gap, as well as the failing state of public infrastructure and services. Klein reinforced her past 15 years of experience by linking how capitalism has systematically sabotaged our collective response to climate change, a happening threat that came knocking just as this ideology was reaching its zenith. If one has to look back at the past quarter century of international negotiations, two defining process stand out. There will be the climate process, which struggles and failing utterly to achieve its goals, and there will be the corporate globalization process, hammering victorious milestones, from the first trade deal between Canada and the United States (which forms NAFTA) to the creation of World Trade Organization to the transformation of large parts of Asia into sprawling free trade zones, with the latest Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Both, interestingly began in the 1990s. In mid of 2014, the IPCC has also finally acknowledged the reality of growing share of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions is released in the manufacture of products that are traded across international borders. A MORAL ISSUE – SOLVING THIS SOLVING MORE Climate destabilization is a moral issue transcended through our current economic system. Between 1990 and 1998, more than 94 percent of the world’s biggest natural disasters occurred in developing world, places with weak and poor infrastructure, where people are not responsible for the majority of the carbon emissions. Instead, 80 percent of the world’s emissions lies with just 20 percent of the inhabitants of the world’s wealthiest nations. Research also suggests that the climate crisis is fuelled by 90 companies (mostly oil and gas), which between them produced nearly two thirds of the greenhouse gas emissions since the dawning of industrial age. The culprits extend to huge industries such as aviation, automobile and even military, which are decided by consumers like us. We know that various social issues are caused and amplified by wealth inequality and injustice (at all scales, from individuals to countries) which directly contradicts humanity values and religious teachings. Fixing this moral issue we know, is not merely a chance to respond to the climate crisis but it restores hope and progress of the human race as a whole. As what James Martin has rightly pointed out in his book “The Meaning of the 21st Century”, we are at the junction of our civilization in determining our future. THE GREAT WAKE-UP CALL So how do we do it? Definitely not the next generation of ‘clean’ nuclear power plants that take another decade of research, not some giant carbon dioxide sucking machine, not slowly awaiting our “green companies” or “green Messiahs”. We simply do not have the time. But instead, people power. 59
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IPERBADANAN TE KNOLOGI H JAU M E L
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Hypermarkets can’t just ignore ca
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CONTENTS GREENPlus TM » p.24-25 »
Page 10 and 11: Resilient Cities Asia — Pacific 2
Page 14: ECONOMIC Competitive Cities Fosteri
Page 21: Resilient Cities Asia - Pacific 201
Page 29: Resilient Cities Asia — Pacific 2
Page 41 and 42: ARCHITECTURE include efficient ener
Page 43 and 44: ENVIRONMENT Building of aeration sy
Page 46 and 47: ARCHITECTURE Urban regeneration A
Page 48 and 49: COLUMN Hidden costs Looking at a
Page 50: COLUMN by keeping you physically ac
Page 53 and 54: CLIMATE hence leading to climate ch
Page 55 and 56: Who is DHES? DRB-Hicom Environmenta
Page 57 and 58: COLUMN National Library of Belarus
Page 59: COLUMN Illinois Sustainable Technol
Page 63 and 64: IN THIS ISSUE Dire need for indust
Page 65 and 66: MARITIME contributed to climate cha
Page 68 and 69: COLUMN KAVICKUMAR MURUGANATHAN
Page 70 and 71: ECO EXPO ASIA 2015 Embracing a Gree
Page 72 and 73: ENERGY UNESCO and Panasonic partner
Page 74 and 75: ECOLIGHT TECH ASIA 2015 A SUCCESS s
Page 76 and 77: ARCHITECTURE By SARAWUT BURAPAPAT
Page 78: ARCHITECTURE - tiatives include: as
Page 81 and 82: ENERGY The solar farm feeding Kochi
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Green Plus Issu 14

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