The last word:

Scoring 2011 Issues and Committing to 2012 Opportunities

Trolling through the reports and past issues, we find some interesting results…and we tell you what was the most read/opened edition of abc carbon express the year past.  What item/article did more of you read than anything else?  Who was the most popular profiled personality of the year? And what was the single or recurring topic  which generated the most interest from readers? Interestingly, you seem to be keener on good news – scientific discoveries,  inventions and  innovations – than reports of bad things happening around us, even though we have consistently reported on the disasters which have befallen us.  For this and more – including some of our predictions, or more accurately, commitments for 2012 – Read More

The first edition of 2011, number 134, was actually the one edition of abc carbon express which produced the highest percentage of readers – those who opened and clicked on more articles than any issues which followed. The best read article then was one about “Where there’s sun there’s power to burn or store”. A good way to start the year.

But the one single article/item which elicited the best response all year was when we reported on the 100 Global Sustain Ability Leaders and listed the chosen ones. That was issue number 150, which came out in August. Naturally enough, many of our readers were among top 100 – as you would expect – but looking for who’s there and who’s not, obviously created unprecedented interest. We’ll do it again this year, of course. And expect to create just as much reader interest.

What is welcome news to us – as originators of the new global annual list – is that so many of the chosen few have decided to make known their selection, using it in media releases, websites and biographies. It is encouraging to know we are getting recognition – up with the Nobels and Oscars!

So what more can we tell you about your reading habits?

That the second most read single story of the year was the one entitled – “Sizing up innovations; a small solar charger and a floating solar island” – which appeared in issue number 155 and reported on the Third Wave Power’s MPowerPad and Singapore’s plans  to create an island covered in solar panels.

Who was the most popular of the people we profile in each issue?

Well, we have to announce a draw for this title of the year. Interface founder and business sustainability leader Ray Anderson – who we profiled only days before he sadly departed this earth to which he had contributed so generously – along with Cate Blanchett, who besides taking such a strong personal commitment to sustainable and green practices, has led the Sydney Theatre Company on that journey as well. She achieved added attention during the year for appearing in a climate change “pro carbon price” advertisement in Australia – consistent with her beliefs and practices, we must add – which drew criticism from some quarters.

The one subject or  issue which keeps cropping up and which seems to be of greatest interest to readers is solar power. We try, as we must, to give every subject and issue equal space. We have covered wave, tidal, hydro, wind, geothermal and all the clean energy options. We have also drawn attention to dirty coal, guzzling gas, greasy oil – not showing our bias of course! – but it is consistently solar which comes up tops. For us and our readers.

It has been a year of disasters and some of them at least have been quite directly attributable to a changing climate and the increase in extreme weather events we have come to expect more frequently.

What was reported as the worst flooding in Thailand for 50 years – or was it 100 years? – we can  now expect to see again and again. This is not just about extreme weather, but the changes man has made to the way we use our land and water. Will we continue to build on river plains?

And it points to how we must – before it is too late – start fully fledged adaptation processes. It goes without saying – but we will say it again and again – that the world has left it too late to seriously stop the climate from changing and going beyond the manageable level. So we have to get better prepared to face the consequences.

That means adapt to change, yes, but it also means we must get much better at managing disasters across borders. It is about time the UN or one of its international agencies, brought together all relevant NGOs, to form a genuine global task force to swing in to action with experts, food, water and rescue equipment.  And not wait until asked. It is amazing that this seems to happen more easily when it comes to peace-keeping or military operations, but more difficult to engineer when it comes to major weather or humanitarian disasters.

While we are on disasters, we must acknowledge the worst of 2012. Without a doubt, the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and consequent nuclear accident – a triple whammy – was worse than anyone could have expected. Even the normally very well organised Japanese were seemingly at a loss to comprehend it and manage it.

It did lead to some soul searching, both in terms of disaster management as well as the suitability of nuclear energy. It led Germany to say “no to nuclear” in its clean energy future and many other nations to question whether they should seriously consider nuclear options.

