18 July 2016

Assembled by UNU-IIGH, six papers underline the value of applying science, technology to reduce disaster-related health risks; productivity in many jobs seen falling by up to 40 percent by 2050 due to heat stress; experts convene at UN forum in Malaysia

The rising price — in both money and health — of extreme weather events amid rapid urbanisation, and the corresponding value of applying science and technology to reduce the risks, is underscored in six new research papers formally launched at a UN event today.

Assembled by UN University’s Malaysia-based International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), the papers are published in a special issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health.

And they help inform a special Forum on Advancing Science and Technology in the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, hosted in Kuala Lumpur July 19 by UNU-IIGH and the UN Development Programme.

The papers include a warning about large productivity losses due to heat stress, estimating that in South-East Asia alone “as much as 15% to 20% of annual work hours may already be lost in heat-exposed jobs,” a figure that may double by 2050 as the planet continues warming.

According to author Tord Kjellstrom of the Health and Environment International Trust, New Zealand: “Current climate conditions in tropical and subtropical parts of the world are already so hot during the hot seasons that occupational health effects occur and work capacity for many people is affected.”

Dr. Kjellstrom’s paper cites estimated GDP losses due to heat stress for 43 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Russia, Saint Lucia, Samoa, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu and Vietnam (see tables at http://bit.ly/29BL0Dn).

The situation in Malaysia is typical of the South-East Asian countries: As work slows or stops to avoid dangerous heat stress, the country’s Gross Domestic Product will decline by an estimated 5.9% (value: US $95 billion) by 2030, more than double the estimated 2.8% GDP lost to heat stress in 2010.

According to latest estimates, the global economic cost of reduced productivity may be more than US $2 trillion by 2030. The most susceptible jobs include the lowest paid — heavy labour and low-skill agricultural and manufacturing.

In 2030, in both India and China, the GDP losses could total $450 billion, although mitigation may be made possible by a major shift in working hours, among other measures employers will need to take to reduce losses.

This problem is already placing major strain on, for example, electricity infrastructure, Dr. Kiellstrom notes. The additional energy needed for a single city the size of Bangkok for each 1°C increase of average ambient temperature can be as much as 2000 MW, roughly the output of a major power plant.

“It is very important to develop and apply adaptation measures now to protect people from the disasters that current climate and slowing changing climate brings,” says Dr. Kjellstrom. “However, adaptation is only half an answer — we must also take decisive action now to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases. Failure will cause the frequency and intensity of disasters to worsen dramatically beyond 2050, and the situation at the end of this century will be especially alarming for the world’s poorest people.”

Heat stress is one of several direct and growing impacts on human health due to a warming planet, understanding all of which “is critical in planning for mitigation and adaptation plans,” the authors say.

According to the papers:

• Disastrously heavy rains can expand insect breeding sites, drive rodents from their burrows, and contaminate freshwater resources, leading to the spread of disease and compromising safe drinking water supplies.
• Warmer temperatures often promote the spread of mosquito-borne parasitic and viral diseases by shifting the vectors’ geographic range and shortening the pathogen incubation period.
• Climate change can worsen air quality by triggering fires and dust storms and promoting certain chemical reactions causing respiratory illness and other health problems.
• In extreme disasters, harm is often amplified by the destruction of medical facilities and disruption of health services
• Central and south China can anticipate the greatest number of casualties and highest economic losses from extreme weather events in the Asia Pacific region — the world’s most disaster-prone region — and a more integrated, multidisciplinary approach is needed to upgrade the nation’s emergency response system for natural disasters.
• From 1980 to 2012, roughly 2.1 million people worldwide died as a direct result of nearly 21,000 natural catastrophes such as floods, mudslides, extreme heat, drought, high winds or fires. The cost of those disasters exceeded $4 trillion (US) — a loss comparable to the current annual GDP of Germany.
• In Asia Pacific 1.2 billion people have been affected by 1,215 disasters since the millennium. Some 92% of human exposure to floods occurs in Asia Pacific, along with 91% of exposure to cyclones and two-thirds of all exposure to landslides. Between 1970 and 2011, two million people in the region — 75% of the world total — were killed by disasters.
• From 1993 to 2012, the Philippines experienced the highest number of extreme weather events (311), Thailand experienced the greatest financial loss (US$ 5.4 billion) and Myanmar experienced the highest death rate (13.5 deaths per 100,000 people).
• In just 40 years, from 1970 to 2010, the regional population exposed to flooding risk more than doubled from about 30 million to 64 million while those in cyclone-prone areas rose from roughly 72 to 121 million.
• Cities cover 2% of world land cover, generate 60 to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions and half of all waste, and are expanding at a rate of 1 million people per week. In a single generation — from 2000 to 2030 –urban land extents are expected to have tripled.

The authors underline that fast-rising numbers of people are being exposed to the impacts of climate change, with much of the increase occurring in cities in flood-prone coastal areas or on hills susceptible to mudslides or landslides. Especially vulnerable are people living in poverty, including about one billion in slums.

Cities — concentrated sources of energy consumption, heat and pollution, covered in surfaces that absorb warmth — create local heat islands and impair air quality, both threats to health.

And rising demand for cooling contributes to warming the world. Air conditioners not only pump heat out directly, the electricity required is typically produced by burning fossil fuels, adding to atmospheric greenhouse gases. As well, people acclimatized to air conditioning become less heat tolerant, further increasing demand for cooling.

On the other hand, better urban planning presents “tremendous opportunity” to mitigate the health impacts of more extreme weather events.

Urban planners, the authors say, can help by designing cities “in ways that enhance health, sustainability, and resilience all at once,” incorporating better building design, facilitating a shift to renewable energy, and fostering the protection and expansion of tree cover, wetlands and other carbon sinks, for example.

To mitigate the health impacts of longer, more severe extreme weather events, the authors stress the need to replace piecemeal reactive responses with integrated, multi-disciplinary planning approaches.

Beyond better preparation and warning systems to improve disaster response, recommended steps include enhancing drainage to reduce flood risks and strengthening health care, especially in poor areas.

In an introduction to the six paper collection, UNU-IIGH Research Fellows Jamal Hisham Hashim and José Siri write that humanity faces “substantial health risks from the degradation of the natural life support systems which are critical for human survival. It has become increasingly apparent that actions to mitigate environmental change have powerful co-benefits for health.”

Comments:

“It is not clear yet whether considerations of health and sustainability will overrule the press of economic progress in coming decades, and ethical considerations surrounding the right to development are thorny indeed. What is clear is that tremendous opportunities exist to design cities in ways that enhance health, sustainability, and resilience all at once. Decisions made today will have a profound impact on health around the world for many decades to come. We hope these papers help improve understanding of the complex relationship between global environmental change and health, of the threat climate change poses to hard-won advances in human health worldwide, and of policy options available to mitigate these risks.”

Anthony Capon, Director, UNU-IIGH

“The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) underlines the increasing importance of science-based decision-making. Public health and disaster risk reduction needs the concerted approach of scientists, policy makers, civil society, the private sector, media and other stakeholders. It is now time to develop “Words into Action” for implementation of the SFDRR.”

Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam

“Disasters have killed more than 1.3 million people and cost over US$2 trillion during the last two decades. The only way to protect development gains from disasters and to eradicate poverty is to integrate disaster risk reduction into development and to make all development risk-informed. UNDP will continue to provide support for getting DRR on the political agenda as a cross-cutting development priority, and facilitating the translation of DRR policy frameworks into action at the local level for empowered lives and resilient nations.”

Rajib Shaw, Executive Director, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme, China

“This excellent series of peer review papers help to focus attention on the impact of disasters and their health consequences, particularly in South East Asia. The papers summarise the need for emphasis on public health impact measurements as well as stressing the importance of enhanced scientific and technical work on disaster risk reduction. This very welcome series demonstrates that only by documenting the effects of disasters can evidence be provided to support the availability and application of science and technology to inform decision-making during difficult times.”

Virginia Murray, Global Disaster Risk Reduction Expert, Public Health England, and vice-chair, Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

“People know intuitively that “react and cure” is a far more expensive strategy than “anticipate and prevent.” The experts behind these insightful papers, by detailing the high price of inaction in terms of both our finances and our health, greatly strengthen the case for taking defensive steps against disaster risks — and the sooner the better.”

Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Malaysia

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The six papers, published by the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health

• Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and Human Health Implications in the Asia Pacific Region, by Jamal Hisham Hashim and Zailina Hashim
• Urbanization, Extreme Events, and Health: The Case for Systems Approaches in Mitigation, Management, and Response, by José G. Siri, Barry Newell, Katrina Proust, and Anthony Capon
• Impact of Climate Conditions on Occupational Health and Related Economic Losses: A New Feature of Global and Urban Health in the Context of Climate Change, by Tord Kjellstrom
• Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality and Public Health in Urban Areas, by Noor Artika Hassan, Zailina Hashim, and Jamal Hisham Hashim
• Review of Climate Change and Water-Related Diseases in Cambodia and Findings From Stakeholder Knowledge Assessments, by Lachlan J. McIver, Vibol S. Chan, Kathyrn J. Bowen, Steven N. Iddings, Kol Hero and Piseth P. Raingsey
• Emergency Response to and Preparedness for Extreme Weather Events and Environmental Changes in China, by Li Wang, Yongfeng Liao, Linsheng Yang, Hairong Li, Bixiong Ye, and Wuyi Wang

Background

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was agreed at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan in March 2015 and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in June 2015.

The goal of the Sendai Framework is to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience.

The outcome expected by 2030 is a substantial reduction in disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental aspects of persons, private sector, communities and countries.

