Topic: southeast asia

Coming Soon: Global Forest Watch 2.0

James Anderson — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:03:32 -0500

Welcome to the home of Global Forest Watch 2.0, a powerful near real-time forest monitoring system that unites satellite technology, data sharing, and human networks around the world to fight deforestation.

GFW 2.0 is currently under development, and will launch in late 2013.

Read more below, and email gfw2@wri.org to participate in the pilot testing period or be notified when GFW 2.0 launches. Please note that as we prepare for the launch, the original Global Forest Watch website has been redirected to this page.

Watch a Short Preview of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the UN Forum on Forests 10, in Istanbul.

Watch the full version here

Speakers:

Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Forestry, Indonesia
Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute

Photo by David Gilbert

WHY FORESTS, WHY NOW?

Forests provide food jobs, raw materials, climate benefits and more. But without clear, up-to-date information, governments, companies and communities lack the tools to monitor and manage these resources.

We can track a company’s financial information daily, but information about forests is often years out of date.

Deforestation continues today in part because by the time satellite images are available, analyzed, and shared, the forest clearing is long done. The illegal loggers have moved on; cattle are already grazing amidst stumps; the oil palm plantation has been established. We simply find out too late.

New technologies can overcome these challenges

Fortunately, a convergence of technologies and human networks offers the ability to address these challenges for the first time:

Advances in satellite and remote sensing technology, including the launch of NASA’s Landsat 8 in early 2013, and new private systems, enable higher spatial resolution analysis and much more rapid updates of information. This has enabled the development of near-real-time forest cover change detection.
Brazilian partner IMAZON, is making its Amazon Alert System available through GFW 2.0, and also the DETER system which is innovating in detection of forest degradation. Brazil has seen a remarkable drop in deforestation in the Amazon of almost 80 percent partly due to improved linked to more effective use of satellite imagery.
Cloud computing and open source software can now be used to rapidly process and interpret large volumes of satellite data at low cost by utilizing clusters of servers scattered around the world. Google Earth Engine’s team is partnered with Global Forest Watch 2.0 to optimize easy access to cloud computing-based forest cover information.
High speed internet connectivity enables sending data and forest maps processed in North America, Europe, or Singapore to laptops and mobile phones in Jakarta, Kinshasa, Lima, Vladivostok, and other corners of the globe.
Smartphones are more common than ever and can be used by anyone in the field to download maps and satellite images, as well as upload GPS coordinates and photographs from the ground.
Crowdsourcing using simple web interfaces can empower thousands if not millions of people to gather and share information, participate in forest monitoring, and hold decision-makers accountable. • Social media outlets are creating a flat, networked world in which information travels fast, communities self-organize, and people get mobilized.

ABOUT GLOBAL FOREST WATCH 2.0

These enhanced technologies and social movements are the foundation for Global Forest Watch 2.0. GFW 2.0 will unite a near-real-time deforestation alert system, complementary satellite imagery and monitoring systems, WRI’s data-rich collection of maps, mobile technology, and a networked world to create never-before-possible transparency for faraway forests.

The platform is currently under development, and will be launched in late 2013.

This powerful new platform will enable responsible companies, NGOs, the media, and progressive government leaders to hold those responsible accountable for forest management.

GFW 2.0 can be useful to multiple groups of users involved with the sustainable management of forests:

Buyers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will enable buyers of sustainably sourced commodities―such as certified timber, palm oil, soya, and beef―to confirm adherence to or violations of supplier commitments to “no deforestation,” “no clearing of high conservation value forest,” and related criteria.
Suppliers of sustainable commodities. GFW 2.0 will help suppliers of sustainable commodities prove to buyers, investors, governments, and NGOs that their commodities are adhering to best forest management practices, national laws, criteria of the relevant commodity roundtables, or investor lending conditions.
Governments. GFW 2.0 is designed to help progressive elements in governments better enforce sustainable forest management and forest protection laws. GFW 2.0 is also designed to be a trusted, independent, and user-friendly way to help investors in REDD+ and other forest conservation projects monitor performance and hold countries accountable to their commitments on greenhouse gas emission reductions and forest conservation.
Conservation and community organizations. GFW 2.0 will enable NGOs dedicated to forest conservation, indigenous rights, and forest communities to identify deforestation hotspots as they arise and quickly mobilize action to curtail further clearing.
The media. GFW 2.0 will enable local, national, and international media to ring the alarm bell on deforestation hotspots around the globe at a pace never-before-possible, and thereby put pressure on governments, companies, and others to curtail forest conversion and illegal logging in time

Applying new technology

GFW 2.0 combines satellites, new algorithms, cloud computing, mobile phone technologies, and WRI databases to connect images, maps, photos, and data with forest clearing alerts ultimately within two weeks of significant deforestation occurring.

Because GFW 2.0 will be powered by Google Earth Engine and Earth Builder, it will bring to target users a seamless experience of the best technology offered by WRI, Google, and their partners, as Bloomberg does for the world’s vast, complex array of financial information.

Mobilizing human networks

GFW 2.0 will mobilize networks of people to ensure sustainable management of forests and greater forest conservation. Global Forest Watch “anchor” NGOs in each priority country or region, will actively use and contribute content in an open-source, network model.

These groups will include ScanEx and its non-profit affiliate Transparent World in Russia, Imazon in Brazil and their Amazon-wide network of partners across the seven neighboring countries, the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC) which covers the Central Africa region. More partners in Canada, China, Europe, and the United States are joining every day.

