S1E120: Climate change only one of three ecological crises: Tommy Koh warns

In a storied career, the diplomat Professor Tommy Koh also
chaired the Earth Summit in 1992 and negotiated the Law of the
Sea.


Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits
Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from
biodiversity conservation to climate change.


The framers of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea did not foresee global warming affecting oceans to the extent
that it does - causing acidification and the death of coral reefs
- said the top diplomat who was president of the 1973 conference
that produced the Convention known as UNCLOS. 


In this episode, Singapore’s ambassador at-large and
foremost international environmental law expert Tommy Koh -
who also chaired the pivotal 1992 Earth Summit - tells host
ST's global contributor Nirmal Ghosh that plastic debris in the
oceans now is of severe concern. He adds that the international
community has also failed to be good stewards of the world's
fisheries.


According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO),
unsustainable practices have depleted about 90 per cent of major
fisheries - and fishing fleets continue to be subsidised. The
total capacity of the world’s fishing fleets is beyond the
sustainable limit of the oceans. 


Meanwhile, unlike climate change, the loss of biodiversity has
failed to capture the popular imagination even as some scientists
are calling the current era "the sixth extinction."


There is hope, however, that the international community is at a
tipping point, with people and governments waking up to the
danger of this unprecedented loss. 


Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):


2:22 The blind spot during negotiations of the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea


3:57 Large amounts of marine plastic debris in the ocean is a
very serious problem


5:01 Why it is unsustainable to subsidise the fishing industry


6:05  How the man or woman on the street can link the loss
of biodiversity to their individual welfare and interest


9:46 What are the shortfalls in efforts to curb global warming


12:43 How densely populated Singapore managed to maintain green
spaces


Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh (nirmal@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis,
Fa'izah Sani and Hadyu Rahim


Edited by: Hadyu Rahim


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https://www.straitstimes.com/climate-change


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