A key feature of the Sendai Framework is the shift of focus from managing ‘disasters’ to managing ‘risks’. Such a shift requires a better understanding of risk in all its dimensions of hazards, exposure and vulnerability.

The role of science and technology in providing the evidence and knowledge on risk features heavily in the Sendai Framework.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Science and Technology Conference, held 27-29 January 2016 in Geneva, produced the Science and Technology Roadmap to Support the Implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The UNU and UNDP Joint Public Forum and High Level Roundtable on Advancing Science and Technology in the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 has the following goals:

• Raise awareness of the value of science, technology and innovation (STI) for disaster risk reduction
• Engage key stakeholders in options to build STI capacity in this field, and
• Identify strategic next steps.

It takes place in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday, 19 July, 9 a.m. to noon (full details: http://bit.ly/29BK7dW).

About UN University

Established in 1973, United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organization headquartered in Japan. The mission of the UN University is to contribute, through collaborative research and education, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human development, welfare and survival that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.

In carrying out this mission, UN University works with leading universities and research institutes in UN Member States, functioning as a bridge between the international academic community and the United Nations system. Through postgraduate teaching activities, UNU contributes to capacity building, particularly in developing countries.

About UNU-IIGH

The UNU International Institute for Global Health was founded in 2007 with a US$ 40 million endowment from the Malaysian Government. Based in Kuala Lumpur, the mission of UNU-IIGH is to build knowledge and capacity for decision-making by the UN system about global health issues.

As part of the International Council for Science (ICSU), UNU-IIGH is a co-sponsor of a 10-year global interdisciplinary science program on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment – A Systems Analysis Approaches.

UNU-IIGH contributions include capacity building in systems methods for population health research; development and evaluation of metrics for healthy urban development, particularly those relevant to low and middle income countries; and leadership training for city planners, elected officials, public health workers and others.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

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News release in full, click here

Example coverage:

• Newswires / syndicates

Reuters, UK, Too hot to work: global warming to cost $2 trillion in lost productivity, click here

Washington Post, USA, As the world grows hotter, some workers are becoming less productive, click here

Bloomberg News, USA, Soaring Temperatures Will Make It Too Hot to Work, UN Warns, click here

The Independent, UK, Global warming set to cost the world economy £1.5 trillion by 2030 as it becomes too hot to work, click here

EuropaPress, Spain, Investigadores detallan los riesgos crecientes para salud de los desastres naturales, click here

RAI Novosty, Russia, ООН посчитала, во сколько мировой экономике обойдется глобальное потепление, click here

PAP, Poland, ONZ ostrzega: Wzrost temperatury doprowadzi do skrócenia czasu pracy, click here

• News sites

Le Figaro, France, via Yahoo News, La hausse des températures pourraient coûter 2 trillions de dollars à l’économie d’ici 2030, click here

Les Echos, France, Selon un rapport de l’ONU, la hausse des températures en raison du changement climatique pourrait coûter des points de PIB et des billions de dollars d’ici à 2030, click here

BFM Business, France, L’économie mondiale victime du réchauffement climatique, click here

Sina, China, 全球变暖每年将夺走13万亿元财富, click here

De Morgen, Belgium, Toenemende temperaturen doen wereldeconomie serieus zweten, click here

Business Green, UK, Heat stress is already impacting the bottom line – and it’s only going to get worse, click here

Climate News Network, UK, Climate change’s costs are still escalating, click here

Clean Malaysia, Climate Change will Cost us … a Lot, click here

Free Malaysia Today, Malaysia, Productivity to drop in Asia Pacific due to heat stress, click here

Mic, United States, As Republicans Deny Climate Change, the U.N. Says it Could Cost the World $2 Trillion, click here

RP, Poland, Cena globalnego ocieplenia: 2 biliony dolarów w ciągu najbliższych, click here

Taloussanomat, Finland, Kylmyyttä Pohjolaan, tukalaa Aasiaan – tuoko muutos säissä lisää lepoaikaa?, click here

iDNES, Czech Republic, Kvůli oteplování se bude méně pracovat. Ekonomiky zpomalí, varuje OSN, click here

Экспресс газета, Russia, Глобальное потепление может серьёзно ударить по мировой экономике, click here

Klimaretter, Germany, Weniger Arbeitstage durch Erderwärmung, click here

Rappler, USA, Hotter climate causing lower worker productivity – study, click here

Rinnovabili, Italy, Il riscaldamento globale fa sudare anche l’economia, click here

Privátbankár, Hungary, Olyan hőség lesz, amiben már dolgozni sem lehet – óriási károkat okoz majd, click here

Kommersant, Russia, Мировую экономику ожидает солнечный удар, click here

Okezone, Indonesia, Pemanasan Global Akan Membuat Perekonomian Asia Menderita, click here

XãLuận, Vietnam, GDP, năng suất lao động Việt Nam bị ảnh hưởng nặng bởi nắng nóng, click herehttp://www.xaluan.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1539110

iAgua, Spain, ¿Qué impactos tienen los desastres naturales en la salud?, click here

Full coverage summary, click here

IPBES, Bonn / Office of the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia

26 Feb 2016

Assessment Details Options for Safeguarding Pollinators

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Key media coverage

The New York Times, Decline of Species That Pollinate Poses a Threat to Global Food Supply, Report Warns, click here (print edition, Page A4, Sat Feb 27 2016, ad value: $445,185)

The Associated Press, UN Science Report Warns of Fewer Bees, Other Pollinators, click here

Reuters, UK, Vital to food output, bees and other pollinators at risk, click here

Russian, Пестициды и изменение климата грозят пчёлам и сельскому хозяйству (Pesticides and climate change threaten bees and agriculture), click here
Chinese, 联合国：蜜蜂和蝴蝶锐减威胁全球作物 (UN: Bees and butterflies dropped the threat of global crop), click here

Reuters, UK (2nd story)
Global group to assess human impact on nature over three years, click here

Agence France Presse
Decline of bees, other pollinators, poses crop risks: UN group, click here

French, Moins d’abeilles, moins de papillons: une partie de la production agricole menacée, click here
Spanish, Disminución de abejas y otros polinizadores amenaza la agricultura mundial, click here

Chinese, 蜜蜂蝴蝶銳減 威脅全球作物 (Bee, Butterfly decline threatens global crops), click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, ONU alerta por desaparición de polinizadores, click here

(2nd story)

Las abejas, en peligro de extinción (Bees endangered), click here

Kyoto News, Japan, “Pollinators’ “service” valued at 470 billion yen”, click here, Japanese, click here

Korean, “벌의 경제 가치는 713조 원” (“The economic value of bees is 713 trillion won.”), click here

UPI, Study: Dwindling bee, butterfly populations pose global agriculture threat,  click here

Newsweek, 40 Percent of Invertebrate Pollinators Face Extinction Across the Globe, click here

Deutsche Welle, Bee, butterfly disappearance threatens crops, click here

2nd story, UN report warns risk to bees and other pollinators threatens human food supplies, click here

Futura Sciences, France, Le déclin des pollinisateurs menace l’agriculture mondiale (The decline of bees threatens world agriculture), click here

New Scientist, Bijen onder de loep op internationaal congres, click here

Helsingen Sanomat, Finland, Raportti: Pölyttäjien katoaminen uhkaa koko maailman ruuantuotantoa (Report: the disappearance of pollinators threatens the entire world’s food production), click here

Oslobodjenje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Crotian, Ugrožavanjem pčela i ostalih oprašivača dovedena u opasnost proizvodnja hrane (Jeopardizing bees and other pollinators endangers food production), click here

Bernama, Malaysia, World Concern Needed To Preserve Pollinators, click here

Free Malaysia Today, Malaysia, Prof’s lesson on food and the birds and the bees, click here

BBC World Service Radio (Newsday) UK, Simon Potts interview (3.5 minutes) starts at the 49 minute mark, click here

Voice of America, USA, World’s Pollinators, Food Supply Threatened, Study says, click here

Christian Science Monitor, Earth’s bees and other pollinators need our help: What can we do?, click here

The Washington Post, Unprecedented scientific report says bees and other pollinators are in dire need of help, click here

The Huffington Post, Bees Are Dying And That Could Be Devastating For Food Security, click here

National Public Radio, Report: More Pollinators Species In Jeopardy, Threatening World Food Supply, click here

Nature, Global biodiversity report warns pollinators are under threat, click here

Der Tagesspiegel, Weltbiodiversitätsrat IPBES Aus dem Staub gemacht, click here

Science.ORF.at, Austria, Zu wenig Bestäuber, zu wenig Nahrung, click here

Spiegel, Germany, Uno-Bericht: Bestäuber-Sterben bedroht Nahrungsmittelsicherheit, click here

Deutsche Presse Agentur, via Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany, Agrar Rückgang der Bestäuber bedroht Nahrungsversorgung weltweit, click here

Die Welt, Germany, UN-Organisation beklagt Verschwinden von Bienen und Schmetterlingen, click here

CNN, United States, Beetles, butterflies and bees, oh my! Pollinators face extinction, study says, click here

Central News Agency, Taiwan, 聯合國：蜜蜂蝴蝶銳減威脅全球作物 (UN: decline in bees, butterfly threatens global crops), click here

Polskieradio, Poland, ONZ: ginące pszczoły to zagrożenie dla rolnictwa, click here

MSN Österreich, Austria, Bienensterben bedroht Millionen von Menschen, click here

Svenska – Yle, Finland, FN: Massdöd bland pollinerare hotar jordens matproduktion, click here

DN, Sweden, Massdöd av bin hotar matförsörjningen, click here

The Hindu, India, Bees, other pollinators at risk, may hit food output, click here

Journal o Globo, Brazil, Declínio da população de abelhas ameaça agricultura, alerta ONU, click here

EXAME, Brazil, Abelhas e outros polinizadores estão desaparecendo, diz ONU, click here

MAP newswire, Morocco, L’extinction des pollinisateurs met en danger la production agricole (rapport de l’ONU), click here

NTB newswire, Norway, Fallende biebestand truer landbruket, click here

Phys.Org, The UN guardians of biodiversity, click here

The Australian, Vital to food output, bees at risk, click here,

AGERPRES, Romania, Producția alimentara, in pericol, ca urmare a amenințarilor la adresa albinelor și a altor polenizatori (Food production in danger due to threats to bees and other pollinators), click here

Yam.com, China, 聯合國：蜂蝶銳減 危及農作物 (UN: bees and butterflies sharply threatening crops), click here

The New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur), PLATFORM FOR SCIENTISTS TO ‘TALK’ TO GOVERNMENTS, click here

Jeopardy! (CBS, USA, video: https://youtu.be/ZQfuRGSJzjs)

Coverage summary

Hyperlinks to coverage in 23 languages at 938 online news sites in 73 countries (plus print newspaper and radio coverage), click here

11 Jan 2015

Additional Malaysian nanoscience research includes converting greenhouse gases into energy source;

‘Smart farming’ nanosensors; New program aims for macro impact in health, energy, environment, agriculture, electronics

Malaysian scientists are joining forces with Harvard University experts to help revolutionize the treatment of lung diseases — the delivery of nanomedicine deep into places otherwise impossible to reach.

