Singapore has joined the Arctic Council at a time when there was growing international interest in the melting of polar ice and the impact this would have on countries like Singapore, where coastal flooding is a real problem for the island nation. And Singapore doesn’t hesitate to identify with important global issues and opportunities like this. In a Straits Times editorial this week, headed “World gone cold on global warming”, it states conclusively: “The world is by now convinced of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner alternatives”. Read More

World gone cold on global warming

Editorial Desk of The Straits Times (21 May 2013):

People on Earth learnt the other week that the heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air they breathe had crossed the 400 parts per million (ppm) mark, which could possibly be a life-changing level. Scientists have warned that a tipping point could be reached at the existing rate of gas increase caused by industry, agriculture and applications of technology, like vehicle use and air travel.

Projections are that there will be a doubling, to about 1,000 ppm, towards the end of the century. But well before this level is reached, by around mid-century, extreme weather patterns of drought and heavy rainfall causing floods will begin to disrupt world food production. The heat expansion of ocean waters and the loss of polar ice sheets and glaciers will raise sea levels that will threaten low-lying land masses. Singapore is one such candidate. It also has to worry about its port status if an Arctic cargo route, that will reduce traversal between North Asia and Europe appreciably, is made possible in relatively ice-free summer months.

The world is by now convinced of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner alternatives. Pressure is strongest on the United States, Western Europe and China, but the mix of historical and present-day culpability has proved impossible to reconcile, beginning with the Kyoto Protocol. Governments understand also the risks of deforestation, as has occurred in lumber-rich Brazil and South-east Asia. The lure of profit with little attention being paid to forest regeneration – the much-abused notion of carbon sinks and tradable credits – is another intractable issue.

Successive rounds of United Nations climate talks have reinforced the view that industrially advanced nations and rivals aiming for parity are shifting around the responsibility to reduce carbon emissions so as to preserve their permanent interests. If such thinking persists, the global community must ask itself whether modern human progress and sustainable planetary conditions are compatible. If not, what are the options? Changing patterns of increased aridity and storms, unusual seasonal changes and the thinning of aeons of trapped ice have been acknowledged by governments as warnings. When will they show the will to act?

The last big leap in public concern about climate change came in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the United States. While no one could show a causal link, the extreme weather and the terror it unleashed was enough to put global warming on the world’s agenda. Now, the political temperature has cooled as the world grapples with more immediate concerns. Hopefully it will not take another Katrina-scale catastrophe to focus minds again on the challenge at hand.

Source: www.asianewsnet.net

SINGAPORE’S ARCTIC COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

By M. Nirmala, Senior Correspondent, Straits Times, (21 May 2013):

LAST week, news broke that Singapore had gained admission into an exclusive club in the cold North, the Arctic Council.

At first glance, it may seem odd for a tiny Republic on the equator to be joining a council whose members ring around the North Pole and focus on issues facing their territories.

But in fact, the move makes strategic sense for Singapore. It was also the culmination of four years of diplomacy.

Singapore’s plan to join the Arctic Council as a permanent observer started in 2010. Foreign Affairs officials learnt that there was growing international interest in the melting of polar ice and the impact this would have on countries.

The melting ice could cause coastal flooding, a real problem for the island nation.

More importantly, the receding polar ice would also open up a Northern sea route through Arctic waters. This would severely threaten Singapore which is one of the world’s busiest ports.

The new route via the North Pole can cut the time taken by ships from Europe to reach the East by half. It has the potential to divert shipping that has gone via the Suez Canal and the Malacca and Singapore straits.

The green light was given to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officers to try and gain entry into the Arctic Council.

Founded in 1996, the Arctic Council has eight permanent members: the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. It is a policymaking body that produces binding international agreements among Arctic countries on areas such as pollution and marine conservation.

There is growing interest from others to join this council as the Arctic region has rich deposits of oil, gas and other minerals, which will become more accessible as the ice caps melt.

Singapore’s efforts bore fruit last week when the country was admitted as a permanent observer in the council. It joins five other countries as new permanent observers to the council: China, Japan, South Korea, India and Italy. There are 26 other permanent observers, who can watch meeting proceedings and contribute to the council’s working groups.

Former foreign minister George Yeo, in Australia when he read the news of Singapore’s entry into the Arctic Council, told The Straits Times that becoming an observer on the council is of strategic importance to Singapore’s long-term future.

“I’m sure we will play an active role and try to make a positive contribution to global sea transport in all its aspects,” he said.

Singapore’s formal application to join the council was praised by one permanent member as “first class”. Applicants who sought the council’s advice on how to gain admission were advised to consult the Singapore team.

From the word “go”, Singapore officials worked like ubiquitous ants, engaging the permanent members and the Arctic indigenous communities.

It helped that Singapore’s Ambassador to Norway, Mr Ng Ser Miang, had been in the post since 2001.

Veteran diplomat Kemal Siddique was also made Singapore’s Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs. He had served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador in four of the Arctic Council member countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. These countries knew him well.

This led to his invitation by the Norwegian government to remote Svalbard, situated between Norway and the North Pole, last August when the Arctic members visited the islands there.

Mr Siddique met key officials of all eight member countries. He also visited the lands of the indigenous peoples of Alaska, the Nunavut in Canada, the Rovaniemi of Finland, among others.

Back in Singapore, officials began chiselling away at the Republic’s emergent Arctic policy.

At the World Oceans Summit held in Singapore last year, it “articulated an intention to play a role in Arctic governance”, wrote Stewart Watters and Aki Tonami, researchers at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Denmark.

They noted that “Singapore’s Arctic diplomacy is driven primarily by an ambition to exploit an emerging market niche in which it sees itself as a technological and expertise leader”.

Singapore, they wrote, has played a role in the International Maritime Organisation that is disproportionate to the size of the country. The Republic is also home to global leaders in offshore and marine engineering.

These areas are relevant to the Arctic Council’s work as Singapore has strong knowledge of international ocean law and ways of developing global shipping.

Diplomatic efforts were supported by Singapore’s expertise in areas relevant to council members.

In 2008, Keppel Singmarine broke new ground when it completed Asia’s first two ice breakers for a subsidiary of Russian Lukoil. These ice breakers carve out shipping passages by breaking through huge blocks of Arctic ice.

Singapore is now developing the next generation of oil rigs and ships, including Arctic life boats for Arctic oil companies. Faster responses to emergencies in the Arctic are needed as the area opens up for more development.

Singapore is doing several Arctic research projects. Oceanic research – on topics like oil explorations in the harsh Arctic climate – is being done at the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering at the National University of Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Singaporeans too are leaving their prints on the Arctic ice.

Philanthropist Lee Seng Tee has donated funds to the International Arctic Research Centre to establish a “Lecture in Arctic Studies” series. Ms Michelle Goh, a young Singapore biologist, is studying birds in the cold Arctic.

But Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Barth Eide has warned the new observer members of the work that lies ahead: “To the new observers of the Arctic Council, there is no such thing as a free lunch.”

For Singapore, entry into the council is just the beginning. The hard work continues.

Source: www.straitstimes.com