March 2015

Strong policy PIC Seetharam Kallidaikurichi

Strong policy, corporate approach key to solving Asia’s water problems

Asia’s developing countries need to delink water management and politics – Professor Kallidaikurichi, Singapore’s Institute of Water Policy. Photo: Singapore International Water Week. Strong policy, corporate approach key to solving Asia’s water problems By Jenny Marusiak Asia’s governments need to set good water policies, and then let the utilities do their jobs. A corporate approach, separate from politics, creates the stable business environments necessary for private sector investment in safe and clean water for Asian cities. This is the view of Professor Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, director of the Institute of Water Policy at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, who spoke at the Singapore International Water Week. In an interview with Eco-Business, Professor Kallidaikurchi said governments need to create the policy frameworks that enable private firms to bring the needed technology. The firms need to know they can safely invest in it and that the contracts will allow them to reap the profits for a period of time, he added. Professor Kallidaikurchi noted this approach of using long term contracts to create stable business environments is similar to the way pharmaceutical and telecommunications companies invest in technology in developing countries. His presentation on sustainable urban water management on Monday kicked off the inaugural Southeast Asia Water Ministers Forum, an international gathering of water ministers and experts at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Professor Kallidaikurichi said all cities can achieve sustainable water management systems and that it was expensive not to have such systems in place. He noted the high costs of bottled water and healthcare associated with unsafe water, in addition to the loss of revenue from stolen or leaked water. There are two ways Asia’s cities can encourage innovation in sanitation and water treatment, he said. “One would be for the government to set up a platform for […]

Extreme Economics

“Babbage’s book is aimed at teachers and educators, but any parent or student would benefit from reading it. . . . The spend-for-today mentality has to stop. Schools and society have to address the problem, and Dr. Babbage has concrete ideas, exercises and plans that will help. “—Don McNay, founder of the McNay Settlement Group, October 20, 2009, Times-Tribune. What Financial future awaits the current generation of children and teenagers in the United States? Our children and teenagers did not cause the financial problems that confront the nation and impacts their families, but they will pay part of the price for these financial problems. What should children and teenagers know about personal finance? How can sound financial principles and money management be taught to these students? Extreme Economics identifies, through current research, what children and teenagers need to know about managing funds. It shows educators how to design instructional activities that enable students to learn about money management in fascinating and meaningful ways. Extreme Economics is not filled with complicated or confusing charts, graphs, and terminology. It is readable and immediately applicable. As education continues to advance, the school curriculum might consist of reading, writing, math, and economics and finance. This book is an important step to ensuring a solid base in this emerging area. About the Author Keen J. Babbage has twenty-five years of experience as a teacher and administrator in middle school, high school, college, and graduate school. He is the author of author of numerous books including 911: The School Administrator’s Guide to Crisis Management (1996), Extreme Teaching (2002), Results-Driven Teaching: Teach So Well That Every Student Learns(2006) and What Only Teachers Know About Education (2008).

Environmentalism Lost and Found

Mainstream environmentalism is preoccupied with giant technofixes – from windfarms to ‘sustainable consumption’ – and pays almost no attention to the underlying cultural reasons why our civilisation is destroying the planet. Somewhere along the way of observing and experiencing the degradation of the planet, environmentalism morphed from being a project designed to protect the wider natural world from destruction by human industry, into a project that exists to protect the lifestyles of middle-class consumers in as ‘sustainable’ way as possible. We are kidding ourselves that we will not have to radically change our ways; if oil, food and commodity prices keep on rising, then localisation will happen, if not for economic rather than simply sentimental reasons. The effects of the 2008 collapse are still playing themselves out, but globalisation is already in retreat. In ten years time, the world will look very different. By acting now, rather than waiting for systems to fail catastrophically and force our hands, the long-term future for renewal can be extremely bright. Ridiculously high land property prices and entrenched land ownership patters are major obstacles preventing an intelligent use of our countryside today, but as a greater majority of the world’s population migrates towards urban living, cities must regenerate and reinvent themselves. But the exciting thing about cities is their dynamism and agility in adapting and renewing themselves, absorbing new ideas and becoming more enjoyable places to live and work. The new element in the mix is climate change, and so all development must now embrace social, economic and environmental sustainability. Consumers have traditionally expected governments to take the lead in protecting the environment, but now they are looking more to the corporate world to take action, rather than individuals with political influence. Increasingly, Asians want economic growth but believe it should be achieved through […]

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