Under a five-year memorandum of understanding between Harvard and the University of Malaya, Malaysian scientists will join a distinguished team seeking a safe, more effective way of tackling lung problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the progressive, irreversible obstruction of airways causing almost 1 in 10 deaths today.

Treatment of COPD and lung cancer commonly involves chemotherapeutics and corticosteroids misted into a fine spray and inhaled, enabling direct delivery to the lungs and quick medicinal effect. However, because the particles produced by today’s inhalers are large, most of the medicine is deposited in the upper respiratory tract.

The Harvard team, within the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is working on “smart” nanoparticles that deliver appropriate levels of diagnostic and therapeutic agents to the deepest, tiniest sacs of the lung, a process potentially assisted by the use of magnetic fields.

Malaysia’s role within the international collaboration: help ensure the safety and improve the effectiveness of nanomedicine, assessing how nanomedicine particles behave in the body, what attaches to them to form a coating, where the drug accumulates and how it interacts with target and non-target cells.

Led by Joseph Brain, the Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Physiology, the research draws on extensive expertise at Harvard in biokinetics — determining how to administer medicine to achieve the proper dosage to impact target cells and assessing the extent to which drug-loaded nanoparticles pass through biological barriers to different organs.

The studies also build on decades of experience studying the biology of macrophages — large, specialized cells that recognize, engulf and destroy target cells as part of the human immune system.

Manipulating immune cells represents an important strategy for treating lung diseases like COPD and lung cancer, as well as infectious diseases including tuberculosis and listeriosis.

Dr. Brain notes that every day humans breathe 20,000 litres of air loaded with bacteria and viruses, and that the world’s deadliest epidemic — an outbreak of airborne influenza in the 1920s — killed tens of millions.

Inhaled nanomedicine holds the promise of helping doctors prevent and treat such problems in future, reaching the target area more swiftly than if administered orally or even intravenously.

This is particularly true for lung cancer, says Dr. Brain. “Experiments have demonstrated that a drug dose administered directly to the respiratory tract achieves much higher local drug concentrations at the target site.”

COPD meanwhile affects over 235 million people worldwide and is on the rise, with 80% of cases caused by cigarette smoking. Exacerbated by poor air quality, COPD is expected to rise from 5th to 3rd place among humanity’s most lethal health problems by 2030.

“Nanotechnology is making a significant impact on healthcare by delivering improvements in disease diagnosis and monitoring, as well as enabling new approaches to regenerative medicine and drug delivery,” says Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“Malaysia, through NanoMITe, is proud and excited to join the Harvard team and contribute to the creation of these life-giving innovations.”

Malaysia’s NanoMITe

The research effort with Harvard is one of several underway at the Malaysia Institute for Innovative Nanotechnology, initiated in 2013 through Malaysia’s Global Science & Innovation Advisory Council, led by YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak.

Nanotechnology involves manipulation of matter at a molecular scale (up to 100 nanometers, a nanometer being one billionth of a meter), and creating special properties of matter that occur below a given size threshold. Based at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, NanoMITe’s mission to engage in global scientific research collaborations to generate ideas, knowledge and products to benefit society while contributing to the national economy.

Over 100 leading scientific collaborators at world-class academies in Asia, Europe and North America are pooling extensive expertise to make nanotech-enabled advances in health, the environment, energy, food production, and electronics.

Says Idris Jusoh, Malaysia’s Minister of Higher Education, NanoMITe’s foremost financial supporter: “Together, science, technology and innovation constitute the engine that will drive Malaysia’s sustainable economic development and nanotechnology research is on the cutting-edge of our pursuits. It is key to the solution of persistent problems throughout our societies but such breakthroughs can only be achieved through collaborative, international research across a spectrum of scientific fields and converging results. Our ministry is proud to support these efforts.”

Other NanoMITe research efforts include:

Nanotech-enabled generation of renewable energy

The energy-related research all involves nano scale molecular manipulation using novel local materials, catalysts, processes and technologies to create, for example:

• Low temperature solid-oxide fuel cells for the power industry;
• Flexible solar cells for economically viable, clean renewable energy; and
• Converting waste biomass from palm oil trees into jet fuel, which could add an estimated RM 30 billion to the Malaysian economy by 2020, help meet renewable energy targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Says Prof. Datuk Dr. Halimaton Hamdan of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, head of NanoMITe: “A lot of materials in use today are characterized by low effectiveness and high energy consumption. Nanotechnologies are being used to create nanocomposites and catalysts that enable the production of lighter, more durable and stronger materials, more efficient use of resources and reducing energy consumption. Specific nanotechnologies will also create more efficient means of energy generation, storage and transportation.”

“We believe that within 20 years, nanotechnology could help reduce the intensity of energy needed to produce a unit of product by 45 percent.”

Converting greenhouse gases into valuable chemicals

Malaysian scientists are also investigating the possibility that, via nanotech, captured greenhouse gases can serve as carbon feedstock for use in chemical production.

Specifically, they’re looking to design catalytic-nanomaterials to convert GHGs — carbon dioxide and methane — into renewable fuels, offering a potential contribution to energy supplies, mitigating climate change and advancing economic development.

“Smart farming” with agricultural nanosensors

Fungus-related problems are estimated to cost the South East Asian economy US$500 million every year. Once infected with a common fungus (G. boninense), young oil palm trees usually die within 1 to 2 years; mature trees may survive slightly longer.

Now scientists at the Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Perlis are developing nano-sensors and nano-based systems to create smart, precision farming to help address this expensive problem.

With the aid of wireless communication networks, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Satellite Remote Sensing nanosensors embedded in trees, roots and soil can monitor and detect G. boninense disease. Automatic adjustments of pesticide applications, nutrients or irrigation levels would occur once disease, pests or drought are detected.

Such a smart farming system could also help make more efficient use of water, nutrients, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and plant growth regulators, improving stability against crop degradation and reducing pollution.

By understanding at nano scale the structure of the agricultural inputs and the soil, carriers can be designed to anchor plant roots to surrounding soil and organic matter.

Prof. Zakri, a leader of the GSIAC, underlined the crucially important role of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to the NanoMITe program:

“Without the Ministry’s financial support and trust, NanoMITe could have never have been realized.”

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Malaysia’s Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council is a unique forum of international and Malaysian experts and leaders created to help guide the nation’s sustainable development.

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology is a not-for-profit public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and international, from industry, government and academia. MIGHT provides a platform for industry-government consensus building to advance high technology competency in Malaysia.

Example coverage:

Bernama (Malaysia), “UM-Harvard Collaboration To Tackle Lung Diseases,” click here; Malay, “UM-Harvard University Jalin Kerjasama Tangani Penyakit Paru-Paru,” click here

Agencia EFE (Spain), “Universities of Harvard and Malaya team up to develop nano medicines,” click here; Spanish, “Malasia y Harvard se unen para curar los males pulmonares con nanotecnología,” click here

Benessere, Milan, Italy, “Da USA e Malesia una speranza contro le malattie polmonari,” click here

ABC, Madrid, Spain, “El cáncer de pulmón y la EPOC se tratarán en un futuro próximo con nanofármacos,” click here

Medical News Today, UK, “Future of lung treatment: Malaysian scientists join Harvard team creating safe, effective nano drugs,” click here

Medical News, Australia, “Malaysian scientists join forces with Harvard experts to help revolutionize lung disease treatment,” click here

Coverage summary, click here

Paris

9 July 2015

UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board calls for advisor, not observer seat for science at leaders’ policy-making table; recommends science test for pending policy decisions

Investing up to 3.5% of a nation’s GDP in science, technology and innovation – including basic science and education – is a key benchmark for advancing sustainable development effectively, leading experts say.

In papers released July 9 in New York, international scientists advising UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon say closing the gap between developed and developing countries depends on first closing international science, technology and innovation (STI) investment gaps.

According to the UN SG’s 26-member Scientific Advisory Board: “While a target of 1% of (Gross Domestic Product) for (research and development) is perceived high by many governments, countries with strong and effective STI systems invest up to 3.5% of their GPD in R&D.”

“If countries wish to break the poverty cycle and achieve (post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals), they will have to set up ambitious national minimum target investments for STI, including special allotments for the promotion of basic science and science education and literacy.”

