Climate Conversations

Food production is deeply affected by extreme weather events and the pandemic exposed weak links along the chain from farm to table. Climate impacts are here to stay so how will smallholder farmers adapt? Will technology and innovation help? How will changing consumer consumption patterns affect farmers? Jaime Ho speaks to Duke Hipp of CropLife Asia a Singapore-based NGO.

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Singapore's carbon tax will go up from S$5 now to potentially S$80 by 2030. How significant is the sharp calibration upwards in terms of climate ambition? What will it mean for businesses and consumers as it trickles down? And how will revenues be used to help industries pivot and customers cope? Jaime Ho speaks to Vinod Thomas, Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School Of Public Policy and former Director General at the Asian Development Bank.

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Following the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015, President of COP26 Alok Sharma speaks to Jaime Ho about getting the Glasgow Climate Pact past the finishing line, and why so much work remains to be done on the road to COP27 in Egypt. 

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Nuclear energy is already part of the equation in the world's energy mix. With climate change an existential crisis, is there a way to produce this "clean" energy safely? What is the economics of it and how far can technological advancements go towards greater adoption? Jaime Ho speaks to Philip Andrews-Speed, Senior Principal Research Fellow at the Energy Studies Institute. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 World Heritage Centre.

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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.

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