Watch a Sneak Peek of GFW 2.0 presented at Rio+20

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Carlos Souza Jr., Senior Researcher, IMAZON
Charles Barber, Forest Division Chief, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, U.S. Department of State
Rebecca Moore, Google
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch UNEP’s press conference featuring GFW 2.0 at COP18 in Doha

Speakers:

Mr. Heru Prasetyo, Deputy I, Presidential Delivery Unit on Development Monitoring and Oversight, Government of Indonesia
Tim Christophersen, Senior Programme Officer, Forests and Climate Change, UNEP
Jane Feehan, Natural Resources Specialist, European Investment Bank
Nigel Sizer, Director, Global Forest Initiative, World Resources Institute

Watch a Sneak Peek of Global Forest Watch 2.0 at the U.S. Pavilion, COP18 in Doha

Video streaming by Ustream

Speakers:

Nigel Sizer, Director, Forests Initiative, World Resources Institute
Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi, Head of REDD+ Task Force Working Group on Moratorium Monitoring, Presidential Work Unit on Monitoring and Development Oversight (UKP4), Government of Indonesia
Per Fredrik Ilsaas Pharo, Director, International Climate and Forest Initiative, Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, Government of Norway
Tim Christophersen, Senior Program Officer, Forests and Climate Change, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Read more about WRI’s forest work here.

RELEASE: Two New Online Mapping Applications Launched to Support Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia

James Anderson — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:08:26 -0400

Forest Cover Analyzer and Suitability Mapper to be used by business and government to reduce deforestation

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is launching two powerful online mapping applications that offer unprecedented capabilities to support industry and government efforts to achieve more sustainable palm oil production in Indonesia. WRI developed these web tools in consultation with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and many of its members.

The Suitability Mapper empowers companies and government planners to use a standard, easily replicable method to find potential sites for sustainable palm oil production and plan field assessments for further investigation. The Forest Cover Analyzer provides a unique set of monitoring tools to help buyers, investors, and governments strengthen incentives for avoiding deforestation when developing new plantations.

“Palm oil holds tremendous opportunities for people and business in Indonesia—and should be produced in a way that avoids destruction of vibrant lands and forests,” said Andrew Steer, President of WRI. “These dynamic new online tools will enable companies to better identify the best places for palm oil production and assess deforestation and other factors that are critical for long-term sustainability of this industry.”

Palm oil is the world’s most traded vegetable oil and a major agricultural product of Indonesia, the world’s leading producer. Last year, Indonesia exported 23.5 million tons of crude palm oil, worth about US$19.7 billion. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations has contributed in places to the loss of Indonesia’s biodiversity and carbon-rich natural forests. At the same time, Indonesia has become the world’s leading producer of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil, which is produced according to a set of principles and criteria that include avoiding forest loss.

The RSPO was formed in 2004 with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders. The RSPO aims to transform markets to make sustainable palm oil the norm.

“Development of technology and tools such as WRI’s Suitability Mapper and the Forest Cover Analyzer enables RSPO members to practice sustainable oil palm production in a more credible way by identifying the land areas with the least impact to the environment,” said Darrel Webber, Secretary General of the RSPO.

“These two websites make it quick and easy to answer questions that we hear over and over again from industry and government officials” said Beth Gingold, POTICO Research Lead, WRI.

The Suitability Mapper helps users find potential sites for sustainable palm oil production, using a customizable map. The Forest Cover Analyzer allows users to view change in forest cover over time in areas of their choice, using up-to-date satellite data.

Both applications currently cover Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, and will expand to other areas in the months to come.

The following are examples of data derived from the new applications:

There are more than 14 million hectares of potentially suitable land for sustainable palm oil in Kalimantan.
Kalimantan experienced more than 2 million hectares of forest cover loss from 2005 (the RSPO cut-off date for primary forest clearing) to 2010.
There are more than 33 million hectares of high conservation value forest and wetland in Kalimantan with high likelihood of containing high carbon stocks and levels of biodiversity.

The applications were developed in partnership with Sekala, Rainforest Alliance, SarVision, University of Maryland, South Dakota State University, and Puter Foundation. They were designed with Blue Raster and are powered by ESRI.

This project has received generous support from: The United Kingdom Climate Change Unit Indonesia, Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies, NewPage Corporation, Walmart, The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the International Finance Corporation - Biodiversity and Agricultural Commodities Program. (The International Finance Corporation is not responsible for the implementation or administration of this project).

Visit the website http://www.wri.org/project/potico for more information and to access the web tools.

Watch a video preview of the two tools here.

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PRESS RELEASE: 6th Asia Clean Energy Forum Opens in Manila, Philippines

Michael Oko — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:26:18 -0400

ADB President Calls for “Radical Steps” on Clean Energy

Leaders in government, business, policy and nongovernmental organizations are gathering this week for the 6th Asia Clean Energy Forum in Manila, Philippines. According to the Asian Development Bank, 800 million people in Asia live without access to electricity and a significant push is needed to fast-track new business models and policies for clean energy development. With over 550 participants from 40 countries in attendance, ACEF is being organized the World Resources Institute, the United States Agency for International Development, and ADB to promote efforts to scale up clean energy in Asia and the Pacific.

“Asia is poised to be a world leader in clean energy that can propel the regional economy, while increasing its energy security,” said Manish Bapna, executive vice president and managing director, WRI. “In order to achieve its clean energy potential, leaders in Asia need to make the right policy decisions and increase their investment in clean energy. This forum will inform this important dialogue on Asia’s energy future.”