The Board also recommends specific investment areas, including “novel alternative energy solutions, water filters that remove pathogens at the point-of-use, new robust building materials from locally available materials, nanotechnology for health and agriculture, and biological approaches to industrial production, environmental remediation and management.”

Instituted by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on behalf of the Secretary-General, the Board is comprised of experts from a range of scientific disciplines relevant to sustainable development, including its social and ethical dimensions.

The Board contributes to a process concluding this fall to replace the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, agreed by nations in 2000 for achievement in 2015, with a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through which progress in improving quality of life around the world will be tracked through 2030.

Among other highlights of the papers presented at UN Headquarters:

The Board recommends a dedicated seat for science at an influential new world leaders’ forum created to promote and monitor sustainable development – the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development – saying science needs to be engaged “formally in the HLPF as an advisor rather than an observer.”

“This could be accomplished by creating a formal seat for science on the HLPF, and/or by involving the UNSG’s Scientific Advisory Board and organizations such as the National Academies of Sciences, UNESCO, ICSU, Future Earth, regional scientific bodies, and others.”

The High-level Political Forum meets every four years at the level of Heads of State and Government under the auspices of the General Assembly, and annually under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council. The Forum adopts negotiated declarations.

The Board also suggests engaging scientific bodies in reviews of pending policy decisions against scientific evidence.

“The UN Scientific Advisory Board, ICSU (the International Council for Science), National Academies of Science, and other bodies and networks, in collaboration with UNESCO and the UN system, would run a rigorous process of scientific review and assessment identifying possible risks and opportunities related to key political decisions.”

In addition, the Board calls for an annual Global Sustainable Development Report – a flagship UN publication like the Human Development Report – that monitors progress, identifies critical issues and root causes of challenges, and offers potential ways forward.

The report would synthesize and integrate findings from a wide range of scientific fields and institutions, developed with strong inter-agency support involving a suggested consortium of UN agencies working on sustainable development.

Needed to support long-term thinking: A better educated, informed world

Creating and engaging a better informed and educated public, it adds, would help establish policies that serve humanity’s long-term wellbeing over decisions that favour short-term economic and political interests.

The success of STI “will depend on the efficiency of the science-policy-society interface,” involving stakeholders from governments, civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities, industry and business, academia and research organizations.

“Such an active cooperation of multiple stakeholders will need more than the occasional by-chance interaction of different groups of society. It will require institutionalized architecture that brings together all affected actors to ensure linking scientific information and data as well as findings, scientific assessments and evidence-based advice with both policy and society.”

“Broader societal understanding and support of key scientific findings would make it more likely for science-based actions and evidence-based solutions to also be supported and promoted by decision-makers at all levels.”

The Board underlines that science, technology and innovation can be “the game changer” for the future development efforts.

“It can contribute to alleviating poverty, creating jobs, reducing inequalities, increasing income and enhancing health and well-being. It can assist in solving critical problems such as access to energy, food and water security, climate change and biodiversity loss.”

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The papers in full:

• Science, Technology and Innovation: Critical Means of Implementation for the SDGs
  http://bit.ly/1HfvAz6

and

• Strengthening the High-Level Political Forum and the UN Global Sustainable Development Report
  http://bit.ly/1eFxuPG

Scientific Advisory Board of the United Nations Secretary-General

The Scientific Advisory Board was created in 2013 at the request of the UN Secretary-General to further inform the debate on sustainable development. The Board is composed of 26 eminent scientists representing all regions and many scientific disciplines relevant for sustainable development: the engineering, political and natural sciences are represented as well as for example oceanic, climate and biodiversity research. In addition, all members of the SAB have extensive and manifold experience with international scientific cooperation as well as the science-policy-society interface.

Board members are appointed in their personal capacity, and not as representatives of their respective States or of any other entities with which they may be affiliated. They will serve on a pro bono basis for a period of two years, with the possibility of renewal for one subsequent two-year term at the discretion of the UN Secretary-General.

Members of the Board

The SAB held its 3rd meeting in Malaysia on 25-26 May, co-chaired by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The meeting was hosted by the Malaysian Government and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).

Example coverage:

Reuters / Thomson Reuters, UK “Investing in science can be ‘the game changer’ for development: experts,” click here
InterPress News Service, Italy, “Science and Technology a Game Changer for Post-2015 Development Agenda,” click here, German, click here
SciDev.net, UK, “Developing nations urged to spend big on science,” click here
Bernama, Malaysia, “UN Secretary-General Thanks PM Najib For Successful UN-SAB Meeting In May,” click here

Coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here

9-DEC-2014

New perspective on growth of world wealth, 1992-2010: GDP up 50 percent; ‘Inclusive Wealth’ 6 percent;

Looking beyond GDP, new index measures progress toward sustainability; combines changes in human capital, natural capital, produced capital

An innovative yardstick — the Inclusive Wealth Index — offers 140 countries a new perspective on their economic performance in recent decades, one that extends beyond Gross Domestic Product to help reflect sustainable development.

Worldwide from 1992 to 2010 GDP showed a gain of 50%. However, according to the second biennial Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR), released today, when changes in human capital, produced capital and natural capital are considered together, global wealth increased by an “anemic” 6% over those years.

Human capital — measured in levels of education, skills and abilities — is the main source of world wealth, comprising 57% of total Inclusive Wealth, according to the report. Human capital grew just 8% overall worldwide between 1992 and 2010.

Natural capital such as forests, sub-soil resources and other ecosystems, meanwhile, comprise 23% of total Inclusive Wealth and declined by about 30% worldwide in the period.

The relatively low increases in human capital, combined with vast losses in natural capital, largely explain the anemic overall growth in Inclusive Wealth worldwide despite enormous gains in produced capital, says Dr. Partha Dasgupta, Chair of the report’s science advisory group.

“This report on changes recorded in three key types of wealth-related capital challenges the narrow perspective presented by GDP. And it underscores the need for integrating sustainability into economic evaluation and policy planning,” says Dr. Dasgupta, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge. “Looking beyond GDP and adopting an Inclusive Wealth Index internationally is central to the post-2015 sustainable development agenda being negotiated within the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

Published by Cambridge University Press (and available in full at http://bit.ly/1FTtpjs), the report is a joint initiative of the UN University – International Human Dimensions Programme and the UN Environment Programme, in collaboration with the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, ASCENT Africa Sustainability Centre, the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology, Science to Action (S2A), the Ministry of Environment – Government of Japan, UN University – Institute for Advanced Study of Sustainability, and endorsed by the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability.

The report was authored by 22 leading authorities from several of the world’s most renowned universities and institutions.

The table at http://bit.ly/15Pj9vH shows per capita changes in human capital, natural capital, produced capital, overall Inclusive Wealth change, and the percentage change in GDP over time * for all 140 countries covered in the 2014 report (up from 20 countries covered in the inaugural IWR two years ago).

In the USA, India and China, for example, wealth measured by GDP from 1990 to 2010 rose 33%, 155% and 523% respectively.

However, when measures of natural, human and manufactured capital are considered together, the USA’s Inclusive Wealth rose by 13%, India 16% and China 47% over that time.

Startling differences between GDP and the Inclusive Wealth Index are evident in many places, including Ecuador (37% GDP vs. -17% IW), Guyana (97% GDP vs. -2% IW), Qatar (85% GDP vs. -53% IW), Tanzania (67% GDP vs. -37% IW), Uganda (95% GDP vs. -6% IW).

Charts, national data: http://bit.ly/1ygySj7

“The 2014 Inclusive Wealth Report offers a new perspective on the sustainability of economic growth and advances global efforts to improve the quantification of two key but poorly understood components of wealth: natural capital and human capital,” report director Anantha Duraiappah, Director of the UNESCO / Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.

“For more than half a century we have appraised progress of nations on the basis of how much is produced, consumed, and invested; we have measured that progress in U.S. dollars and aggregated the data into an easy-to-compare metric: Gross Domestic Product.”

“The implicit assumption, however, that the resource base upon which this growth depends is infinite clearly isn’t true. Less than 50% of the 140 countries assessed are on a sustainable trajectory; more than half are consuming beyond their means.”

The report is a tool for making macroeconomic decisions on what and where to invest, Dr. Duraiappah adds, as well as “a key educational resource that can be used by students of both economics and sustainability science to understand the human development and economic growth of countries and their inter-linkages through trade and environmental pressures such as climate change.”

Says Science Director of the report, Dr. Pablo Muñoz of UN University’s International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change: “The inclusive wealth index is a more comprehensive way of measuring national wealth and progress — a complement to GDP, not its replacement. The shift to sustainability as a core development pillar demands an index that can quantify, measure, and track sustainability.”

(Wealth data for all countries cover the period 1990-2010 except for Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine, for which the data starts from 1991; for Czech Republic and Slovakia from 1992).

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Background

The Inclusive Wealth Report 2014 is a joint initiative of the UN University – International Human Dimensions Programme (UNU-IHDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (UNESCO-MGIEP), ASCENT Africa Sustainability Centre, the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Science to Action (S2A), the Ministry of Environment – Government of Japan, UN University – Institute for Advanced Study of Sustainability, and endorsed by the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability.

