Eco-business Podcast

The ocean floor is scattered with vast beds of minerals that could be used to make modern gadgets from smartphones to solar panels and batteries. But environmentalists warn that mining it could remove entire habitats and threaten as-yet-undiscovered species, and release toxins and create pollution in areas that have been undisturbed for millennia. Though there is rising demand for the materials we need to transition to clean energy and combat climate change, do we need to plunder nature’s last frontier to find them? On this podcast, Sian Owen, from conservation group the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, argues that mining the deep seas shouldn’t happen, no matter what treasures are buried in an environment scientists know less about than the surface of the moon.

Air-con provides home comfort and boost works productivity, but it is a dangerously energy-intensive technology. It is the largest and fastest growing use of building energy in Southeast Asia, and by 2040 is predicted to account for 40 per cent of Southeast Asia’s electricity demand. Australian engineer Professor James Trevelyan invented an air-conditioner in 2007 that is smaller scale than regular AC units, more energy efficient, cheaper to run and less emissions intensive. To discuss Southeast Asia's cooling predicament, and how the region can keep cool without cooking the planet, Trevelyan joins the Eco-Business podcast to talk about: The impact of rising air-conditioning use on our climate Why is innovation in air-conditioning so slow? Air-con, luxury and progress How air-conditioning affects build design Air-conditioning and the spreading of disease The future of cooling technology

Eco-Business speaks with top Filipino environmentalist Loren Legarda on how the economy can be revived through climate resilience.

Do people in Asia know or care where their banks invest their money? And even if they do, can they do anything to push their banks towards sustainable investments? To discuss this, Eco-Business spoke to Mayur Singh, a Singapore-based entrepreneur who co-founded tech firm Mattrvest last year. His company helps young people invest in things that align with their values. Singh is also involved in a campaign called My Money My Planet, which encourages consumers to ask their banks to tell them how their money is being spent.  Tune in as we talk about: How much impact do consumers really have as investors? How much of our money is being spent on unsustainable investments like fossil fuels, unhealthy food, slave labour, and guns? Do people in Asia really care how their money is being invested? What can we do about greenwashing in green finance products? Are banks changing fast enough to meet climate goals?

Is plastic waste a battle the Philippines could win? The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a surge in the use of single-use plastics as the material is relied upon to protect people and goods. From face shields and syringes to plastic packaging for takeaway food, how can the Philippines manage its plastic waste streams, increase its recycling rate, and stop an impending plastic pandemic? In this podcast, "What happens to waste? Digging into the recycling systems in the Philippines", Eco-Business speaks to Bonar Laureto, executive director of the non-profit Business for Sustainable Development, and Toff Rada, country manager for corporate and government affairs at food and beverage company Mondelez Philippines. Tune in as we tackle questions including: What happens to waste after people put them in the trash can, and how can Filipino households recycle properly? How must various sectors of society transform to strengthen the country's waste management infrastructure? What can the private sector do to help to redu

Child labour in palm oil by Eco-Business

In this podcast, we discuss an alliance between an environmental group and an agribusiness company that aims to reduce encroachment by coffee farmers in one of Sumatra’s last stands of lowland forest.

On this podcast, Eco-Business talks to experts on how more smallholders can adopt sustainable practices. Tune in as we talk about: Smallholders—are they really responsible for the haze? What is the biggest challenge of moving smallholders towards sustainable practices? Is certification out of reach for smallholders? How has RSPO’s new standard for smallholders affected the market? What a sustainable future look like for smallholders, and how can we get there?

Why are Asia's cities heating up? by Eco-Business

An often overlooked part of the palm oil story is people. What is the industry doing to protect the rights of workers on plantations? On this podcast, Eco-Business spoke to industry experts from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and workers' rights group Verité.

New rules from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO) ban deforestation and growing on peat. But what are the challenges of putting the new rules into practice, and how will they be effectively enforced to protect forests and the people who depend on them? Tune in as we discuss: The impact of the new standards The challenges of making them work How can the rules be effectively enforced? What next for RSPO’s standards? Brand palm oil and fighting fake news

Technologies that keep us cool are among the biggest guzzlers of energy in Southeast Asia. As the region gets richer and more populous, cooling systems are set to account for 40 per cent of Southeast Asia’s electricity demand by 2040. At Singapore International Energy Week last year, Fatih Birol, president of the International Energy Agency, called cooling the global energy market’s “biggest blind spot” as the world works out how to de-carbonise in the wake of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that revealed humanity has about a decade to reverse global warming or else face dire consequences. But can people in the tropics really be expected to live without cooling as temperatures rise? If not, how can we provide affordable, efficient cooling that doesn’t cost the Earth? In the fourth episode of Tomorrow’s cities: Engineering the energy transition, Eco-Business sat down with David MacKerness, director, business development for cooling-as-a-service company Kaer, and Soren Kvorning,

The forecast for the marine sector is stormy, as more stringent international regulations on fuel are due to take effect in 2020, and the International Maritime Organisation has challenged the industry to halve its carbon footprint by 2050. Yet, shipping is responsible for 90% of goods transported around the world and provides an exciting way to travel. At the same time, countries are beginning to experiment with electric, methane, and natural gas-powered vessels. In the third episode of the series Tomorrow’s cities: Engineering the energy transition, we explore which type of vessel provides the best way forward, how the marine sector is coping with IMO’s new targets, and technological innovations that could help the sector transition into a low-carbon world.

In the second episode of the series Tomorrow’s cities: Engineering the energy transition, we explore how to create zero carbon cities.

Tomorrow's cities: How can cold chain secure the future of food? by Eco-Business

Saving Indonesia's forests by Eco-Business

Palm oil is blamed for many environmental and social ills, from deforestation to child labour. How true are these assertions? Eco-Business speaks to Anita Neville, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Relations at Golden Agri-Resources, and Cynthia Morel, Senior Sustainability Strategist for Forum for the Future Asia Pacific to address 5 myths about palm oil.

6. Disrupting the future by Eco-Business

The Fourth Industrial Revolution sets a brisk pace for businesses and policymakers alike to adapt their models and practices in order to keep up with changing trends. Doing so will require equipping the population with new skills, fostering innovation, and of course, finance to get cutting-edge ideas from the drawing board to users. How can societies foster and support innovation, and more importantly, channel it for good? We spoke to Steve Leonard, CEO of SGInnovate to find out.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has made some rather exciting promises to society: New business opportunities, sustainable societies, and transformed lives. But it will take new hardware, software, and financing to make this transition possible. To find out how the future will be implemented, we spoke to Alpesh Patel, director of the Digital Capability Centre at McKinsey Singapore,