The year’s forum, from June 22 - 24, will focus on “New Business Models and Policy Drivers: Building the Low-Carbon Future,” including discussions around best practices in energy policy and regulation, financing and investment, innovative business models, and energy access. Parallel sessions will provide opportunities to discuss successful innovation and methods to break down barriers to large-scale clean energy development and deployment. (See the full agenda here)

“Asians have more to lose from climate change than any other people. The climate fight will be won or lost by decisions made in this region,” said Haruhiko Kuroda, ADB President. “An important key to lowering energy intensity is the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and a rapid transition to renewable energy. Asia must also take radical steps to increase energy efficiency and the efficiency of entire economies.”

The opening plenary session, on June 22, will include remarks from Mr. Kuroda; Mohamed El-Ashry, Senior Fellow, UN Foundation and chairman of the Renewable Energy Policy Network (REN21); and Amory Lovins, Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute (by video). Jennifer Morgan, WRI’s Director of Climate and Energy Program, will give the closing plenary speech.

“In order to meet the challenge of climate change, we need a fundamental transformation in our global energy system with a rapid increase of renewable energy and improvements in energy efficiency,” said Morgan. “With a significant increase in investment in clean energy, Asia can drive economic growth and innovation as it reduces carbon emissions that are altering the climate.”

WRI is working to support Asian countries in reaching their clean energy potential by drawing on the institute’s technical expertise, research, analytical tools, and stakeholder engagement. WRI experts work in areas such as policy and regulation, finance and investment, innovative business models and energy poverty to help a smooth transition to renewable energy.

“Hundreds of millions of people in Asia still lack access to energy and, meanwhile, energy demands are accelerating in the region,” said Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros, Project Manager of International Financial Flows and Environment Project, WRI. “It’s up to governments, investors and other decision-makers to determine the path ahead for clean energy in the region. More investment is needed to increase energy access and move Asia toward a low-carbon future.”

Get more information about the 6th Asia Clean Energy Forum

Read an Op-ed by Jennifer Morgan and Athena Ronquillo-Ballesteros

Low-Carbon Development in Emerging Economies

Kevin Lustig — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:25:58 -0400

Today’s major emerging economies — countries such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa — face the challenge of increasing economic development while also overcoming serious barriers to energy access and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These countries recognize the need for a shift to low-carbon climate-resilient development, but seek solutions that do not compromise growth.

It is possible to meet this challenge while addressing climate change. WRI’s vision is that these countries make a clear link between low-carbon growth and long-term prosperity, and support policies and incentives that advance national development priorities while significantly reducing GHGs. If successful, these countries would redefine the conventional growth paradigm, and offer innovative solutions that set the world firmly on a low-carbon and climate-resilient path.

Use the links below to explore WRI’s work on emerging economies:

WRI’s work by country:

(Click on a highlighted country for publications and other resources)

Adapting to Climate Change In Bangladesh

Aarjan Dixit — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:04:41 -0400

Floating gardens, raised homes, and reflections from the field.

WRI’s Aarjan Dixit recently attended the 5th Annual Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change Conference in Bangladesh. As part of the conference, participants visited local communities to see how adaptation projects were working.

A road led from the river toward the entrance of Goalbari, a mainly Hindu village surrounded by lush green agriculture fields in the Gopalgunj district of central Bangladesh. To get to Goalbari, we had taken a short boat ride across the canal of the Madhumati River, dug by the British about 100 years ago to transport jute (a vegetable fiber used for fabric) from the area to the port city of Kolkata. A gang of children, on holiday celebrating the country’s 40th Independence Day, watched as we made our way to the village. The mostly low-lying landscape was dotted with raised areas of inhabited land connected by roads built on embankments.

When the annual monsoon rains come here, the river floods and submerges most the area. Floods have always been a source of renewal in this part of the world, depositing a layer of rich alluvial soil and helping increase agricultural productivity. However, several past development activities (especially the construction of embankments), and now climate change, have created new and significant challenges to the people living in the area.

The village of Goalbari. Photo: Aarjan Dixit

Villagers told us that the frequency and intensity of the floods have increased over the years. And perhaps more importantly, when the floods come, the flood water stays for months. With natural drainage channels blocked by earth embankments, this effectively means that the area is water-logged for almost half of the year, disrupting agriculture, mobility, and making basic services like drinking water and healthcare very hard to access.

Yet, the first people who welcomed us into the village were a group of women that had formed a successful cooperative to address the challenges the floods have brought. Their model is dispersing loans to other women in the village from their collective savings and charging interest on them. Loans in turn are used to buy livestock and other assets that could improve income over the longer term.

Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), two organizations active in the area, use this women’s collective to begin helping villages respond to the challenges associated with floods. With financial support from Norwegian Church Aid, these two organizations had identified 17 of the village’s poorest households and decided to raise the foundational platform, or plinth, of their houses by four feet to protect them from the flood waters. A few other households, after seeing the benefits of such raised plinths, in turn made their own investments to raise the plinths of their houses.

Floating beds known as baira allow villagers to continue growing vegetables when flood waters are high. Photo: Aarjan Dixit

With their agricultural lands inundated for months, many households in the area also use a floating bed of compacted water hyacinths to grow vegetables, locally known as baira. These floating gardens fall and rise with the water level and can allow households to grow vegetables for consumption when the flood waters are high. Researchers from BCAS have devised ways to improve the design of such bairas to make them lighter and stay afloat for longer periods of time.

The significant challenges that the people of the area face became clearer when we visited Dasarathbala, a villager in Goalbari. His family’s house plinth had been raised and they had a floating garden. However, he and his family are agriculture laborers, without money to rent land. Recently the family had to sell their boat – indispensible when the area is flooded – in order to raise money. The men with Dasarathbala told us that the children could not go to school during the floods and that the lack of electricity made their lives difficult. The women told us of other worries: they lacked private space for personal sanitation when land was flooded; providing food for the children and caring for pregnant women became really difficult; the floods made travel from home nearly impossible; and of course, when the area was under water, there was no agriculture and their livelihood suffered.

