Typhoon Odette in the Philippines had caused so much destruction and displacement that cities are still trying to clear the debris and cope with the hundreds of lives lost.

The 2021 flash floods of Malaysia have also displaced over 60,000 people and homes and disrupted supply chains and trade routes.

As I reflect on these events at the end of 2021, it pains me to know that life and financial losses could have been mitigated, or perhaps, even avoided, in these two natural disasters.

Climate change, COVID-19, and suffering

Rapid urbanization in a post-industrial world has accelerated demand for a litany of products, services, and amenities. All of which, over the decades, has increased in scope, depth, and resource use.

The buzzword half a decade ago was “smart cities”, and a couple of decades prior, “globalization”. 

Globalization was touted to be the bearer of prosperity for Asia, and it was, and still is. Almost two decades later, greater Asia has significantly caught up to the West — particularly North America and Europe.

Tech superpowers in Asia are locking heads with the US on future technologies such as quantum computing and 6G, even.

Worryingly, this is amid a backdrop of a pandemic-ravaged, economically wrecked world that’s still struggling to recover from the devastation of COVID-19 lockdowns that have affected trade and supply chains globally, on top of the mental stresses of attempting to protect ourselves from being infected.

As if that’s not enough, the entire globe has been grappling with the increasingly vicious effects of climate change such as flash floods, droughts, typhoons, tsunamis, and the like. 

Over in the developed, metropolitan capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Hybrid’s relatively privileged office contends with fear and concern over dark clouds and heavy rain that loom on the other side of our windowpanes, never knowing if we’d have to leave immediately or face the prospect of being stuck with flooding.

We are at the mercy of the whims of mercurial weathers that require care to navigate and understand — not unlike the kind you’d need being around emotionally fickle persons who make you feel like you’re treading on eggshells.

Smart, but also sustainable cities are key

These are dire times we live in. 

We may not be having many physical wars amongst nations, but the trickle-down effects of foreign policies, quests for world domination, and digital espionage, coupled with climate change and COVID-19 will and do severely affect the lives of the people down the chain. 

People such as you and I, and businesses, and economies.

Climate change is the most pressing issue that the world needs to contend with, because not only is it affecting us now, but it will affect us 10, 20, 30 years down the road. 

Lives will be lost, children will be growing up in a fractured globe with limited natural resources — survivability will be in hard mode for the future generation. 

Again, the buzzword then was ‘smart cities’. But it is not enough that cities chase ‘smartness’. 

For cities of the future to be liveable, they should also be designed according to principles of sustainability. 

This is especially true for regions or areas that are particularly susceptible to natural disasters and where there are marginalized or at-risk communities such as those with limited access to basic needs such as water, sanitation, or food. 

Their displacement will have a far greater negative impact on their lives, as opposed to those with access to better facilities.

For example, the December 2021 flash floods in Malaysia weren’t unavoidable. There were clear recommendations made to authorities in terms of city and infrastructure amendments and designs that would facilitate drainage. 

Members of Parliament for certain constituencies had brought up critical infrastructural faults that required immediate rectification in anticipation of increased rainfall at the end of the year.

Unfortunately,  these were not addressed in a thorough, timely, and effective manner. As a result, over 60,000 people were displaced, lives were lost, and properties and possessions were ruined beyond repair.

It is a week after the devastating floods and victims are literally still slowly picking up bits and pieces of their lives. In other states, the flooding has continued, and the prognosis is similarly not great for them either.

It is showing that it is exceedingly important that if cities want to be “smart”, sustainability should be embedded in the core of their design.

Defining “smart sustainable cities”

The UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) defines a smart sustainable city as “an innovative city that uses ICTs and other means to improve quality of life, the efficiency of urban operation and services, and competitiveness while ensuring that it meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental as well as cultural aspects.” 

Whilst that was not exactly the epitome of clarity nor accuracy, it does give us some insight into the philosophy behind what smart, sustainable cities ought to be like. 

To that effect, the UNECE (and the UN) do have a set of standards and key performance indicators (KPIs) for smart sustainable cities, which were developed by both UNECE and ITU.

Briefly, the KPIs gauging standards of smart sustainable cities are grouped across three dimensions: Economy; Environment, and Society, and Culture. 

Smart cities ultimately aim to improve the lives of their inhabitants and push the nation’s economy to greater heights of development and liveability. 

It is clear that global policymakers understand and acknowledge the complex intertwining of People and the Environment.

We cannot expect that electric vehicles, renewable energy, smart streetlights, drones, or IoT toilets will alone solve the complexities of climate change and improve the liveability of cities. 

Sure, they have their uses, but their roles are arguably smaller in the grander scheme of things.

Sustainable cities, therefore, are now a crucial component of developing better cities.

And more importantly, the presence of capitalization in these sectors has to be tempered with education, policy reforms, and control of corporations.

Electric vehicles, for starters, still have negative environmental impacts on the production line. Blockchain requires high amounts of electricity to function. 

The time has come to do away with self-aggrandizing, ego-stroking “technological achievements” in smart city development when these do not have sustainability embedded in their design.

We need effective, progressive, and decisive policies and policy changes. We need better implementation, monitoring, and enforcement from the authorities.

We need city planners, architects and engineers of the future to design and build with sustainability in mind.

We need to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors to ensure that cities abide by sustainability standards and that the interests of the people and environment trump the greed of corporations. 

We need governments across the world to ratify and work on their pledges in the Paris Agreement to bring global temperatures back down to pre-industrial levels.

We need to stop thinking that it will be business as usual today, tomorrow and later.

