Managing water in southern China;

Copyright 2009 International Herald Tribune
All Rights Reserved
The International Herald Tribune
December 31, 2009 Thursday

BYLINE: REENITA MALHOTRA HORA

BODY:


ABSTRACT

A series of droughts in China, including some earlier this year, has raised concerns that Hong Kong's water supply might not be as secure as had been thought.

FULL TEXT

Drinking water has rarely been a concern in Hong Kong, where the supply has historically been plentiful and affordable. But a series of droughts in China, including some earlier this year, has raised concerns that Hong Kong's water supply might not be as secure as had been thought.

Civic Exchange, a public policy research group based in Hong Kong, has released a report titled ''Liquid Assets,'' highlighting water security and management in the Pearl River Basin and Hong Kong.

The report warns that South China's supply of water - which comes from the Dongjiang, a major tributary of the Pearl River - is threatened by climate change and pollution. Additionally, there is growing competition from industries in the surrounding Guangdong wetlands.

Mike Kilburn, Civic Exchange's environmental program manager, said that ''while China protects classic farmlands, the story of Guangdong is relentless development.''

''Ecologically, the delta is not in good shape,'' Mr. Kilburn said.

The authors of the report said at a news conference that Hong Kong's water prices were a significant part of the problem, as low prices encouraged consumption.

The International Water Association reports that Hong Kong's water tariffs are among the lowest in the world, while its per capita consumption of water is among the highest.

According to Civic Exchange's representatives, the most immediate way to manage the use of water resources is to raise the price, but they acknowledged that political issues might make raising rates difficult.

They also believe that Hong Kong and Macao should be brought in on the discussions relating to water management in South China.

Currently Hong Kong's role is limited to ''water supplies management'' - negotiating long-term fixed rates for water - rather than ''total water management,'' which would look beyond the pricing issue at things like conservation, adaptation measures and preservation of South China's wetlands.

''Hong Kong does not have a water policy,'' said Christine Loh, a former Hong Kong legislator and the founder of Civic Exchange. ''What we have is a water department that looks at things like piping, cleaning and negotiating water prices with Guangdong, but this is a supply-led attitude.''

Ms. Loh said Hong Kong needed a demand-oriented water policy and total water management system that looked at broader factors to secure the long-term water supply. Factors include raising tariffs, increasing conservation measures, generating awareness campaigns and planning for alternative sources like desalination plants.

LOAD-DATE: December 30, 2009

Are condoms and birth control pills more cost-effective than windmills and solar panels as tools to curb global warming?

Copyright 2009 International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune
December 24, 2009 Thursday

Birth control and climate change;
In the Blogs: Green Inc.

JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF

Are condoms and birth control pills more cost-effective than windmills and solar panels as tools to curb global warming?

Yes, and by a wide margin, contends Thomas Wire, a postgraduate researcher at the London School of Economics and author of a recent study asserting that family planning is nearly five times as cost-effective in mitigating global warming emissions as green energy technologies like wind and solar power.

''It's always been obvious that total emissions depend on the number of emitters as well as their individual emissions - the carbon tonnage can't shoot down, as we want, while the population keeps shooting up,'' Roger Martin, chairman of the Optimum Population Trust, the British environmental group that sponsored the study, said in a statement.

''The taboo on mentioning this fact has made the whole climate change debate so far somewhat unreal,'' he added.

Yet at the recent Copenhagen climate summit meeting - which failed to produce a binding resolution on curbing global warming emissions - population control was again the solution that dared not speak its name.

It is easy to see why. Population control measures like China's one-child policy and forced sterilization campaigns by various countries during the 20th century have led many to associate such efforts with racism and totalitarianism. Powerful institutions like the Roman Catholic Church continue to oppose contraception on religious grounds.

Yet while population control remains sidelined in official climate talks, the number of prominent voices calling for its recognition as an issue of concern is mounting. The United Nations Population Fund's most recent annual report explicitly linked slower population growth with reduced greenhouse-gas emissions.

In December, a group of more than 60 members of the U.S. Congress wrote to Peter R. Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, urging the administration of President Barack Obama to improve financing for family planning, in part because of climate concerns.

''Family planning and reproductive health should be part of larger strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation,'' said the letter, which was signed by several prominent Democrats.

''Slower population growth will make reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions easier to achieve,'' it continued.

Leading scientists, like Martin Rees, head of the Royal Society, Britain's academy of science, also assert that population growth must be constrained in order to confront climate change successfully.

But while fewer births would almost certainly result in less global warming emissions, some argue that population control will be less important for its impact on emissions than as an adaptation strategy for developing countries. There, growth rates are highest and the effects of climate change - from rising sea levels to increased droughts and floods - are likely to be the most severe.

Despite the obvious challenges, little research has focused on the intersection of demographics and climate change, states a recent World Health Organization study.

''The relevance of demographic trends to adaptation to climate change has meanwhile remained almost entirely unexplored by the scientific literature,'' wrote Leo Bryant, the lead researcher on the study.