Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Group Message 3
The Team 4
The Climate Change Imperative 5
COP16 Overview 6 Activities Undertaken 8
Coverage by the Team 13 Pre-COP16, COY 8
Climate Change
Policy 14 10
Communication Forum
Media and Oceans Day 11
15 World Climate Summit 12
Communications
Capacity Building 16
Reflections 17
ECO‟s Perspectives 18
Beyond COP16 20
Appendix 21
Appendix A: About ECO 21
Appendix B: Team Profile 23
Appendix C: ASEAN Statement 27
© Photo credits: Wen Yun, LJ, Logesh, and the other amazing people we met
In this report, the COP 16 team from ECO Singapore will be sharing
their experiences about COP 16, the side events that occurred
alongside it, YOUNGO, the Conference of Youth and how they will
apply what they have learnt to aid them in their efforts to promote
green lifestyles, initiatives and movements. We hope you will
continue to show your support to the green movement.
Along with 3 other volunteers at ECO Singapore, they worked with other ASEAN youth in
producing and pushing forward an ASEAN statement, which has been presented to
respective governments. The delegates were all actively engaged in the experience,
helping out with the UN Youth Constituency (YOUNGO), attending the Conference of
Youth (COY), various side events such as the Climate Change Communication Forum and
Oceans Day, and also volunteering at the World Climate Summit.
OBJECTIVES AT COP16
Global greenhouse gas emissions have continued along an upward trend, increasing by a
staggering 70% since 1970 to 2004. And it is definitely still growing today. It is predicted that
global temperatures will rise by 1.8 to 4.0°C by 2100, and a forecasted increase in 2°C is
already sufficient in causing catastrophic, irreversible impacts on our climate and many
ecosystems.
In this regard, climate change will have a profound impact on human rights enshrined in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights such as the right to life, security, food and health.
At the same time, efforts to mitigate the causes and effects of climate change are raising
complex questions on the economic rights of nations to prosper and improve the lives of
their people.
In addition to the pressing concerns of coastal communities and small-island states that
face possible and permanent inundation, the proliferation of climate-sensitive diseases has
increased with the rising temperatures which have enabled disease-carrying micro-
organisms to expand their geographical reach. Weather patterns have also become
increasingly erratic, unpredictable and violent. Hurricane Katrina, Cyclone Nargis, and
other hurricanes of increasing intensity and frequency have all claimed many victims for
their own and devastated the human landscape. Many prolonged heat and dry spells in
various parts all over the world in the last few years have also been attributed to climate
change.
Climate change presents a profoundly new challenge to us in this age where all countries
are so closely interlinked and interdependent on one another. Ultimately, it is a challenge
that calls for the recognition of common, yet differentiated responsibilities towards ensuring
basic human survival, an element that has been somewhat forgotten in the swathes of
paperwork, scientific facts and steadily burgeoning battle of national interests. Decisive
action with greater resolve is thus imperative in a major shift towards a completely new
global world order, which demands greater coherence and compromise in global
governance, before the precipitation of a global crisis.
So which story will you want to tell in 2050 - a story of triumph and redemption, or a story of
fruitless struggles and failure?
Meeting youth from all over the world allowed us to broaden our views on our
actions, initiatives, and approaches taken to mitigate climate change. To enhance
the effectiveness of the contribution of ideas on youth-led environmental initiatives,
the regional breakout sessions were held, and ECO Singapore delegates joined the
Asian breakout sessions. Through this, we were able to communicate our successes
on ground-level initiatives as well how to better improve and collaborate with each
other on existing initiatives. This had allowed for more relevant ideas to be
contributed towards effective climate change action in Asia.
An important message that the ECO Singapore delegates will take away from these
sharing sessions is the need for the local context and culture to be infused into public
education for climate change action. An interactive sharing session by the New
Zealand Youth Climate Coalition allowed for drama, movement and song to be
integrated into climate change education, reminding us of the need to make
climate change more relevant and interesting to the youth in Singapore.
ECO Singapore prepared extensively for Young and Future Generations Day(Yo-Fu-
Ge Day). Yo-Fu-Ge day is dedicated to youth and aims for further recognition of
their role in the UNFCCC negotiation process. During COY, Teh Yiying worked on
preparing the Yo-Fu-Ge Day banner as well as planned the action for our
delegation.
As an independent policy
advisor, author and
researcher, Simon Anholt
specialises in national
identity and reputation,
public diplomacy and the
public perceptions of
nations, cities and regions.