We must also draw attention to the earthquake which damaged Christchurch, New Zealand (a former home city of ours) so severely and produced serious losses of life, businesses and homes. While the number of fatalities was much less than similar sized geological events – Haiti for example – it has been a “disaster too far” which refuses to stop. Thousands of aftershocks have continued for months leaving citizens and businesses wondering how they can remain in a city subjected to an ongoing onslaught of danger and damage.

While we know we cannot connect earthquakes directly to climate change, we did run a report during the year which showed scientific evidence of geological changes to the earth from melting glaciers and rising sea levels. These could well increase. We have said ourselves that we cannot believe that taking so much out of the earth and seabed – oil, gas, coal, for example– and burning it, cannot have some unintended consequences.

More research is needed but so is the realisation that we must clean up our act and switch to a clean energy future which is sustainable and will allow us to live at peace with ourselves and maybe one day in the distant future expect less, not more, disasters.

Turning to a future closer to home, what are the professional and personal commitments – not resolutions! –I am prepared to make for 2012. Here’s a seven point plan:

1. To grow the business of SASA – Sustain Ability Showcase Asia – in a sustainable way of course, by reaching out to more businesses – and Government agencies – not just in Singapore and Australia, but throughout Asia Pacific.  We can offer advisory services and provide direction. We can get more people and companies started on the sustainability journey. We can also do what we apparently do best – act as a matchmaker – by bringing together Governments, businesses, individuals, consultants and NGOs to work together to achieve so much more than is possible alone.
2. To keep abc carbon express on track as a voice or mouthpiece for all organisations and businesses committed to doing something about climate change. Looking at  issues and opportunities. Highlighting developments from around the region and around the world in clean energy, clean tech, water, waste and carbon management, as well as promote energy efficiency and all sustainability measures for businesses, for countries, for homes and communities.
3. To put renewed emphasis on making events more sustainable – in Singapore and elsewhere. We have started with our appointment as sustainability consultants for the big three week long lighting festival in Singapore in March – i Light Marina Bay. We have adopted an international standard for sustainable events, the same being utilised  for the London Olympics this year. All conference and exhibition organisers and venues need to get on board the sustainability journey.
4. To broaden the appeal and client base of the communications consultancy we took over the management of in the later part of 2011. It will from now on be known as H2PC Asia, formerly Professional Public Relations Singapore and a member of the Racepoint Group.  We’ve started work for the National Environment Agency (NEA) and hope to see more business  in the clean energy and clean tech space, to complement our current client portfolio which includes investor relations and media relations, along with technology and telecomunications businesses.
5. To put a higher value on time, a precious resource that disappears without trace!. That’s based on advice business friends have given me, as I apparently give of my time too freely! Of course, I will continue to support organisations like WWF and the Singapore Environment Council (SEC). And clients have no fear that I’m about to put up my rates. But I’m going to get better at managing my time and making sure everyone – including me – gets a better return on my investment of time.
6. To get another book written and completed this year, marking as it does 50 years since I first started out in my journalism  career. A few have been awaiting a promised book of communications industry case studies for a long time and that could well be what it’s mostly about. Don’t expect a heavy tome like “The ABC of Carbon”, but a more sustainable, manageable size in print and digital form. Less said the better at this stage, except to say it’s underway.
7. To go on a much talked-about, long-awaited trip to another distant continent. Business will be done, but we’ll squeeze in some leisure here and there of course. Catching up with old friends and seeing some places again – and some for the first time. Not a magical mystery tour, but a plan to take my dear wife on a much- desired and well-deserved journey.

So here’s to the year ahead: A good one all around. Busy, but rewarding. Happy, but not over-indulgent or wasteful. Sustainable, but never boring. Energetic, but well-managed.

Cheers!

Source: www.abccarbon.com and www.sustain-ability-showcase.com