In order to lower the carbon emissions that lead to global warming, Malaysia is considering the deployment of market-based carbon pricing policies such as carbon trading and a carbon tax. This paper, which is based on a memorandum submitted to the Malaysian government, presents a critical assessment of these policies …
KOZHIKODE: Health department on Monday commenced special cleaning drive for the elimination of breeding spots of aedes mosquitoes. The drive was commenced in the wake of Zika virus infections being reported in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines since people from these region come here for job purposes or to spend vacation …
A smog outbreak in Southeast Asia last year may have caused over 100,000 premature deaths, according to a new study released Monday that triggered calls for action to tackle the “killer haze”. Researchers from Harvard and Columbia universities in the US estimated there were more than 90,000 early deaths in …
In September–October 2015, El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole conditions set the stage for massive fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), leading to persistently hazardous levels of smoke pollution across much of Equatorial Asia. Here we quantify the emission sources and health impacts of this haze episode and …
Toxic haze that spread across Southeast Asia from Indonesian forest fires last year caused the deaths of about 100,000 people across the region, according to the first academic study of the health impact of the smog. The death toll was concentrated in Indonesia, which had about 92,000 excess deaths from …
Asia Pacific’s financial institutions have begun to factor climate risks and opportunities into their activities, but they have a long way to go before they can fully unlock the multi-trillion dollar financing opportunity that climate change presents, a new report has found. Titled ‘Investing for the Climate in Asia’ and …
Palm oil makes a big contribution to modern life as one of the most-widely used substances in food, cooking, cosmetics, medicines and a range of chemicals. But the industry that produces it is seriously harming the planet. That is the conclusion of a study of nearly 1,000 scientific papers about …
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Malaysia on Thursday confirmed its first case of Zika infection, as a 58-year-old woman who recently traveled to Singapore tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus. Health Minister Dr. Subramaniam Sathasivam delivered the news at a press conference in the city of Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur, an …
Bovine brucellosis was first reported in Peninsular Malaysia in 1950. A subsequent survey conducted in the country revealed that the disease was widespread. Current knowledge on the potential risk factors for brucellosis occurrence on cattle farms in Malaysia is lacking. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study to identify the potential …
At best, just 2,500 Indochinese leopards survive today across Southeast Asia. They have been eradicated from 93% of their historic habitat by snares, poachers, deforestation and declines in prey. Can conservationists stop the bleeding before its too late? Conservationists have long known that it’s hard – and in some cases …
Palm oil supplier IOI Group has had its certificate for sustainable palm oil reinstated by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), after it was judged to have fulfilled the body’s demands to improve its environmental performance. In a statement issued last Friday, the RSPO said the palm oil supplier …
A team of researchers from Institut Teknologi Maju (ITMA), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has succeeded in inventing a new system, known as Nanotechnology for Encapsulation of Phase Change Material (NPCM) that can bring down room temperature in buildings, thus minimising the use of air-conditioning or heating systems, and saving electricity …
Police seized 19,000 sea turtle eggs off the coast of Malaysia in the early hours of July 16 in a special operation to hobble a major smuggling syndicate, the Straits Times of Singapore reports. Malaysian Marine Police in the state of Sabah got a tip-off that smugglers were in the …
Sustainability reporting has taken a stronghold among Southeast Asia’s corporate giants, but they have a long way to go in improving the quality of their reports, new research has found. The study conducted by the National University of Singapore Business School’s Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations (CGIO) and Asean …
Global warming will cost the world economy more than £1.5 trillion a year in lost productivity by 2030 as it becomes too hot to work in many jobs, according to a major new report. In just 14 years' time in India, where some jobs are already shared by two people …
The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is now critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This change means that both species of orangutan now face an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.” “This is full acknowledgement of what has been clear for a long …
By quarrying limestone hills for raw materials, cement companies are invariably destroying the only habitat of many snails, wiping out entire species at one go, conservationists allege. Conservationists are fairly confident that at least three species of snails on Gunung Tenggek and Gunung Sagu are now extinct due to YTL …
JAKARTA – Forest fires that blanketed Southeast Asia in thick haze last year released the greatest amount of climate-changing carbon since the record blazes in 1997, producing emissions higher than in the whole of the European Union, scientists said on Tuesday. Singapore, Malaysia and northern Indonesia choked under a layer …
JAKARTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Forest fires that blanketed Southeast Asia in thick haze last year released the greatest amount of climate-changing carbon since record blazes in 1997, producing emissions higher than in the whole of the European Union, scientists said on Tuesday. Singapore, Malaysia and northern Indonesia choked under …
Cargill said that unless IOI issues a new sourcing policy and sustainability plan by July 15, it will stay away from new contracts with the company. Environmental advocates called Cargill's declaration "disappointing and essentially meaningless" because IOI has already committed to zero deforestation. Other multinational palm oil users have already …
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - At least a third of hospitals in developing nations do not have clean running water, a study has found, leading to unsanitary conditions and further spread of disease in drought-hit areas. The study examined 430 hospitals in developing countries and found that one third of …