Raising the plinths of the houses and developing floating beds were helping the poorest households of the community to cope with some of the challenges associated with higher and more intense levels of flooding and water logging. But these kinds of technical interventions can only go so far in helping poor families address the serious climatic challenges they face.

It was clear from our visit to Goalbari that diversifying the ways people could make a living when the area is under water was fundamental to their long-term adaptation. Developing ways for students to go to school and to keep schools open even during floods seemed equally important. Improving access to services for these communities, like drinking water, health facilities and other types of income generating activities were critical to improving people’s resilience to these weather related challenges.

Many of the activities people say would help them adapt to weather challenges are often the same development-focused activities that would help increase resilience to a host of other economic and natural shocks. The lack of land for Dasarathbala’s family, for example, makes them poor and vulnerable with or without the worsening climate change impacts.

Secure tenure rights, and access and ownership over resources are often fundamental to improving resilience to weather extremes and vulnerabilities over the long term. As the global community struggles to tease out the nuances that separate adaptation from general development strategy, practitioners will need to be careful that the more immediate short-term needs of the poor and vulnerable are met while attempting to plan for the longer-term impacts of climate change.

Climate change and other weather related events do, however, present unique challenges that will require us to think in innovative ways. Often project and community-driven approaches like the interventions I mention above are critical to understanding local needs, keeping communities central to decision and planning processes. Yet, they alone are not able to address the greater landscape of environmental services that might be needed to contend with such challenges. For example, drainage issues, often one of the major causes of water logging in delta regions like Gopalgunj, can’t be solved by a narrow focus on communities and may need us to look at regional scales and subnational, national or sometimes even international processes. Similarly, local community-based approaches will also need to address other system-wide activities like access to markets, seasonal migration as an income diversifying source, and trade that could be important resilience-building activities for people like Dasarathbala and his family in Goalbari.

Ghana and Vietnam Scenarios Foreshadow How Decisions on Climate Adaptation Are Made

Philip Angell — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:43:25 -0400

Scenario exercises look at the how and why of decision-making for climate change.

From private corporations to the military, a host of institutions use scenario exercises as a way to prepare for different possible futures. Given the many risks and uncertainties associated with rising global temperatures – from extreme weather events to changing seasons, to long term sea level rise – they can also play a valuable role in climate adaptation planning.

Ghana: Drought or Abundance?

Take Ghana. Between now and 2050, predictions suggest that yearly rainfall in the West African country could plummet to 60% less than it is today or increase by as much as 49%. Given such uncertainty between scarcity and abundance, how can the government decide how to manage future water supplies and agricultural development? How should national ministries plan for a key sector like hydroelectricity generation?

This very question was addressed in a scenario exercise for senior Ghanaian officials and community and business leaders, organized recently by the World Resources Report and the Massachusetts-based Consensus Building Institute. Held in Accra, in partnership with UNDP and the Ghanaian Energy Commission, the simulation took two dozen participants to imaginary Suna, a developing country in West Africa.

In the Ghana exercise, participants had to decide whether or not to build a dam, given vast uncertainty over future rainfall patterns. Although the situation was fictionalized, the problem is quite real for decision makers in many parts of the world. Photo credit: WRI

Groups were asked to decide, in light of future uncertainties, whether to move forward with a major new dam, decide at a later date, or cancel the project. A worst case scenario gave about a 10% chance that decreased future rainfall would make the costly dam essentially useless. Yet all the groups agreed to go ahead.

Vietnam: Preparing for Sea Level Rise

A second World Resources Report scenario was held for senior government officials and donor representatives in Vietnam, which faces significant impact from sea level rise over coming decades.

Participants at the event, sponsored by Can Tho University, played the roles of stakeholders in the fictional country of Rinsap who were asked to recommend adaptation priorities to the prime minister. Participants weighed options including investments in protective infrastructure, mangrove restoration, new agricultural technologies and techniques, and diversification of rural livelihoods. In exploring these trade-offs, participants discussed issues such as food security and economic development in the face of farmland inundation.

Two of four groups prioritized investment in new technologies to develop strains of rice and other crops that would thrive under climate change. The other groups made infrastructure their first priority. Building dikes and levees - for “protecting people and production” as one person put it – was seen as the foundation of future economic development. Restoring coastal mangrove forests was viewed as a complementary long-term response, to help protect dikes and levees.

Scenarios and Decision-Making

So what do the results tell us about adaptation decision making in developing countries? While being wary of catch-all conclusions, the World Resources Report team observed the following:

Meeting basic needs is the key priority for most governments in developing countries and climate adaptation is not viewed as part of this equation.
Developing countries see climate change adaptation as a cost, not a benefit, and this colors their planning and decision making.
Long term climate risks are widely discounted or dismissed as “yet another study.”
A key challenge for aid agencies and donors is to create incentives for adaptation to become critical to national planning and policy.

The World Resources Report scenarios were designed to provide insights into how adaptation decisions are made that could provide useful for other countries, as well as to give participants experience in scenario planning for their own national needs. They are part of a broad, transparent research agenda that also includes case studies and expert papers and will be synthesized in a report to be published by the World Resources Institute, UNDP, UNEP and World Bank.

For more on the WRR Scenario Exercises, click here.

