Sustainable Asia

Are you aware of the critical role soil plays in the battle against climate change? But 75% of soil is already degraded from unsustainable farming practices...so earth's “living skin” is suffering from a “diet problem,” we are feeding it the wrong menu. In a world of growing political tensions, can the US and China work together to restore this balance? 

Guests (in order of appearance): 

Rattan Lal, Ohio State University

Kevin Mo, iGDP China

Jessica D’Ambrosio, The Nature Conservancy

Fan Mingsheng, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Production credits:

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Co-Host and Producer: Chermaine Lee

Associate Producers: Sam LiXiaoYu, Zack Chiang, Lara-Nour Walton

Sound Engineer: Estima

Music Composition: Cole Chiu 

Contributing Editor: Jill Baxter

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

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Resources:

This podcast series is part of a Wilson Center China Environment Forum and Ohio State University initiative called Cultivating U.S. and Chinese Climate Leadership on Food and Agriculture. The initiative explores the actions both these “food superpowers” are taking to rein in agri-food greenhouse gas emissions and identifies potential areas of mutual learning and collaboration.

Blogs from the China Environment Forum:

• Soil’s Key Role in Fighting Climate Change in U.S. and Chinese Agriculture: The Wisdom of Dr. Rattan Lal
• Milking the Dairy Industry for Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China
• Rice: A Recipe for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U. S. and China?
• The Forgotten Greenhouse Gas: Nitrous Oxide as an Issue for U.S. and Chinese Agriculture
• Farming Our Future Carbon Neutral Agriculture in the US and China

China Environment Forum Webinars:

• The Blue Planet Turns Green: Algae Fouls Waters as the World Struggles to Grow More Food in a Changing Climate
• Opportunities for Enhanced Near-term U.S.-China Climate Action: The Food System
• Digging into Soil for Food Security and Climate: A Green Tea Chat With Rattan Lal, 2020 World Food Prize Winner
• Mapping China’s Pathway to a Carbon-neutral Food System
• Climate Action Down on the Farm: Food and Climate Nexus Opportunities in China and the US

LOGO images Created by Jennifer Nguyen and Ann Williams

Cartoon tractor is from NatBasil/Shutterstock, farmer from Canva

It turns out Seoul, Korea has the worst air pollution amongst all of the top 10 economies in the world. Why is air pollution still such a huge challenge in a country with abundant resources and advanced infrastructure?  And does South Korea use any high-tech solutions to handle its dirty air that South or Southeast Asian megacities can learn from?

Guests (in order of appearance): 

Jieon Lee, Korea Federation for Environmental Movements 

Gyuri Cho, Solutions for Our Climate

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Review us on listennotes!

Check out the other research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, India, and Southeast Asia.

Production credits:

Producer and Co-Host: Chermaine Lee

Co-Host:  Khoa Tran

Associate Producer:  Jack Lee

Executive Producer:  Marcy Trent Long

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Chermaine and Khoa move southeast and talk to a leading advocate in New Delhi who has successfully engaged the government there. Delhi’s air pollution is still one of the worst in the world, and we find out that instead of blowing north to Lahore…the pollution travels towards the pristine Himalayan mountains of Nepal and settles in the city of Kathmandu. Luckily, there is a new mayor there that might finally make a difference.

Guests (in order of appearance): 

Anumita Roychowdhury, Center for Science and Environment India

Kunda Dixit, Nepali Times 

Bhupendra Das, Nepal Energy and Environmental Development Services

Sign up to find out when new Sustainable Asia seasons are launched.

Review us on listennotes!

Check out the other research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, India, and Southeast Asia.

Production credits:

Producer and Co-Host: Khoa Tran

Co-Host: Chermaine Lee

Sound Engineer: Avery Choi

Associate Producer: Jack Lee

Lead Writer and Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music and Soundscape Credits:

Blue Dot Sessions:  Taoudella

Freesound: People

Baleh Shah music compilation 

Economics Time India Nepal Health Emergency

Nepali Times survey on bad air quality

The next stop on the Chermaine and Khoa’s tour of Asia’s megacities is Lahore. This episode goes in depth to explore the political and social causes of air pollution, sheds light on what people can do in their everyday lives to improve the air quality in Lahore, and calls upon the youth of Pakistan’s capital to raise awareness to protect their own future.

Guests (in order of appearance): 

Rafay Alam, Environmental Lawyer and Yale World Fellow

Abid Omar, Pakistan Air Quality Initiative

Ayesha Nasir, Lahore ScarryAmmi Mothers Group

Sign up to find out when new Sustainable Asia seasons are launched.

Review us on listennotes!

Check out the other research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, India, and Southeast Asia.

Production credits:

Producer and Co-Host: Chermaine Lee

Co-Host:  Khoa Tran

Sound Engineer:  Zoe Law

Associate Producer:  Jack Lee

Executive Producer:  Marcy Trent Long

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Blue Dot Sessions:  Harper’s Desk, Tionesta, Slow Dial, Bauxite, and The Zeppelin

Chermaine and Khoa’s journey continues onto Jakarta, Indonesia where they meet with environmentalists who shed light on the health concerns surrounding the heavy air pollution there. Lack of government response to the problem prompted advocates to sue the government for its failure to rein in the dirty air there. The landmark lawsuit was won, but will it force the government to take the steps necessary to bring back breathable air to the city?