„Competitive Identity‟,
„Brand America‟, „Brand
Recognizing the need for more effective publicity New Justice‟ and „Another
and awareness on climate change education, the One Bites The Grass‟ are
Climate Change Communication Forum was held in just a few of the books he
Cancun, Mexico alongside the 16th Conference of has written. Anholt
Parties (COP16). The forum invited distinguished developed the concepts
speakers and experts in the field from around the of the 'nation brand' and
world to converge on a singular, international 'place brand' in the late
platform and share their ideas, reaching out to 1990s, and today plays a
government and civil society delegates. leading role in this rapidly
Conceptualised by Simon Anholt, a British expanding field.
government advisor who specialises in nation
branding, topics discussed at the forum ranged from
the communication of climate change science, to the role of new and alternative
messengers with the rise of new media, as well as engaging an indifferent public, a
topic presented by the man behind it all himself. Other speakers included Eileen
Claussen (President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change), Nick Nutall
(Head of Media, United Nations Environmental Program), and Rajendra K. Pachauri
(Chair of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change/IPCC), with COP16 president
Patricia Espinosa Cantellano closing the forum.
Judy Goh of the ECO Singapore team joined the YOUNGO Media and
Communications Working Group to provide Asian perspectives on
messaging. She wrote the press release for the youth intervention in the
SBSTA plenary, which was delivered by New Zealand youth delegate Emma
Moon. She also managed the International Youth Climate Movement Twitter
account (@IYCM) for the duration of the conference.
One of her tweets in response to Bolivia's official Twitter was featured in the
Guardian (online version) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/
2010/dec/10/cancun-climate-change-summit-final. In her tweet, she
voiced the Youth's views that the Cancun Agreement is an obliging step
towards "what the world really needs" in response to @Bolivia_UN which felt
that the document was "no victory for humanity".
During the second week of the conference, the team met up with
environmental correspondent Jessica Cheam from The Straits Times to give
an exclusive interview on their activities and work with YOUNGO as well as
with the Asian community. The resulting article was published in the Straits
Times on 14 December 2010 in the Home section, to coincide with reviews
of the United Nations proceedings at COP16 and the resulting Cancun
Agreement.
Logaswari was interviewed by Voice of America on the role that youth play
in cliamte negotiations and the paradigm shift that needs to occur before
much-needed climate change action is taken.
Wen Yun and Yiying were interviewed by fellow youth activist Australian
Linh Do on their views at Klimaforum, the alternative venue for participants
without accreditation to the official United Nations venues at
Cancunmesse and Moon Palace and this can be viewed at
http://www.symnews.org/.
This was first done through the introduction sessions at COY, where
delegates from the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, The Philippines, Nepal and
Australia shared their experiences on educating the public on
environmental awareness and working with their respective governments.
These provided those at COY with the inspirations, contacts, valuable
advice and experience needed to motivate them to continue on their
path of tackling climate change.
We are of the opinion that the developed world can and should accept the target
of reducing GHG emissions by 80% by 2050 and believe that it is absolutely essential
for the developing world to be party to emissions reductions targets through a
phased approach. We advocate innovative solutions through joint actions such as a
reformed Clean Development Mechanism, technology transfer and capacity
building, while recognizing the importance of maintaining a level of autonomy for
countries to decide on the best utilisation of carbon pricing systems.
To achieve these ends, ECO intends to galvanise the support of government leaders
from both the developed and developing countries to reach a consensus through
our collaborations with the global youth, promote CDM and technology transfer
amongst the business community and issue a draft statement endorsed by all youth
on the youth perspective on climate change.
Negative Repercussions
More crucially, Singapore will bear the negative brunt of climate change. Climate
change will have an impact not only on our environment and ecosystem, but on our
livelihood and cost of living. Climate change threatens biodiversity, causes
reductions in the availability of liveable land, sea-level increases and an increase in
the number of heat waves. These lead to decreases in crop yields and numerous
repercussions to the health of our population.
Singapore’s potential
Private-Public Partnerships
This could be vary from championing the development of solar energy catered to
tropical climates, energy efficiency and alternative energy test-bedding and the
development of a regional/global emissions trading market. By promulgating
policies that assist companies to develop their capabilities in these sectors,
Singapore will be able to profile itself as an example of low-carbon growth while
allowing Singapore companies and MNCs based in Singapore to gain significant
first-mover advantage in the nascent Environmental Goods and Services industry,
worth an estimated US $650 billion, by the World Bank. Through an active
participation in regional and global platforms such as ASEAN, APEC, WTO, the UN
General Assembly, Singapore can play a lead role in galvanizing support for the
development of these clean technologies and innovative financial solutions.
1. Further reduction of carbon emissions beyond the 16% level below BAU
levels the Government has proposed and set out defined plans to peak
our carbon emissions in context of our economic development plans
2. To act on the above without the condition of a legally binding global deal
if an agreement is not reached at the end of COP 17.
3. Introducing a regulatory framework and checks promoting minimum
standards in reducing emissions and increasing efficiency especially in key
industrial sectors
4. Assistance towards funding for green technology adoption for all key
sectors of the economy
5. Support regional initiatives in the form of sharing of best practices,
technology transfer and capacity building.