PRESS RELEASE: 75% of World’s Coral Reefs Currently Under Threat, New Analysis Finds

Michael Oko — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:55:53 -0500

“Reefs at Risk Revisited” report presents comprehensive analysis of threats to coral reefs

A new comprehensive analysis finds that 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs are currently threatened by local and global pressures. For the first time, the analysis includes threats from climate change, including warming seas and rising ocean acidification. The report shows that local pressures— such as overfishing, coastal development, and pollution— pose the most immediate and direct risks, threatening more than 60 percent of coral reefs today.

“Reefs at Risk Revisited,” the most detailed assessment of threats to coral reefs ever undertaken, is being released by the World Resources Institute with the Nature Conservancy, the WorldFish Center, the International Coral Reef Action Network, Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, and the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Center, along with a network of more than 25 organizations. Launch activities are taking place in Washington, D.C., London, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Caribbean, Australia, and other locations around the world.

“This report serves as a wake-up call for policy-makers, business leaders, ocean managers, and others about the urgent need for greater protection for coral reefs,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “As the report makes clear, local and global threats, including climate change, are already having significant impacts on coral reefs, putting the future of these beautiful and valuable ecosystems at risk.”

Local pressures – especially overfishing and destructive fishing – are causing many reefs to be degraded. Global pressures are leading to coral bleaching from rising sea temperatures and increasing ocean acidification from carbon dioxide pollution. According to the new analysis, if left unchecked, more than 90 percent of reefs will be threatened by 2030 and nearly all reefs will be at risk by 2050.

“Coral reefs are valuable resources for millions of people worldwide. Despite the dire situation for many reefs, there is reason for hope,” said Lauretta Burke, senior associate at WRI and a lead author of the report. “Reefs are resilient, and by reducing the local pressures we can buy time as we find global solutions to preserve reefs for future generations.”

The report includes multiple recommendations to better protect and manage reefs, including through marine protected areas. The analysis shows that more than one-quarter of reefs are already encompassed in a range of parks and reserves, more than any other marine habitat. However, only six percent of reefs are in protected areas that are effectively managed.

“Well managed marine protected areas are one of the best tools to safeguard reefs,” said Mark Spalding, senior marine scientist at the Nature Conservancy and a lead author of the report. “At their core, reefs are about people as well as nature: ensuring stable food supplies, promoting recovery from coral bleaching, and acting as a magnet for tourist dollars. We need apply the knowledge we have to shore up existing protected areas, as well as to designate new sites where threats are highest, such as the populous hearts of the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.”

Reefs offer multiple benefits to people and the economy – providing food, sustaining livelihoods, supporting tourism, protecting coasts, and even helping to prevent disease. According the report, more than 275 million people live in the direct vicinity (30 km/18 miles) of coral reefs. In more than 100 countries and territories, coral reefs protect 150,000 km (over 93,000 miles) of shorelines, helping defend coastal communities and infrastructure against storms and erosion.

For the first time, the report identifies the 27 nations most socially and economically vulnerable to coral reef degradation and loss. Among these, the nine most vulnerable countries are: Haiti, Grenada, Philippines, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji, and Indonesia.

“The people at greatest risk are those who depend heavily on threatened reefs, and who have limited capacity to adapt to the loss of the valuable resources and services reefs provide,” said Allison Perry, project scientist at the WorldFish Center and a lead author. “For highly vulnerable nations – including many island nations – there is a pressing need for development efforts to reduce dependence on reefs and build adaptive capacity, in addition to protecting reefs from threats.”

The report is an update of “Reefs at Risk,” released by WRI in 1998, which served as an important resource for policymakers to understand and address the threats of reefs. The new report uses the latest data and satellite information to map coral reefs— including a reef map with a resolution 64 times higher than the original report.

“Through new technology and improved data, this study provides valuable tools and information for decision makers from national leaders to local marine managers,” said Katie Reytar, research associate at WRI and a lead author. “In order to maximize the benefits of these tools, we need policymakers to commit to greater action to address the growing threats to coral reefs.”

Find out more at: www.wri.org/reefs

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The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to put ideas into action. We work with governments, companies, and civil society to build solutions to urgent environmental challenges. (www.wri.org)

The Nature Conservancy(TNC) is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected more than 480,000 sq km of land and engage in more than100 marine conservation projects. The Conservancy is actively working on coral reef conservation in 24 countries, including the Caribbean and the Coral Triangle. (www.nature.org)

WorldFish Center is an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger by improving fisheries and aquaculture. Working in partnership with a wide range of agencies and research institutions, WorldFish carries out research to improve small-scale fisheries and aquaculture. Its work on coral reefs includes ReefBase, the global information system on coral reefs. (www.worldfishcenter.org)

International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) is a global network of coral reef science and conservation organizations working together and with local stakeholders to improve the management of coral reef ecosystems. ICRAN facilitates the exchange and replication of good practices in coral reef management throughout the world’s major coral reef regions. (www.icran.org)

United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is an internationally recognized center for the synthesis, analysis, and dissemination of global biodiversity knowledge. UNEP-WCMC provides authoritative, strategic, and timely information on critical marine and coastal habitats for conventions, countries, organizations, and companies to use in the development and implementation of their policies and decisions. (www.unep-wcmc.org)

Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) is an operational unit of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) charged with coordinating research and monitoring of coral reefs. The network, with many partners, reports on ecological and socioeconomic monitoring and produces Status of Coral Reefs of the World reports covering more than 80 countries and states. (www.gcrmn.org)

Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia

Maggie Barron — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:19:51 -0500

The coral reefs in Southeast Asia are the most threatened in the world. About 95 percent are at risk from local threats (i.e., coastal development, overfishing/destructive fishing, marine-based pollution, and/or watershed-based pollution), with almost half in the high and very high threat categories. The few places that are in the low-threat category are located in the more sparsely populated eastern areas.