Authors

Adnan Alsaati, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University, USA

Giles Atkinson, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

Edward Barbier, University of Wyoming, USA

Ross Collins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Elorm Darkey, University of Milan, Italy and Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge, UK

Anantha Duraiappah, UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, India

Cecília Fernandes, UN University International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, Germany

Barbara Fraumeni, Central University for Finance and Economics, China

Haripriya Gundimeda, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India

Nabila Jamshed, UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, India

Pushpam Kumar, UN Environment Programme, Kenya

Gang Liu, Statistics Norway, Norway

Shunsuke Managi, Tohoku University, Japan

Kevin Mumford, Purdue University, USA

Pablo Muñoz, UN University International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, Germany

Kira Petters, University of Bonn, Germany

Vivek Sakhrani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Noelle Selin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Rodney Smith, University of Minnesota, USA

Kenneth Strzepek – United Nations University, Finland, and University of Colorado / Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Science Advisory Group

Mame Baba Cisse, Ambassador of Senegal in Malaysia

Ligia Costa, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil and Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), France

Justin Lin, Peking University, China

Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State University, USA

Harold Mooney, Stanford University, USA

Zakri Abdul Hamid, Government of Malaysia

Structure / content, IWR 2014

The IWR has been expanded from 20 countries from the inaugural report (2012) to 140 countries in 2014. And it reflects the most recent data, from 2009 and 2010 (in addition to the original 1990 to 2008 data).

While IWR 2012 included a special focus on natural capital, IWR 2014 does the same for human capital.

IWR 2014 is presented in three parts and eight chapters, each beginning with key messages.

Chapter 1: Accounting for the inclusive wealth of nations: key findings of the IWR 2014

Key messages

Empirical evidence shows average positive growth in per capita inclusive wealth – and thus progress toward sustainable development – in 85 of the 140 countries evaluated (approximately 60%).

Gains in inclusive wealth were in general less than those in GDP and HDI: 124 of 140 nations (89%) experienced gains in GDP, while 135 of 140 (96%) showed improvement in HDI over the same period.

Human capital is the foremost contributor to growth rates in inclusive wealth in 100 out of 140 countries. In 28 countries produced capital was the primary contributor. On average, human capital contributed 54% of overall gains in inclusive wealth, while produced capital contributed 33% and natural capital 13%.

Population growth and natural capital depreciation constitute the main driving forces of declining wealth per capita in the majority of countries. Population increased in 127 of 140 countries, while natural capital declined in 127 of 140 countries. Although both factors each negatively affect growth in wealth, changes in population were responsible for greater declines.

Produced capital, the capital type for which by far the most exhaustive (and reliable) data exists, represents only about 18% of the total wealth of nations. The remaining capital types, which together constitute 82% of wealth (54% in human capital and 28% in natural capital), are currently treated as, at best, satellite accounts in the System of National Accounts.

After adjusting for carbon damage, oil capital gains, and total factor productivity, the number of overall progressing countries drops from 85 to 58 of 140 counties (41%). Results show that all three factors negatively affected inclusive wealth in most of countries; of the three, total factor productivity adjustments had the greatest negative effect.

Chapter 2: The IWR and Policy Lessons

Key messages

Countries striving to improve their citizens’ well-being – and do so sustainably – should reorient economic policy planning and evaluation away from targeting GDP growth as a primary objective toward incorporating inclusive wealth accounting as part of a sustainable development agenda.

Investments in human capital – in particular education – would generate higher returns for IW growth, as compared to investments in other capital asset groups, in countries with high rates of population growth.

Investments in natural capital, in particular agricultural land and forest, can produce a twofold dividend: First, they can increase IW directly; second, they can improve agricultural resiliency and food security to accommodate anticipated population growth.

Investments in renewable energy can produce a triple dividend: First, they can increase IW directly by adding to natural and produced capital stocks; second, they improve energy security and reduce risk due to price fluctuations for oil-importing countries; third, they reduce global carbon emissions and thus carbon-related damages.

Investments in research and development to increase total factor productivity, which decreased in 65 percent of countries, can immediately contribute to growth in inclusive wealth in nearly every country.

Countries should expand the asset boundary of the present System of National Accounts (SNA), which currently captures only 18% of a country’s productive base, to include human and natural capital, which are now measured only through satellite accounts, if at all.

Chapter 3: Human Capital Measurement: A Bird’s Eye View

Key messages

Measuring human capital can serve many purposes: it can help one better understand what drives economic growth; assess the long-term sustainability of a country’s development path; measure the output and productivity of the educational sector; and facilitate informed discussions on social progress and well-being. In spite of this, human capital has not yet been included within the asset boundary of the SNA.

The multifaceted nature of the concept of human capital creates substantial challenges for its measurement. By focusing on formal education and economic returns for individuals – rather than on human capital in general and all the benefits due to human capital investment – we can begin from an empirically manageable and practical point of departure. All existing approaches to measuring human capital have both advantages and disadvantages. However, the monetary measures generated from the cost-based and the income-based approaches should arguably be designated a “core” status. One reason for this is to enable direct comparison of figures with those for traditional produced capital covered by the SNA, the construction of which is a primary task of national statistical offices.

Drawing on country experiences and international initiatives in the field of human capital measurement, one may conclude that an international trend is emerging toward an income-based approach, specifically the lifetime income approach. Estimates based on this approach can be used to assess the relative contribution of a range of factors (demographic, education, and labor market) to the evolution of human capital, and facilitate corresponding policy interventions.

Despite significant progress having been made, there remain considerable challenges regarding data availability, and detailed methodological choices inherent in applying monetary measures. Further research should therefore be encouraged, including toward the compilation of quality data for use in international and inter-temporal comparisons; the construction of experimental satellite accounts, in order to better understand and reconcile the discrepancies between estimates based on the cost-based and the income-based approaches; and, eventually, toward incorporating human capital measures into the SNA in the future.

Chapter 4: Human Capital: Country Estimates Using Alternative Approaches

Key messages

Human capital is critical to individual and societal well-being.

The educational attainment of a country’s younger cohort is frequently higher than the educational attainment of the older cohort; high levels of youth educational attainment correlate to high potential for improved well-being and economic growth in the future. Human capital indicators which depend solely on educational attainment information fail to capture the full potential of a country’s population. Human capital measures including information on present and future demographic trends, education, and wage or income components are essential for appropriate policy formulation and analysis.

Chapter 5: Health Capital

Key messages

Health is an essential characteristic of human well-being.

Health capital is an important part of inclusive wealth.

The economic model of health capital presented in this chapter allows health to affect human well-being through three distinct channels: direct well-being, productivity, and longevity.

Most health capital services influence human well-being directly rather than through the production of goods and services that are counted in GDP.

In the absence of better estimates of the direct and productivity effects, gains in life expectancy should be used as the primary measure of health capital.

Annual gains in health capital in the United States are worth approximately US$10,000 per person in monetary terms.

Chapter 6: Forest Wealth of Nations

Key messages

Forest ecosystems provide a huge range of tangible and intangible benefits for human well-being. These are of immense value and represent an important component of national and global wealth.

Demographic trends and economic growth are exerting increasing pressure on forest capital. Accounting more fully for this wealth, and how it is changing as a result of economic and social activity, is urgently required. The estimates in this chapter provide a tentative first step in this direction.

From a global perspective, in 2010 for the selected countries, forest wealth amounted to more than US$273 trillion. On the face of it this wealth, in absolute terms, seems concentrated in relatively few countries. However, for many other countries, forest capital remains an important component of national wealth. Many of these countries (although not all) have experienced alarming losses in forest capital over the past 20 years.

From an accounting perspective, these losses are frequently hidden from view. It is thus essential that nations pursue better accounting to understand quantity, quality, and distribution of forest wealth. Indeed, keeping forest wealth intact – and, more- over, investing in forests to reverse past losses – is an important pre-condition for sustaining development.

Chapter 7: Challenges to Ecosystem Service Valuation for Wealth Accounting

Key messages

In recent years, substantial progress has been made by economists working with ecologists and other natural scientists in valuing some ecosystem goods and services.

However, difficulties in measurement, data availability, and other limitations still preclude the valuation of certain ecosystem services.

There is often uncertainty associated with estimated ecosystem service values, and even more so with scaling up of local values to regional or national levels or updating these values annually, which poses problems for their use in wealth accounts.

In the absence of reliable estimates, the temptation is to use “second-best” estimates, or to transfer values from other locations; however, such methods should be used with caution and only under specific circumstances, at the risk of generating unrealistic values.

Progress in incorporating ecological capital in wealth accounts therefore requires developing more accurate methods of valuing ecosystem goods and services and applying them to a wider range of ecosystems.

Chapter 8: Using Inclusive Wealth for Policy Evaluation: The Case of Infrastructure Capital

Key messages

Wealth accounting to date has focused primarily on the assessment of past performance in economies, by measuring changes to produced, natural, and human capital.

In order to use inclusive wealth for policy evaluation, we must estimate the impacts of a given policy on the trajectories of the capital stocks that comprise wealth. Infrastructure is an important policy domain because proposed changes to current systems affect many, if not all, capital stocks, which results in capital stock interactions and trade-offs.

A systems view of policy evaluation is necessary in order to map and quantify these impacts and trade-offs; this can be managed using conceptual and mathematical models that capture integrated physical and economic processes.

To illustrate how one might conduct wealth-based policy evaluation, we use two infrastructure case studies – coal-fired power generation in China and the High Aswan Dam in Egypt. The case studies rely on integrated physical and economic models to quantify capital stock impacts of past infrastructure decisions.

Such models can be used to evaluate prospective infrastructure systems as well, although doing so requires careful consideration of future uncertainty. Scenario analysis is a useful and flexible method for incorporating uncertainty into wealth-based policy evaluation.

* * * * *

News release in full, click here

Example coverage by:

The Economist, UK, click here

Deutsche Presse Agentur, Germany, English, click here

Bild, Germany, German, click here

Press Trust of India, English, click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, Spanish, click here

BBC Brasil, UK, Portuguese, click here

HINA newswire, Hungary, Hungarian, click here

Coverage summary, click here

2-Oct-2014

Proposed urban edition of Malaysia’s ‘smart’ eco-villages debuts

Building on the poverty relief success achieved through self-sustaining high-tech “smart villages,” Malaysian innovators have created blueprints for an urban counterpart that combines affordable homes, food security and sustainable jobs, aiming to solve the growing global problem of squalid city slums.