6. Taking the lead to ensure that the needs of small island states are not
overlooked by major players like China, India and the US
7. To promote the creation of a common voice among South East Asian
states so as to strengthen focus on our interests as a region during
negotiations
8. Greater focus on technology research in the area of environment
sustainability to better adapt Singapore against climate change
9. Raising awareness effectively among the people, private and public
sectors on the impacts and opportunities arising from climate change
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Prior to COP 16, the ECO Singapore delegation had participated in many events
and effort to increase public education and knowledge of climate change.
Following our return to Singapore from COP 16, we will continue to follow-up with the
institutions that have graciously allowed us to educate their students on climate
change. With our experiences from COP 16, we will look toward providing more
interactive and engaging talks and seminars to local schools and tertiary institutions
like Temasek Junior College, Victoria Junior College and Raffles Junior College.
We have also planned a sharing session with NTUC to allow us to share our
experiences on COP and how we can move forward from COP to increase the
receptiveness of youth perspectives towards climate change.
POLICY
We hope that the ASEAN Youth Statement that was crafted in Cancun can serve as
a starting point with regards to enhanced youth engagement and involvement with
both governmental and non-governmental actors. In the coming months, we aim to
coalesce into community of concerned youths in the ASEAN region to engage in
multi-faceted activities together as well as in our individual countries. These activities
may range from climate change education, tree-planting, public awareness talks,
consultations with national governments as well as strategizing for effective youth
participation at future United Nations Climate Change Conferences and other
related forums.
Operational since end 2005, ECO Singapore aims to challenge youth of age 17-35 to
adopt a sustainable lifestyle and embrace environmental issues holistically. ECO
Singapore actively drives and supports local and global environmental initiatives
involving other environmental stakeholders. Besides receiving support for our
activities and programmes from the National Youth Council, we also work closely
with the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, National Environment
Agency, Public Utilities Board, local environmental group and international
environmental groups.
Our Vision
To be the leading environmental body advocating sustainable lifestyle for youth
Our Mission
1. To challenge youth of age 17-35 to adopt a sustainable lifestyle and
embrace environmental issues holistically*
2. To drive local and global environmental initiatives
3. To support environmental activities/initiatives as a resource platform involving
other environmental stakeholders
* Holistic – in ECO Singapore, we categorise human consumption issues into six areas.
They are Food, Energy, Water, Shelter, Waste and Biodiversity.
The organisation is mainly run and managed by volunteers. The volunteer pool
stands at 120 and growing. The organisation does its empowering and engaging
outreach through its 5 departments. Each department consists of five to six core
committed volunteers who steer their respective department projects/initiatives.
Apart from relying on the kind donations and sponsorships from the public and the
corporate, the organisation offers a range of services through its service/enterprise
arm to generate income to support its current overheads.
Services/Enterprises
ECO Training
Provides customised environmental training programmes.
ECO Travel
Provides customised eco-cultural and interactive experience in Asia region.
ECO Publications
Publishes “ECO-Express”, a magazine written by youth for youth. These are available
in both PDF and hard copy.
ECO RE:Store
Selling reusable, recycled and eco-friendly products that supports fair trade and
cottage industry in the region.
ECO Consultancy
Provides technical consultation on how to improve an organisation‟s environmental
practices.
ECO Agriculture
Working with developing countries to do organic plantation as job creating to help
alleviate poverty.
Introduction
We are a group of South East Asian Youth who are participating in the United Nations Climate
Change Conference as members of civil society. We are committed to bringing back insights to
our respective countries to catalyze actions on this extremely urgent issue in different ways,
including public awareness, mitigation, policy development and government consultations.
The ASEAN, with its population of over 600 million, has a huge stake in ensuring climate change
is addressed effectively. Considering the different circumstances in each member country,
ASEAN cannot tackle climate change on its own. However, ASEAN can no doubt enhance its
efforts to ensure a robust low-carbon economic region and its climate resilience.
ASEAN has been gaining increasing political clout around the world. Its effectiveness and
credibility as a regional bloc will therefore have to be more acknowledged from within and by
other actors.
ASEAN contributes to approximately 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions and therefore has
much potential for mitigation, while taking into account the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities. ASEAN countries must have a clear vision of developing low-
carbon economies, with appropriate strategies for short-term and middle-term and long-term
goals in order to achieve sustainable development.
Southeast Asia is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, especially due to its rich
biodiversity and extensive coastlines. Southeast Asia is situated right in the middle of the coral
triangle and holds over 30% of the world's coral reefs. Furthermore, the occurrences of extreme
weather within the region have increased, with the number of typhoons in 2004 increasing to
21, above the median of 17.5 for the years 1990 through 2003.
