DSS5101 Chap.9 Biodiversity and Sustainable Cities in Southeast Asia
Biodiversity and Sustainable Cities in Southeast Asia
Life on land and below water
Week 4 turns to biodiversity’s contribution to sustainable development through Goal 14, conserving the oceans, seas and marine resources, and Goal 15, protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems, managing forests, combating desertification and halting biodiversity loss.
Several of their targets fall due earlier than 2030: marine pollution by 2025 and ecosystem conservation by 2020. The session covers the Convention on Biological Diversity and a case from India in which coal mining by the Adani Group in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand brings endangered elephants, coal, climate change and conflict between people and wildlife into one dispute, followed by a discussion of conservation issues in the global south.
Pressures in the region
Week 5 focuses on Southeast Asia.
The outline lists deforestation for oil palm plantations, strained water resources, wildlife poaching and silent forests, low-lying cities facing rising sea levels, and plastics examined through life cycle assessment, with a group discussion on Nusantara.
Each is a place where the trade-offs of earlier chapters become local: growth and jobs on one side, habitat, water and climate on the other.
A city as the unit of analysis
Week 6 replaces the lecture with a self-directed group visit to the URA City Gallery on upstream planning for sustainability under Goal 11, which calls for inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.
The CA3 report, worth 25 per cent, should cover Singapore’s planning parameters, the policies that support sustainability and the country’s contribution to global efforts, and then one chosen area of the Singapore Green Plan: the carbon tax, nationally determined contributions, reporting standards and SGX compliance, or the City in Nature vision with environmental impact assessment standards, conservation and restoration.
The outline recommends about two hours in the gallery and an hour of group discussion. Fuller requirements are on the CA3 assignment page, which you should read before planning.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Goals 14 and 15 and their early deadlines
- 02
The biodiversity convention and a coal-mining case
- 03
Oil palm, water, poaching, sea level and plastics
- 04
Goal 11 and the city as a unit of analysis
- 05
The URA City Gallery field trip
- 06
Choosing one Green Plan area for CA3
Worked example · free
Mapping a regional pressure onto the goals
- 2List the goals the plantation may advance.
- 2List the goals it may harm and attach an indicator.
- 2State the evidence that would settle the trade-off.
Key terms
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- The international treaty on biodiversity opened at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, which entered into force in 1993.
- Human-Wildlife Conflict
- Harm to people, property or animals that arises where human activity and wildlife compete for the same land or resources.
- Life Cycle Assessment
- A method of estimating a product's environmental impact across its whole life, from raw materials through use to disposal.
- City in Nature
- The Singapore Green Plan area concerned with conservation, restoration and environmental impact assessment standards within the city.
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- A formal study of a proposed project's likely environmental effects, carried out before a decision to approve it.
Biodiversity and Sustainable Cities in Southeast Asia FAQ
What do Goals 14 and 15 cover?
Goal 14 covers conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources. Goal 15 covers protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems, managing forests sustainably, combating desertification, halting land degradation and halting biodiversity loss.
What is the Week 4 coal-mining case about?
It concerns coal mining by the Adani Group in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, where the needs of endangered elephants, energy, the climate and local communities collide. It is used to discuss conservation issues facing countries in the global south.
Which Southeast Asian issues does the course examine?
Deforestation for oil palm plantations, strained water resources, wildlife poaching and silent forests, low-lying cities and rising sea levels, and plastics examined through life cycle assessment, with a group discussion on Nusantara.
What must the CA3 field report cover?
Singapore's planning parameters, the policies that support sustainability and the country's contribution to global efforts on the goals, plus one chosen area of the Singapore Green Plan. The CA3 assignment page carries the remaining requirements.
Which Green Plan areas can a group choose for CA3?
The outline lists the carbon tax, nationally determined contributions, reporting standards and SGX compliance, and the City in Nature vision covering environmental impact assessment standards, implementation, conservation and restoration.
Assessment move
Before the gallery visit, agree the Green Plan area and a short list of what each member will record. A report built from shared notes against one question is far stronger than one assembled afterwards from separate impressions.
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