Like the 50-acre smart village sites, the 5-acre urban version provides affordable accommodation with educational and community facilities and incorporates innovative employment opportunities and food security through aquaculture and state-of-the-art water-efficient greenhouse-based agriculture.

The city neighbourhood model features a pre-fabricated, four-story walk-up apartment building created largely from post-consumer materials.

The first such building, with 32 apartments, was recently assembled in 16 weeks for US$ 1.5 million – including land costs – by Malaysia’s IRIS Corporation in Pahang, Malaysia’s 3rd largest state. (Video: http://bit.ly/1vt4qQ3).

Five such buildings envisioned on a five-acre site would lift 160 families from extreme poverty into higher income and living standards and a far healthier environment.

• The blueprint includes 100 fish tanks (each holding 5,000 litres of water), five greenhouses and gardens on the building rooftops.
• A shopping and commercial centre with a budget hotel, a police base, day care, learning and recreational centres complete the facilities.
• Total estimated development cost: USD 12 million, including the urban land acquisition.
• An estimated 33% of the developing world’s urban population lives in informal settlements.
• International expressions of interest in the model have already been received from Africa.

The blueprints were presented at the 4th meeting of Malaysia’s Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (www.gsiac.org), convened at the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) in Manhattan.

Chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak, GSIAC is a body of distinguished national and international leaders in economics, business, science and technology guiding Malaysia’s sustainable development towards a goal of $20,000 per capita annual income by 2020. GSIAC is run jointly by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology and NYAS.

Innovator Tan Say Jim of the IRIS Corporation underscores that constructing affordable housing for the poor without an integrated, complementary way to provide employment and to support community development often leaves those in poverty little better off, perhaps worse.

Already, Malaysia’s “smart villages” have lifted incomes for several hundred rural families while promoting environmental sustainability.

Three are now completed, four in progress and 15 planned for next two years in Malaysia. The model is also being adopted in Africa.

Each smart village consists of about 100 affordable, energy-efficient, pre-fabricated homes, high-tech connected educational, training and recreational facilities, with an integrated, sustainable farm system providing villagers with food and employment — on average tripling income to about US $500 per month.

Thirteen of the villages are in areas settled under Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) — an agency founded in 1956 to help alleviate poverty and open new settlements with smallholder farms. FELDA’s “Sentuhan Kasih” communities will help accommodate descendants of the original homesteaders and reduce urban migration.

The village home is 1,000 square-feet in size built largely from post-consumer materials, each constructed in just 10 days at a cost of under $30,000 (video: http://bit.ly/1lYejDu).

The innovative farming operations include a cascading series of fish tanks. Aquafarmed at the top of the water ladder are fish species sensitive to water quality, next tilapia, then guppies and finally algae, the latter two used to feed the larger fish.

Filtered fish tank wastewater then irrigates trees, grain fields, and high-value plants grown in “Autopots” – a three piece container featuring a smart valve that detects soil moisture levels and releases water precisely as required, reducing the need for fertilizer and pesticides. Worms from plants compost are fed to free-range chickens.

This system optimizes nutrient absorption, minimizes waste and enables crops to be grown in previously non-arable land. Premium produce sold at market include Golden Melon, Butterhead Lettuce, Misai Kuching (herbal tea), Jade Perch fish and the free-range chickens.

A community hall, resource centre, places of worship, playgrounds and educational facilities equipped with 4G Internet service support both e-learning and e-health services.

Fewer than one in 20 families invited to live and work in a rural “smart village” decline the opportunity.

A Complete “Smart City,” Iskandar Malaysia Selected for UN Energy Initiative

The Iskandar megalopolis under construction at the southern tip of Malaysia, meanwhile, has been selected by the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy for All initiative as one of the world’s 10 cities and regions to take part in its model “global energy efficiency accelerator platform.”

Iskandar is a highly planned, ultra-green development of skyscrapers as well as low-carbon, self-contained townships, villages and neighbourhoods to cover an area three times the size of Singapore – a centrepiece of Malaysia’s sustainable development strategy.

Incorporating sustainability at the ground level, Iskandar is designed as an environmentally-friendly, socially inclusive haven for people to live, work and play. Officials project Iskandar’s population at 3 million by 2025 with a green economy GDP of US$93 billion.

Meanwhile, Melaka recently joined Malaysia’s national smart city programme, which originated with a strategic paper presented at the inaugural meeting of the GSIAC in 2010. The program is run by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology.

Melaka, the nation’s historic trading crossroad state, is using private / public partnership investments to institute a state-of-the-art smart urban energy grid a Green Special Economic Zone with a goal of building research and development centres, creating thousands of highly-skilled green jobs in renewable energy and clean technology.

Says Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Joint Chairman of the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board: “Achieving sustainable development requires the sort of imaginative innovation being pioneered through the smart communities program in Malaysia. With enterprising public and private sector partners and the counsel of GSIAC experts, Malaysia is in the forefront of effort to create a sustainable future.”

Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee under the purview of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. MIGHT is an organization built on the strength of public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and international, from industry, government and academia. As an organization MIGHT is dedicated to providing a platform for industry-government consensus building in the drive to advance high technology competency in Malaysia.

News release in full, click here

Example coverage

Reuters, click here

Agencia EFE, Spanish, click here, Portuguese, click here

22-Sep-2014

Malaysia a founding nation in new global sciences education alliance

New York — Malaysia today became a founding partner in the Global STEM Alliance, a new high-tech multi-million dollar initiative dedicated to promoting young talent in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) around the world.

Led by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak participated in the launch at UN Headquarters Monday Sept. 22.

With the goal of developing over 1,000,000 aspiring STEM leaders in more than 100 countries by 2020, the initiative will create a host of learning opportunities, including student connections and networking online with senior international mentors — the many NYAS member Nobel laureates among them.

The Alliance is a collaboration of over 70 governments, companies, NGOs, universities and schools with participants and organizations in over 50 countries. Founding nations and regions of the Global STEM Alliance are the USA, Malaysia, Rwanda, Benin, Bhutan, Barcelona and New York State.

Says the Prime Minister: “Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are at the heart of modern life and provide the foundations for economic prosperity. The purpose of driving STEM education is not only to create economic opportunity for individuals; it’s to provide the fuel needed to power a science and technology driven economy.”

Other world leaders participating in the New York launch included President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Yayi Boni of Benin, United States Under-Secretary of State Catherine Novelli, and representatives from UNESCO and the UN’s International Telecommunication Union.

Climate change, food, water and energy shortages, epidemics and the explosive growth of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are among the demands that need to be met by an innovative, STEM-educated workforce.

Yet in emerging economy nations, where innovation is needed the most, there are far too few work-ready STEM professionals.

The Alliance will focus on three strategies: intergenerational mentoring, building foundational skills and building a global network of STEM innovators.

It will create:

• a global resource for the best available STEM teaching and learning materials
• enhanced, customized STEM education programs designed to foster youth interests
• a global mentoring and networking medium for top scientists and STEM students,
• a connection between STEM leaders worldwide and local STEM programs

The Alliance’s first major initiative: The Junior Academy, a virtual learning and research platform to inspire and prepare gifted students around the world. The platform will include novel talent identification mechanisms, course work and authentic virtual research experiences, access to mentors, and a virtual writing center—tools that are especially valuable in developing, rural or impoverished urban areas, where qualified STEM instructors can be scarce.

CISCO Systems is a partner in the Alliance, creating the online networking and communications platforms enabling online courses, participation in Academy conferences, workshops, seminars, and other activities via laptops or smartphones, providing access to the best STEM learning resources via any web-enabled device, and virtual partnerships leading to inter-generational global projects.

At the UN launch ceremony, Prime Minister Najib’s wife, HE Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, was recognized with a STEM Hero Award. Additional Malaysian participants in the program included Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan, Advisor, PERMATA Pintar Programme, Universiti Kebangsaan, as a global implementation expert.

Says Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Malaysian Prime Minister and co-chair of Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT): “Countries will either have creative, educated young citizens who can out-innovate global competitors such as China and India or they will lag far behind in the world economy. Our generation has to invest in and develop STEM education and talent to the limits of our ability, to find a way to get and keep kids interested — to make STEM fields as fun as football fields. I believe the Global STEM Alliance contributes a big piece in the solution to this puzzle.”

Among sectors of the world economy expected to add the greatest number of high-paying but STEM education pre-requisite jobs: advanced manufacturing, automotive, construction, financial services, geospatial technology, security, information technology, transportation, aerospace, biotechnology, energy, healthcare, hospitality and retail.

Background

Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council

GSIAC is a consultative platform created by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Abdul Razak in 2011 through a partnership between MIGHT and the New York Academy of Sciences comprises world leaders in economics, business, science and technology to help Malaysia pioneer a development path in a sustainable manner.

Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee under the purview of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. MIGHT is an organization built on the strength of public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and international, from industry, government and academia. As an organization MIGHT is dedicated to providing a platform for industry-government consensus building in the drive to advance high technology competency in Malaysia.

New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that since 1817 has been committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide. With 25,000 members in 140 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy’s core mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Contact: Diane Fusilli, NYAS, +1-212-298-8692, dfusilli@nyas.org

News release in full, click here

Coverage summary, click here

17-Sep-2014

As nations zero in on the UN’s post-2015 global Sustainable Development Goals, innovations being successfully pioneered and demonstrated in Malaysia offer several proven tactical ideas for improving the world, says an influential international sustainable development networking organization.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), through its Malaysian chapter, cites ways in which the country is “rising to the challenge,” including the construction of ingenious, self-sustaining “smart” villages — each lifting about 100 families out of poverty and into affordable homes and employment.