Download hi-res version (JPEG, 2149 x 1843 px, 1.1 Mb)
View global maps of threats to coral reefs

Analyzing Environmental Trends in Asia

Dana Krechowicz — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:08:42 -0400

How can the financial community better understand the financial impacts of environmental trends?

Climate change and water scarcity will pose serious threats to countries in South and Southeast Asia over the next several decades. These threats, which range from more extreme weather events (like typhoons, floods, and droughts) to more limited water availability, are likely to have significant impacts on the region’s economies and industrial sectors. Gaining a better understanding of how and when environmental risks may impact company performance will help the region’s financial community accurately assess corporate value.

To that end, WRI and HSBC partnered to identify and quantify environmental risks facing key sectors in South and Southeast Asia, culminating in the recent release of three reports on the power, food and beverage, and real estate sectors.

Why is it so difficult to analyze the financial impacts of environmental trends in Southeast Asia? Today WRI releases Analyzing Environmental Trends: Taking the Pulse of Asia’s Financial Community, a working paper that looks at this question and draws on insights gained from the sector reports, as well as feedback from the region’s financial community. The paper frames the key challenges:

A lack of publicly available data relating to both environmental trends (for example, localized water scarcity data) and company-specific exposure to potential environmental risks (for example, the number of corporate facilities in water scarce areas);
Limited contextual analysis –- including examinations of social, economic and political drivers – for framing the complex connections between environmental trends and their financial impacts;
The highly unpredictable nature of environmental trends which limits analysts’ ability to forecast their likelihood and their magnitude.

Lack of Data

The lack of reliable environmental data raises particularly serious concerns in Asia, because this region is predicted to be among the highest impacted by environmental risks such as climate change. There is an urgent need for investors to engage with companies to obtain key data points, such as the specific location of key facilities and the security of a company’s access to key resource inputs such as water. Better information in these areas will help investors fully understand the extent to which environmental risk will impact companies.

Contextual Analysis

Data alone are not sufficient if they are not accompanied by contextual analysis. Contextual analysis entails understanding the extent to which a company or its facilities are: (1) exposed and (2) vulnerable to environmental impacts. A company’s geographical location (or that of its plants/facilities) determines its exposure to physical environmental trends, while the nature of a company’s operations determines its vulnerability to these trends.

To evaluate exposure to environmental trends, the WRI/HSBC research project used geographical information system (GIS) maps. The maps plotted the location of company operations (including facilities and plants) on areas of environmental exposure. In India, for example, 74 GW—over half of existing and planned capacity for major power companies—are located in areas considered to be water scarce or water stressed, which is significant because traditional power plants typically use significant amounts of water.

Thermal Power and Hydropower Plant Locations and Water Stress Level

Modeling Uncertainty

Arguably the most daunting challenge to assessing the financial impacts of environmental trends is the inherent uncertainty in forecasting both the magnitude of environmental risk and the degree of impact that adverse events would have have on companies. This forecasting ability is further complicated by the difficulty in isolating the impacts of environmental trends on company performance.

The WRI/HSBC research project tackled the challenge of uncertainty by initially engaging with environmental experts and companies in the region to establish qualitative connections between environmental risks and financial value. WRI constructed hypothetical but realistic environmental trend scenarios, which HSBC used as a basis to evaluate how companies would be impacted financially using sensitivity analysis. The primary aim of the research was to establish the connections between environmental risks and company value qualitatively, and then prove that they could also be financially material.

What role can the financial community play in improving understanding of environmental trends?

The WRI/HSBC paper suggests actions aimed at improving the quality of environmental data and at enhancing financial analysis methodologies:

1.Engage with companies to publicly disclose relevant environmental data and provide context for interpretation.

Financial analysis requires data (including resource use and dependencies) at the facility (or local) level as well as the company-wide level. Examples of the type of data required include:

Location of facilities
Revenue broken down by product and/or facility

2.Seek out environmental data sources from private data providers, academics, and governments.

The financial community can encourage governments to provide better environmental data at a national level, while working with private data providers to access environmental data at a local level. Examples of specific data that the financial community should seek from governments include:

Resource (e.g. water) availability data at the smallest scale possible
Data on local climate impact predictions

3.Apply methodologies that simulate financial uncertainties to environmental trends.

For analysts looking to take their environmental analysis one step further, WRI used the following methods to cope with uncertainty in analyzing the power sector:

Sensitivity analysis: For plants dependent on freshwater resources, conduct a plant level sensitivity analysis of Internal Rate of Return (IRR) impacts of outages and load losses. This will reveal which companies have the highest financial risk tied to disruptions.
Scenario analysis: Develop scenarios around water availability at the river basin level for each plant based on future projections (if available) or key risk factors present at the local level. When combined with the sensitivity analysis above, this provides insight into which plants are most at risk from water constraints and the potential magnitude of financial impact.
Management quality analysis: Assess and rank companies based on their strategies for mitigating water risk. (e.g. the extent of their water management strategies; their utilization of advanced technologies, such as air cooling, to reduce water dependency). Use this information to appropriately adjust conclusions from the sensitivity and scenarios analyses detailed above.

The availability and quality of environmental data in South and Southeast Asia remain limited, despite broad consensus that environmental trends are likely to have negative impacts across the region. This situation makes the need for better disclosure and environmental analysis all the more pressing and illustrates the clear role that Asia’s financial community can play in addressing this important gap.

The Government of Japan, through the International Finance Corporation (IFC), generously provided funding for this research.