Guests: 

Yuyun Ismawati, Nexus3 Foundation

Elisa Sutanudjaja, Rujak Center for Urban Studies

Leonard Simanjuntak, Greenpeace Indonesia

Jolene Lin, Asia-Pacific Center for Environmental Law

Sign up to find out when new Sustainable Asia seasons are launched.

Review us on listennotes!

Check out the other research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, India, and Southeast Asia.

Production credits:

Producer and Co-Host: Chermaine Lee

Co-Host: Khoa Tran

Sound Engineer: Avery Choi

Associate Producer: Jack Lee

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Free Music Archive:  Kai Engel Traffic, Motorcycle Bike

Music from Pixabay: Cinematic Atmosphere Score 1

In their first stop across Asia’s megacities, environmental journalists Chermaine Lee and Khoa Tran head to Bangkok, Thailand. The government’s blind eye towards pollution has left Bangkok’s air quality in shambles. Will efforts by environmental advocates lead to changes in the environmental laws there or is the government’s lack of action taking Bangkok down a path of toxic air for the foreseeable future?

Guests (in order of appearance): 

Weenarin Lulitanonda, Thailand Clean Air Network

Dr. Surat Bualert, Kasetsart University

Lynn Ocharoenchai, Youth Climate Activist

Sign up to find out when new Sustainable Asia seasons are launched and review us on listennotes!

Check out the research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, India, and Southeast Asia.

Production credits:

Producer and Co-Host: Khoa Tran

Co-Host: Chermaine Lee

Sound Engineer: Avery Choi

Associate Producer: Jack Lee

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Free Music Archive: Kai Engel, Mumbai Traffic, Ambiance, Children Playing, Children footsteps and laughter, Fire burning 

Other Sound Effects: Hong Kong Street Noise recorded by Wilson Lee, Grace Wong, Chun To Yeung

Why haven’t the governments in Asia’s larger cities done something about the decades old problem of air pollution? Our two young environmental journalists, based in Hong Kong, Khoa Tran and Chermaine Lee, try to find out why. As always in our podcast series, we’ll talk to experts and activists on the ground to bring out a fresh local perspective….We’ve called the series Clearing the Air to add an optimistic tone because the citizen movements that we uncovered while producing this series....were so inspiring. 

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Review us on listennotes!

Check out the Atlas publications and other research from the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Hong Kong, New Delhi, and Bangkok.

Production credits:

Sound Engineer:  Crystal Wu

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Of the various challenges Asian countries face when tackling plastic waste…lack of funding is perhaps the one common thread.  So how can more money get to needed programs here?  Seeing the rising demand for PCR (post consumer recycled plastics), Doug Woodring and Maryam AlMansoori believe they have one solution:  a global PCR commodity exchange. Meanwhile, Maggie Lee of VERRA talks about their expansion into plastic credits. Would this replica of carbon credits see similar results?

Guests: 

Doug Woodring, Ocean Recovery Alliance, Hong Kong 

Maryam AlMansoori , Rebound Plastics Exchange, UAE

Maggie Lee, VERRA, Washington DC

Subscribe for Sustainable Asia latest episodes and review us on listennotes!

Check out the Wilson Center’s plastic blogs and dialogues.

Production credits:

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Associate Producer and Sound Engineer: WuYuFei

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue):

Trek VX

Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, Legal and Policy Director at the NGO Oceana, is taking on the Philippine government.  A decades-old solid waste management law has not been enforced, contributing to massive piles of plastic….where waste pickers make their livelihood. Will the courts require the government to start banning single use plastic? And can a UN plastic treaty reinforce southeast nation's waste management and data collection laws… to finally make a dent in the plastic waste crisis in Asia?

This new three episode season is co-produced by the China Environment Forum with support from The Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership.

Guests:

Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, Legal and Policy Director, Oceana, The Philippines

Dr. Simachaya, President, Thailand Environment Institute

Subscribe for Sustainable Asia latest episodes and review us on listennotes!

Check out the Wilson Center’s plastic blogs and dialogues.

Also just published! Regional Research Inventory of marine plastics research in the seas of East Asia from National University of Singapore (NUS)

Production credits:

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Associate Producer: WuYuFei

Sound Engineer: Avery Choi

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue):

Dolly and Pad

Music from Free Music Archive:

scottholmesmusic.com, Blue Moon, Kai Engel -coelum

Sounds from FreeSound:

Suncord_Audiolab

Could it be true that countries from the UN Environment Assembly committed to negotiate a global plastic treaty over the next two years? And even if the treaty is signed…will it have enough teeth to make a difference to the plastic waste crisis that has persisted over the last decade here in Asia? In this episode, we speak with experts from Japan, New Zealand, and Indonesia about whether the UN can do for plastic what the Paris Agreement has done for climate change.

This new three episode season is co-produced by the China Environment Forum with support from The Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership.

Guests:

Trisia Farrelly, Massey University, New Zealand

Linda Yanti Sulistiawati, National University of Singapore, Singapore and Indonesia

Michikazu Kojima, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Japan

Subscribe for Sustainable Asia latest episodes and review us on listennotes!

Check out the Wilson Center’s plastic blogs and dialogues. 

Production credits:

Executive Producer: Marcy Trent Long

Associate Producer: WuYuFei

Sound Engineer: Avery Choi

Intro/outro music: Alex Mauboussin

Music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue):

VK Mendl, Dolly and Pad

Music from Free Music Archive:

Music by scottholmesmusic.com, Blue Moon, Kai Engel -coelum