Meanwhile, guides for minimizing the carbon footprint of cities while promoting healthy lifestyles, and using science to extract new wealth from palm biomass waste are among other creative initiatives underway in Malaysia that help light a path for emerging economy countries.

Malaysia’s achievements in sustainable development will be highlighted at the 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice (Columbia University, New York, Sept. 17-18, http://bit.ly/1xbOBjA).

At the event, experts will share proven, evidence-based approaches to sustainability with the goal of informing negotiations underway on the world’s post-2015 development agenda. A special conference session, “Sustainable Development: Experiences from Malaysia,” is detailed below). The Conference immediately precedes the 5th SDSN Leadership Council meeting (Sept. 19-20, Colombia University).

The achievements also reflect the success of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council, comprised of leading international experts in education, economics, business, science and technology advising Malaysia’s drive to achieve an environmentally-sustainable, high-income economy based on knowledge and innovation.

On Sept. 24, at the New York Academy of Sciences, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak, will chair GSIAC’s 4th annual meeting.

Says Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to Malaysia’s Prime Minister and co-chair of MIGHT: “This review of Malaysia’s achievements in sustainable development is in part a tribute to the international expertise, perspectives and advice provided by our country’s unique GSIAC. Malaysia continues progressing towards high-income status — $20,000 per capita annually — but recognizes inter-generational obligations and is determined to achieve our goal without compromising the future of our successors on this planet.”

Successful sustainable development innovations: 10 examples from Malaysia

1) Smart villages: a global model for poverty relief

High-tech “smart villages” under construction in Malaysia are lifting incomes for scores of rural families while promoting environmental sustainability.

Each community consists of about 100 affordable homes, high-tech educational, training and recreational facilities, with an integrated, sustainable farm system providing villagers with food and employment — on average tripling monthly income to about US $475.

Three villages are completed, four more are in progress and 11 more are planned in rural Malaysia for completion next year. Nine of the villages are in areas settled under Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Authority — a government agency founded to help resettle poor families in newly-developed areas with smallholder farms growing cash crops.

The smart villages — designed, built (on about 50 acres each) and initially managed by Malaysia’s IRIS corporation — feature 1,000 square-foot homes built largely from post-consumer materials, each home constructed in just 10 days at a cost of under $20,000 (see http://bit.ly/1lYejDu).

The innovative farming operations include a cascading series of fish tanks. Aquafarmed at the top of the water ladder are fish species sensitive to water quality, next tilapia, then guppies and finally algae, the latter two used to feed the larger fish.

Filtered fish tank wastewater then irrigates trees, grain fields, and high-value plants grown in “Autopots” – a three piece container featuring a smart valve that detects soil moisture levels and releases water precisely as required, reducing the need for fertilizer and pesticides. Worms from plants compost are fed to free-range chickens.

This system optimizes nutrient absorption, minimizes waste and enables crops to be grown in previously non-arable land. Premium produce sold at market include Golden Melon, Butterhead Lettuce, Misai Kuching (herbal tea), Jade Perch fish and the free-range chickens.

The village’s solar-generated power is complemented by biomass energy and mini-hydro electricity. A community hall, resource centre, places of worship, playgrounds and educational facilities equipped with 4G Internet service support both e-learning and e-health services.

2) Low-carbon “smart cities”

Malaysia’s population grew 53% in 20 years – from 18 million in 1990 to 28 million in 2010 with over 33 million predicted by the end of this decade. In 2020, some 75% will live in cities (almost tripling Peninsular Malaysia’s urban demographic from the 27% proportion recorded in 1960).

With urban developments contributing 50% of world greenhouse gas emissions, striving to achieve low-carbon cities is essential to mitigating the planet’s warming trend.

The Low-Carbon Cities Framework and Assessment System, created by Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and partners, offers a guide to planning low-carbon cities and their management.

And it includes an assessment system enabling the calculation of a carbon footprint baseline and the measurement of changes in emissions from a particular development.

Two pilot sites:

• Tasik (lake) Kenyir resort area, northeast Malaysia: CO2 emissions are being reduced this year from 95.39 to 62.35 tonnes (confirm) from 2011 baseline levels by 2014
• Cyberjaya, the national capital area high-tech corridor: CO2 emissions are being reduced from 1.4 million to 1.1 million tonnes from 2011 levels

Among hallmarks of low-carbon urban areas:

• Compact development within a defined carbon budget
• Open green space and trees
• Bicycling, walking and public transportation are easy, attractive alternatives to driving while policies promote car-pooling, lower driving speeds and better traffic flow
• Water and energy efficiency is promoted in initial construction designs and retrofitting, along with fostering the use of renewable energy
• Infrastructure enables district cooling, effective storm water management and flood mitigation

Meanwhile, Iskandar Malaysia under development in the south of the country, is the first “smart metropolis” of Southeast Asia founded on principles of social integration and ambitions of being a low carbon emitting city thanks to a green economy and green technologies. The development offers a potential template for urban development in emerging economy countries with burgeoning populations.

Located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula opposite Singapore, Iskandar covers 2,217 square km — an area the size of Luxembourg – and is made up of skyscrapers and high rises as well as low-carbon, self-contained cities, townships, villages and neighbourhoods.

Its population of 1.3 million people in 2010 expected to roughly triple by 2025

Livability and sustainability are cornerstones of Iskandar development, as is the goal of greenhouse gas emissions no greater than the volume that nature absorbs.

3) Biomass waste to wealth

Having determined that the oil palm industry’s waste biomass can be refined into high value “green chemicals,” Malaysia has in sight a major potential economic windfall from massive plantations covering almost 15% of the nation.

Introduced to the country as an ornamental plant in 1870, oil palms today cover roughly 5 million hectares (19,000 sq mi) of Malaysia. The reddish pulp of the plant’s fruit is used to make a vegetable oil widely used worldwide in cooking, as well as in an enormous range of consumer products from toothpaste to lipstick.

Typically today, some 40% of the fibers and shells of empty fresh fruit bunches is unused. Now available, thanks to new technologies, is a potential national economic bonus amounting to billions of dollars each year, creating thousands of jobs in the bargain.

International experts estimate that the potential from processing 20% of Malaysia’s 80 million metric tonnes of annual oil palm biomass could generate an economic windfall in green chemicals and products valued at $30 billion per year by 2025.

Prime Minister Najib created MYBiomass — a special-purpose organization dedicated to making the nation as a market leader in high value green chemicals, in 2011 on the advice of the GSIAC.

And an agreement signed last year between MYBiomass’s shareholders — MIGHT, Sime Darby Berhad and Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad — confirms the commitment of Malaysia’s largest plantation companies in this initiative.

The green chemical industry today worldwide is estimated at $2.8 billion, seen rising to about $100 billion in 2020.

MYBiomass has done extensive feasibility studies, factoring in fertilizer replacement costs and evaluating alternative potential uses of the biomass as energy feedstock.

The cost of constructing a bio-refinery to produce green chemicals in Malaysia ranges between US $80 million and $300 million, depending on such factors the size, technology and location.

4) The Kondo Rakyat Community

Started in 2010 in a predominantly low-income neighbourhood with about 15,840 residents in five apartment blocks, the Kondo Rakyat Community Project strives to be a model of sustainable urban practices.

The project’s initial activities: collect used cooking oil (sold to the biofuel industry), create gardens (herbs, vegetables and fruits) in kitchens throughout the complex, convert garden waste into compost aided by an on-site shredder and anaerobic digester (the compost recycled through the kitchen gardens), and a “green bazaar” (in which the sale of reusable items provides an assistance fund for the community’s neediest individuals).

The program helps community members to help themselves with fresh, self-grown produce and income generating activities while reducing the release of oils into surrounding waters.

5) Greening higher-education campuses

Some 2,500 bicycles purchased by Universiti Putra Malaysia form part of a major new drive to make cycling and walking the main modes of transportation for students and staff. The program not only fosters healthier, active lifestyles, it will cut campus bus rentals by 65% (saving about US $940,000), and lower carbon dioxide emissions by more than one-third.

A holistic “Zero Campus Waste” management model at Universiti Malaya, meanwhile, is diverting 80% of the campus’ annual 11 tonnes of food and plant waste away from landfills and converting it into biofuels and compost for organic farming operations. The proceeds from the food harvests, served in the campus’ Green Cafe, help fund the programme. In addition to its teaching value as an exemplary practice, annual savings amount about 10 tonnes of carbon emissions.

6) Langkawi Geopark: raising local incomes through eco-tourism

The first comprehensive initiative of its kind in SouthEast Asia, creation of the Langkawi Geopark has significantly raised the income of fishing boat operators by transforming them into eco-tourism boat guides.

Not only has the effort aided research and conservation of Langkawi’s 550 million year-old rock formations, it has created a tourism hot-spot — the number of visitors rising from 1.8 million in 2005 (estimated spending: US $2.8 million) to 3 million (spending US $6.8 million) in 2012. The successful approach has set the model for three new geo-heritage parks.

7) Drying agricultural and marine produce with solar energy

Using a rural cottage industry business model, the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a private firm, Solartif, have create a job-creating, eco-friendly enterprise manufacturing solar panels to dry an extensive variety agricultural and marine products. The products include tapioca, groundnuts, noodles, coffee beans, mussels, anchovies, bananas and other tropical fruits, fish, seaweed, chilies, medical herbs and palm oil fronds.

The solar panel systems produce an estimated 1 megawatt of energy per year and replace conventional diesel-fired dryers, with savings that repay the capital investment required in less than two years, while creating job opportunities in rural areas with large growth opportunities seen ahead. World seaweed production alone in 2012 was an estimated 700,000 tonnes. The solar drying systems, now in use in Malaysia and Cambodia are designed to process 5 tonnes per year.