Analyzing Environmental Trends: Taking the Pulse of Asia’s Financial Community

Maggie Barron — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:53:32 -0400

Executive Summary

In 2008, a unique research collaboration between The World Resources Institute (WRI) — a leading environmental think tank —and HSBC — a major global financial institution — was formed to better understand the financial materiality of environmental trends affecting selected sectors in Asia. This research collaboration produced in-depth, peer-reviewed research on the impacts of climate change and water scarcity in South and Southeast Asia’s power, food and beverage, and real estate sectors.

This working paper draws on insights gained from the research as well as feedback from the region’s financial community, to frame the key challenges that analyze the financial impacts of emerging environmental trends in the region.

These challenges can be summarized as:

A lack of publicly available data relating to both environmental trends (for example, localized water scarcity data) and company-specific exposure to potential environmental risks (for example, the number of corporate facilities in water scarce areas);
Limited contextual analysis for framing the complex connections between environmental trends and their financial impacts;
The highly unpredictable nature of environmental trends which limits the ability to forecast their likelihood and their magnitude.

While these challenges are not specific to South and Southeast Asia, this report provides examples of analysis that incorporates environmental trends in the region and suggests practical steps to enhance and expand how Asian (and other emerging) financial markets are responding to emerging environmental issues.

Surveying Risk, Building Opportunity: Financial Impacts of Energy, Water and Climate Risks on Real Estate in Asia

Maggie Barron — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:24:59 -0400

Energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change pose growing risks for the real estate sector in South and Southeast Asia, yet the connections between these trends and financial impacts are not well understood by analysts, investors, companies, and governments in the region. This report presents a framework to assess risks associated with these trends, and also discusses financial opportunities in the region’s growing green building market. The analysis considers current and planned commercial office buildings in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, with a particular focus on the Indian market given the large size of its real estate market and data availability. The report’s lessons and the risk framework may also be applied and adapted to other countries and building types. Although other resource scarcity, demographic and/or environmental trends may be relevant to the region’s buildings (for example, air pollution, waste, or ecosystem degradation), the report’s scope extends only to specific aspects of energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change as defined in this report.

Key Points

Emerging energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change trends in South and Southeast Asia will affect the risk and return associated with investments in (1) commercial building projects and (2) companies involved in commercial real estate development and investing.
The focus countries’ limited energy and water infrastructure; rapidly growing demand for energy and water resources; and physical exposure and vulnerability to climate change impacts, all increase the likelihood and magnitude of financial impacts.
Green building investments can minimize energy and water-related risks while achieving net positive returns in as few as three years.

Over Heating: Financial Risks from Water Constraints on Power Generation in Asia

Tim Herzog — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:23:38 -0400

Key Findings and Context

Water-related risks are receiving more attention than in the past, yet the connection to power sector development is not well understood by investors, governments, and companies in South and Southeast Asia. This report presents a framework for investors and analysts to assess the risk of impacts from water-related issues, including growing water scarcity and declining water quality, on thermal and hydroelectric power generation plants. While this analysis focuses on publicly listed power generation companies in India, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, the risks outlined may apply to listed power generation companies operating in other water scarce regions.

Emerging Asia is projected to have the fastest growth rate of power consumption in the world.

The drivers behind this power appetite – economic and population growth – are also increasing demands on limited freshwater resources.
The power sector requires a steady supply of water for cooling and generation to maintain loads and avoid disruptions.

The availability and quality of freshwater is rapidly declining in many parts of South and Southeast Asia due to demographic pressures and climate change.

India in particular faces critical water shortages in the next decade.
Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam are expected to face localized water pollution and shortages, with climatic patterns shifting towards longer dry seasons with more concentrated rainfall periods.

Investors are taking on more water risk.

The power sector is being liberalized in many countries in the region to attract the investment necessary to meet economic goals, with higher risk-reward propositions for investors.
Deregulated power markets may offer little or no protection to shareholders in the event of an outage or load loss resulting in lost revenues or increased costs (if stipulated by operating license).
New thermal and hydro power development places long-term bets on water availability – yet future water supplies are often uncertain and potentially oversubscribed in the most electric power hungry and water scarce regions.

Technology will play a key role in mitigating water risk yet at a price and efficiency tradeoff.

Advanced cooling systems for thermal power such as dry cooling can reduce or eliminate freshwater dependency yet increase carbon emissions per unit power output through efficiency losses.
Likewise there are water penalties for carbon dioxide emission reducing technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
These competing priorities make it difficult for investors and companies to anticipate the impact of future climate change and water policies on investments.

Water risk has been obscured to date by regulatory protections.

Examples of water-related load losses or outages have occurred throughout South and Southeast Asia yet the financial impact has been limited due in part to heavy governmental support that minimizes shareholder risks.
Shareholder protections will become more costly to sustain and may drive regulatory change as freshwater scarcity increases over the longer term.

74 GW – over half of existing and planned capacity for major power companies – is located in areas that are considered to be water scarce or stressed.

WRI mapped water scarcity data with plant locations for the largest publicly listed power generation companies in the region.

In India, 79% of new capacity will be built in areas that are already water scarce or stressed.

NTPC, Tata Power, and Reliance Infrastructure’s (including Reliance Power’s) new capacity is increasingly located in water scarce or stressed areas.
Water scarcity is expected to intensify in the future as the impacts of climate change and demographic pressures decrease renewable water supplies.

Three New Reports Examine Financial Impacts of Environmental Risks in Southeast Asia

Dana Krechowicz — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:03:25 -0400

Environmental risks in the power, food and beverage, and real estate sectors can pose new challenges for investors.

What are companies and investors doing about the environmental challenges that will affect their bottom lines? At WRI, we help the financial sector understand environmental risk, be it from climate change, water scarcity, or energy insecurity. We also help companies build resilience in their supply chains and help investors pick the forward-thinking companies that will be good environmental bets in the future.