In addition, droughts in Vietnam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and the Philippines have caused
forest fires, crop failures and water shortages. From 2002 to 2007 alone, Southeast Asia
produced 140 million tonnes of grain per year and the Asian Development Bank report on the
Economics of Climate Change believes that there could be a 50% loss in the agricultural output
of ASEAN in the future due to erratic weather and other climatic events. This could pose
problems for economic development, trade, and food security within and between ASEAN and
other countries. Many South East Asian countries also have significant coastal regions with
physical and infrastructural capital at risk from rising sea levels.
The ASEAN, with its many vulnerabilities, should advocate limiting warming to 1.5 degrees
Celsius and bringing long term carbon dioxide concentration below 350 ppm. In addition,
ASEAN countries should capitalize on the strengths of respective members in order to create an
integrated, effective approach to tackle regional climate change, be it policy, sharing of best
practices or direct action in local communities. A rights-based approach to tackling climate
change issues should also be discussed about and integrated into decision-making.
With this said, much of ASEAN has an opportunity to avoid conventional modes of development
and transition into an environmentally friendly and sustainable region while effectively
adapting to the inevitable effects of climate change. This will allow the region to achieve
effective and sustained economic integration, ensuring equal opportunities to self-
determination and prosperity for all.
One positive development would be for decisions made by the ASEAN Meeting for the
Environment (AMME) to be effectively amalgamated into the work of the ASEAN Economic
Community. This will allow climate change to be at the forefront of being a political priority year
after year, discussed closely in tandem with any discussion of economic growth and integration.
There should be systematic capacity building, and also emphasis on the interconnectedness and
impact of climate change on other sectors, such as biodiversity, agriculture and fisheries. We
need to mainstream climate change in all sectors of our economies, recognizing that it is an
issue central to our economic future and our livelihoods.
Sustainable energy provision must be a central strategy of any economic plans ASEAN with
energy demand projected to increase by 76% by 2030. We should have a vision of adopting an
ASEAN Renewable Energy Grid that will bring many co-benefits and provide for many economic
opportunities. We also call for governments to recall the Singapore Declaration on Climate
Change, Energy and the Environment which encourages an integrated approach towards R&D
and adaptation. Efficiency, energy security and reducing energy poverty can all result from this.
We call on all nations to develop effective Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs),
differentiating between those that are unilateral actions and those that are supported by
international finance and technology transfer.
Any REDD+ mechanism to be implemented must ensure that its ultimate purpose of conserving
intact, biodiverse, natural forests is maintained. We also emphasize that any programme must
safeguard and enhance the lives of local and indigenous communities and observe the principle
of free, prior and informed consent. Intact and degraded forests must also not be perversely
converted into monoculture plantations. REDD+ programmes must be supported on a fund-
based mechanism and not a market-based system where Annex 1 countries are allowed to offset
their emissions.
Climate change education must be integrated into the formal curriculum in nationally
appropriate methods and targeted for different age groups. Financial support and educational
Young people must be empowered to act locally to reduce their own impact but also be able to
think globally and critically on such a complex issue. As such, the existing ASEAN Environment
Education Programme is acknowledged and serves as a good foundation for further climate
change education. Informal means of bringing up the issue of climate change is also essential.
The implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCC Convention must be enabled in all our countries.
The undertaking of more extensive research to provide accurate information on climate change,
as well as mitigation and adaptation efforts, could also prove useful in policy making for all
countries within ASEAN. With this, a collective goal can be established in tackling climate
change and build even closer, deeper ties amongst countries and other stakeholders through
cooperation and collaboration.
Regional mechanisms and centres of excellence can be established on varying issues. Adaptation
and mitigation being of utmost priority, would take into account regional and local
circumstances. Information technology and communication can also be seen as an effective tool
in building online databases and become excellent platforms for sharing information and best
practices.
ASEAN as an organization must go beyond mutual pressure and joint declarations on the
commitment to tackle climate change. It must be seen as being more visible in dealing with
climate change in the eyes of the public. We applaud the Vientiane Plan of Action as a step in
recognizing significant areas wherein environmental cooperation can be enhanced. ASEAN can
and should actively participate and lead in international forums in particular in the lead up to
the United Nations Conference of Sustainable Development in 2012 (Rio+20).
We hope that the ASEAN+3 Youth Environment Forum can be strengthened and have a more
effective say in developing national and regional policies. In addition, NGOs and CSOs should be
allowed as stakeholders in the newly formed ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change.
Governments should also allow youth delegates to be part of official delegations to international
conferences such as at the UNFCCC.
We call for an enhanced platform for all stakeholders to be part of decision-making processes by
holding regular forums, conferences and consultations within and between countries to discuss
the whole range of issues that climate change encompasses. The involvement of academia is also
essential to provide much needed information provision and research required to deal
effectively with this complex issue.