8) Affordable medical diagnostics

Lymphatic filaiasis is a disfiguring disease transmitted by mosquito bites. Parasites lodge in the lymphatic system causing elephantiasis – a thickening of the skin and underlying tissues. Worldwide, the number of life years lost to disability due to the disease is 5.8 million.

Early, accurate diagnosis is critical and the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine at the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s has spearheaded development of rapid test kits as part of the answer to this health scourge.

It is an affordable, mass-produced kit providing results in just 15-20 minutes. It has been commercialized in 18 countries, benefiting 2 million patients while creating 500 jobs so far.

Meanwhile, an initiative called “Endevour Mobile” created the world’s first mobile radiology collaboration platform. Combining medical imaging and cellular communications technologies, the platform lets medical professionals provide real-time advice to patients in remote parts of Malaysia, improve healthcare nationwide by extending the reach of medical expertise and enabling savings for patients who otherwise require transportation and lodging.

9) Inspiring the next generation of taxonomic scientists

The Consortium of Southeast Asian Seaweed Taxonomy is building expertise in taxonomic science while helping to preserve biodiversity and document commercially valuable species used in a variety of industrial products as well as in drugs and cosmetics.

Led in Malaysia by the University of Malaya and supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and national marine research institutes, students collect samples, identify them with the help of laboratory mentors, and co-author papers and monographs.

10) The Borneo turtle census

Every year on May 23, world turtle day helps increase knowledge and respect for turtles and tortoises. Around the island of Mabul, the Universit Malaysia Sabah’s Borneo Marine Research Institute and several partners, including popular diving resorts, conduct an annual underwater census of local turtles during which the animals are measured, tagged and photographed. The most recent census found 46 animals, helping create public awareness of turtles’ declining numbers (down 95% worldwide) while enhancing research and conservation.

Background

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in August 2012, the SDSN mobilizes scientific and technical expertise from academia, civil society and the private sector in support of sustainable development problem-solving at local, national, and global scales.

The SDSN promotes integrated approaches to the world’s interconnected economic, social, and environmental challenges, working closely with UN agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society. The SDSN Secretariat is hosted by Columbia University with staff in Paris, New York, and New Delhi.

National SDSNs mobilize universities, research centers, civil society organizations, business, and other knowledge centers around practical problem solving for sustainable development.

Brazil – Hosted by Conservation International-Brazil, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and Instituto Pereira Passos

Ethiopia – Hosted by Wollega University

Germany – Hosted by German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

Indonesia – Hosted by the University of Indonesia

Malaysia – Hosted by the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology

Nigeria – Hosted jointly by the Universities of Ibadan and Nnamdi Azikiwe University

Russia – Hosted by the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

South Korea – Hosted by the Korea Development Institute

Turkey – Hosted by Boğaziçi University

Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee under the purview of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. MIGHT is an organization built on the strength of public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and international, from industry, government and academia. As an organization MIGHT is dedicated to providing a platform for industry-government consensus building in the drive to advance high technology competency in Malaysia.

The full SDSN publication, “Rising to the Challenge”: http://bit.ly/VGNSpv

News release in full, click here

Example coverage:

Reuters, click here

Agencia EFE, Spanish, click here, Portuguese, click here

The Nation, Thailand, click here

Malaysian Insider, click here

Coverage summary, click here

Malaysia hosts UN-backed symposium: ‘Beyond Gross Domestic Product — Transitioning into Sustainability’

Birth weight, hours slept, eyeglasses, city birds, washing machines, teenage schoolgirls and other quantifiable signals of well-being can help measure the wealth of a nation beyond Gross Domestic Product, experts say.

Moving beyond GDP to sustainability — the focus of a UN­-backed high-level symposium May 19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — requires broad indicators of a nation’s social and environmental well-being to complement measures of economic production and income.

“World leaders are acknowledging GDP’s limitations, as well as the need for broader measures to evaluate societal progress,” says Anantha Duraiappah, Director of UN University’s International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change, co-host of the symposium together with the Malaysian Industry ­Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), in partnership with the Japanese Ministry of Environment and the Sime Darby Foundation.

Changes in natural capital (such as forest cover) can be relatively easy to quantify.

However, beyond education and health care statistics, how can social and individual well-being be tallied up?

“With policymakers focusing on complex indicators to measure societies’ success, it often seems as if they are missing some of the most meaningful and simple signs there are,” IHDP reports in a new edition of its magazine, “Human Dimensions.”

Candidates include:

BIRTH WEIGHT

Each ounce of birth weight can add significantly to a child’s overall quality of life over time. Beyond increasing the chance of survival, the effects of birth weight stretch far into a child’s lifetime. Babies weighing less than 3 pounds 10 ounces at birth are more likely to have negative long-term health effects. And many that appear to be developing normally arrive at school with learning disorders and behavioural difficulties. As a health indicator, why not start counting the rolls of fat on the limbs of our countries’ babies?

HOURS SLEPT

If we were to count our societies’ sleeping hours, we’d likely have a good idea of strength of its social bonds, sense of independence and optimism. More sleep has been proven to lead to better interpersonal relationships, emotional intelligence and empathy toward others. It also contributes to positive thinking, impulse control, self-regard and assertiveness. Altogether, sleep makes for a happy, healthy and productive population.

EYEGLASSES

With 700 million people in the developing world lacking affordable vision correction, eyeglasses provide an important service: raising individuals’ potential. Without glasses, school kids miss out on their potential to learn, and adults are unable to make the best of their most productive years. Glasses raise individual’s earning prospects by 20 per cent. Globally, uncorrected vision results in US$202 billion economic loss. Wanting to measure productivity, we can’t forget to measure its basic supporting factors. For example, simply being able to see.

CITY BIRDS

When you wake up to the sound of chirping birds, you are listening to one of the simplest indicators of local environmental health. Multiple programmes across the globe are empowering citizens to count, identify and register the birds they encounter, to aid researchers in their understanding of ecosystem changes. Not only are birds easy to see, and fun to identify, their position at the top of the food chain makes them susceptible to accumulating chemicals, and loss of biodiversity in the wider ecosystem. These factors make them a good and countable indicator of environmental hazards, climate change and biodiversity loss

WASHING MACHINES

A man pulling his laundry from a washing machine is more well-off than a big portion of the world population: only 2 of 7 billion have access to a washer. Requiring water and power to function, washing machine density is also a symbol of infrastructural density. More importantly, this humble appliance has transformed the nature of household work. With one, homemakers can spend their time and energy toward more noble (and interesting) pursuits.

TEENAGE SCHOOLGIRLS

A crowd of teenaged schoolgirls lining the streets of an African town is a rare sight. Fewer than one in five girls in sub-Saharan Africa are able to attend secondary school. A girl who does is making a big contribution to curbing population growth and raising global productivity. Statistically, she will marry four years later and have 2.2 fewer children. And with each extra year of education, she is able to raise future wages by 15-25 per cent. In this, counting teenaged school girls equates to predicting natural, social and economic sustainability.

Other candidates include smiles, random acts of kindness — even popsicles (the % of people who believe a child can leave their home, go to the nearest place to buy a popsicle or snack, and come home alone safely. See http://solari.com/articles/popsicle_index/)

While some of these may be considered whimsical, says Prof. Duraiappah: “New research has begun to show that people often value non­-material wealth just as highly, if not more, than monetary wealth.”

“Moreover, as countries develop, there are diminishing returns to quality of life from economic output – indeed, the relationship becomes increasingly contentious and questionable. Growing inequality within and across nations is becoming a force for social tension and conflict in developing and developed countries alike, where calls grow for a more equal society and sustainability in a world of human­-driven climate change and losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services.”

UNU-IHDP and the UN Environment Programme have led development of the Inclusive Wealth Index, debuted at the 2012 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero.

A new, internationally-comprehensive Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR), including a major focus on human capital in national account measurement, will by released in Nagoya Japan in November.

A two-day IWR experts’ workshop and half-day IWR Science Committee Meeting precedes the May 19 public symposium (agenda: http://ihdp.unu.edu/file/download/11677).

Among the more than 500 attendees expected is eminent Cambridge University economist Sir Partha Dasgupta, a leader of the work on which the Inclusive Wealth Report is based.

In an article for UNU-IHDP on questions of Inclusive Wealth and investments, Prof. Dasgupta writes: “When the government invests in roads, the picture drawn is of bulldozers levelling the ground and tarmac being laid by men in hard hats.”

“But because the notion of ‘capital’ extends beyond reproducible assets to include human capital, natural capital, and knowledge and institutions (the enabling assets), we need to stretch the notion of ‘investment.’ To leave a forest unmolested would be to invest in the forest; to allow a fishery to restock under natural conditions would be to invest in the fishery; and so on.”

“That suggests investment amounts to deferred consumption. But the matter is subtler. Providing additional food to undernourished people by means of, say, food guarantee schemes not only increases their current well-being (food is enjoyable), it enables them also to be more productive in the future (they will have greater strength and stamina) and to live longer.”

“Because their human capital increases, the additional food intake should count not only as consumption but also as investment. Note, though, that food intake by the well-nourished doesn’t alter their nutritional status, which means the intake is pure consumption, not investment.”

Says Zakri Abdul Hamid, a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board, Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and co-chair of MIGHT: “Looking beyond GDP doesn’t mean its elimination. GDP provides valuable information about a country’s production, expenditure, and income streams, as well as the flow of goods across borders.”

“GDP and other traditional yardsticks will continue to inform our understanding of economic performance, but the world’s perspective on progress needs to be enlarged, balanced and integrated with social and environmental indicators. Only in this way can we respond to the unprecedented opportunities and challenges facing us in the 21st Century.”