To that end, the World Resources Institute and HSBC’s Climate Change Centre of Excellence have released new research analyzing the environmental risks facing the food & beverage, power and building sectors in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The reports show that climate change, energy insecurity and water scarcity are strategic risks for investors in the region, and those companies that manage these risks stand to differentiate themselves from their peers in the future.

Water shortages put the Asian power sector at risk:

In India, for example, 74 GW – over half of existing and planned capacity for major power companies – is located in areas considered to be water scarce or water stressed.
Also in India, 79% of new power capacity will be built in areas that are already water scare or stressed.
Water shortages can cause costly delays and decreases in power production, lowering the rate of return on investment.

Asian food and beverage sector is vulnerable to climate and water risks:

The industry’s dependence on agriculture, aquaculture and water resources for business operations makes it particularly susceptible in a region where climate change is projected to severely intensify water scarcity problems.
Edible oils, starches, and sugar sub-sectors will be most vulnerable to increasing agricultural prices, while aquaculture, poultry, and dairy will be vulnerable to disease and contamination.
As part of the study, HSBC’s analysis on an Indian sugar company shows that a sugarcane price increase of 1 percent can lead to a decline in profit of up to 10 percent.

The commercial real estate sector in South Asia benefits from going green:

As electricity and water prices are expected to increase, “green” building retrofits or new construction can protect the Asian real estate sector from increasing environmental risks emerging in the region.
Most of the energy used by commercial buildings in the region goes toward air conditioning and lighting. In India, for example, lighting accounts for 60 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings while 32 percent goes toward air conditioning.
According to a case study, a typical commercial building (300,000 square feet) in Mumbai, a 1 percent increase in electricity costs could increase annual operating costs by approximately Rs 2.8 million, or around USD 60,000.

About the Reports:

Weeding Risk: Financial Impacts of Climate Change and Water Scarcity on Asia’s Food and Beverage Sector is the first report in the three-part series. It looks at seven food and beverage sub-sectors in the region. Findings suggest that the edible oils, starches, and sugar sub-sectors will be the most vulnerable to increasing environmental trends, such as climate change and water scarcity, in the region.

Over Heating: Financial Risks from Water Constraints on Power Generation, analyzes water-related risks facing thermal and hydroelectric power plants in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The analysis found that water shortages pose the highest risk for power generation companies in India compared to the other countries.

Surveying Risk, Building Opportunity: Financial Impacts of Energy Insecurity, Water Scarcity, and Climate Change on Asia’s Commercial Real Estate Sector, assesses the commercial building sector in the region and the financial impacts it could face from energy insecurity, water scarcity and climate change. The report finds that green building investments can alleviate these risks and achieve a positive return for buildings owners in a few years.

Thermal Power and Hydropower Plant Locations and Water Stress Level

Maggie Barron — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:49:39 -0400

WRI mapped water scarcity data with plant locations for the largest publicly listed power generation companies in Southeast Asia. 74 GW – over half of existing and planned capacity for major power companies – is located in areas that are considered to be water scarce or stressed.

Weeding Risk: Financial Impacts of Climate Change and Water Scarcity on Asia’s Food and Beverage Sector

Maggie Barron — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:35:39 -0400

This report identifies the potential financial impacts arising from climate change and water scarcity on the publicly listed companies in the USD1 $40 billion food and beverage (F&B) sector in South and Southeast Asia. It focuses on domestic companies that process and package foods and non-alcoholic beverages in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The report examines the potential impact of climate change and water scarcity on three key value drivers (agricultural inputs, operating efficiency, and reputation) for each of the seven most important F&B subsectors — aquaculture, beverages, confectionary, dairy/poultry, edible oils, starches, and sugar.

This report offers a road map for analysts and investors seeking to factor environmental trends and their potential financial impacts into their assessments of companies’ strategic positioning in this sector and region.

In a case study, HSBC examines the financial implications of climate change and water scarcity on an Indian sugar company, Balrampur Chini Mills.

Key Findings

This report draws on consultations with experts and the best available literature to assess the financial implications of climate change and water scarcity on the F&B sector in South and Southeast Asia. Our analysis and findings focus on three commonly-accepted value drivers: agricultural inputs, operating efficiency, and reputation.

The most financially material impacts of climate change and water scarcity on the F&B sector are increased agricultural input prices and increased processing costs.

The impact of climate change and water scarcity on agricultural input prices and processing costs affects all F&B subsectors examined in this report.
The significance of the impact depends on a number of factors, including location of suppliers and factories, ability to pass costs onto consumers and the sustainability of supplier cultivation practices.

Climate change and water scarcity can raise agricultural commodity prices and increase price volatility by decreasing yields.

Climate change and water scarcity can have a direct impact on the availability, quality and price of key food commodity inputs by negatively impacting animal and crop yields.
Food commodity prices are particularly vulnerable to the shocks of unpredictable extreme weather events, while animal yields are most at risk from increased water temperatures (aquaculture) and access to clean water supplies.

Climate change and water scarcity can increase processing costs through operational disruptions and treatment costs.

Water scarcity can create operational disruptions since water is 1) a base ingredient and 2) integral to production processes. Water pollution, which contributes to scarcity, requires investments in filtration technology.
Climate change can create operational disruptions by damaging manufacturing plants and infrastructure.

Climate change and water scarcity can create food safety and stakeholder challenges.

Climate change and scarcity of clean water can increase exposure to diseases and contamination, especially for animal-based products, increasing food safety risks.
Competition for water is a source of tension between food processors and stakeholders, creating reputational risks.