We can no longer work in silos — this affects us all. 

Will you be part of a force of change?

Or will business go on as usual?

The post Stop killing people: Smart cities must be sustainable cities appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Over the past week, the Southeast Asian nation faced arguably the worst flooding in history in various parts of the country. 

Heavy monsoon rainfall besieged peninsular Malaysia’s inadequate drainage systems last weekend, which was especially devastating for people in the state of Selangor.

The floods have displaced over 60,000 people nationwide and have killed 27 people so far — the highest since the 2014 major floods. 

Inaccessible roads have also disrupted multiple supply chains across the nation.

Port Klang, in the state of Selangor, is Southeast Asia’s second-largest port, located in Klang. Klang also happened to be one of the worst-hit flood areas, together with neighboring township Shah Alam. 

The situation on the ground in certain parts of Shah Alam was so bad, that it had driven some victims to source food and water from closed convenience stores in the area, while others desperately cried for food and essentials atop the roofs of vehicles and houses.

Shah Alam also happens to be where a number of global semiconductor names have situated factories at. 

HERE’S WHAT THE 2021 GLOBAL CHIP SHORTAGE IS ALL ABOUT

Dashveenjit Kaur | 3 November, 2021

As workers in these factories tend to live around the area, they have been struggling to either leave or enter their residences and workplaces.

BE Semiconductor, a Dutch supplier of chipmaking equipment had lowered its fourth-quarter revenue outlook on Monday as its main factory in Shah Alam was affected by the floods.

It had halted operations for product assemblies, with losses to the tune of US$28 million. 

“First estimates of one-time costs associated with materials and labor necessary to repair or reproduce any systems affected are in the range of 4 — 6 million euros and will be taken as a charge to fourth-quarter earnings,” said the group in a statement.  

The company did not disclose which of its clients would be affected by its closure, but a report by Reuters showed that Foxconn, STMicroelectronics, ASE, Forehope, Micron, and LG Innotek are among its list of existing customers.

This semiconductor supply chain disruption comes at an inopportune time, and just days after Intel unveiled its US$7 billion Malaysia chip factory plan. 

Malaysia is a major player in the global electronics supply chain and is a hub for semiconductor packaging — making up a tenth of the sector’s global trade.

However, the global Covid-19 pandemic had led to multiple strict lockdowns by the government over the past two years, preventing chip factories from being able to operate normally.

Additionally, the government’s lockdowns had severely restrained the manufacture and supply of aluminum capacitors this year. These capacitors are essential chip-related components in consumer and industry electronics such as EVs and computers, which further strained the global semiconductor shortage.

However, things may look up for both affected people and industries — the cargo congestion in Port Klang appears to be easing up, and lockdowns had ceased since September this year.

Nevertheless, industry experts and watchers are still nervous about the impact of the Omicron variant, which might cause yet another dent in the global semiconductor supply chain.

The post Malaysian floods disrupts semiconductor supply chain; devastates workers appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

This comes as the chief executive announced the tech giant’s long-term plan to quintuple GMV to US$100 billion across their Lazada e-Commerce platforms.

Complementing this ambition for industry growth and dominance, Alibaba is pledging to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations by 2030, the group said in a statement.

In their Alibaba Group Carbon Neutrality Report 2021, the organization has introduced a “Scope 3+” target, claiming it is a pioneering initiative aimed at facilitating 1.5 gigatons of decarbonization by 2035. 

“We aspire to be a force for positive, innovative change in society. Our ESG strategy is predicated on our mission to be a good company that will live for 102 years and it is a vital foundation for Alibaba’s future development,” said Daniel Zhang, Chairman, and CEO of Alibaba Group. 

On Alibaba’s Scope 3+ and carbon neutrality 

Developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the Scope inventories are a set of tools and guidelines for organizations to develop action plans to lower carbon emissions. 

The inventories provide tools and practices to deal with different sources of emissions, which are categorized under Scope 1, 2, or 3.  

According to Alibaba, “Scope 3+,” refers to the emissions generated by a broader range of participants in the platform’s ecosystem, currently outside of Scopes 1, 2, and 3.  

Definition of Corporate GHG Emissions Scopes 1, 2, and 3, adapted from Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. (IMG/Alibaba Group)

Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization, whereas Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heat, or cooling.

Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but where the organization indirectly impacts its value chain.

Alibaba Group’s green roadmap 

The group is committed to carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and has set a 50% carbon intensity reduction target for Scope 3 by 2030 using 2020 levels as a baseline. 

Alibaba Cloud will bear responsibility for a higher Scope 3 target and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 in all three scopes.

Greenhouse Gas emissions by Alibaba in 2020 (IMG/Alibaba Group)

Alibaba Group has also committed to joining the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and has aligned its decarbonization measures and strategy with the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C” pledge, a critical target to ameliorate the catastrophic impacts of climate change as outlined by the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The company will adopt a “systematic and science-based approach” to plan and manage decarbonization initiatives. 

These include leveraging energy-saving and efficiency-improving technologies to reduce emissions; actively transforming the energy structure with progressive use of renewables; and exploration of carbon removal initiatives. 

“We believe the use of digital platforms can play a significant role in empowering a low carbon circular economic model that can lead to achieving the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement.

“The concept of ‘Scope 3+’ is based on the potential of leveraging our digital platforms to influence and advocate for low carbon products, services, and behavior among a wider group of stakeholders in our ecosystem. 

Highlights of Alibaba’s Decarbonization efforts (IMG/Alibaba Group)

“This is in addition to sharing our energy-efficient technologies and innovative business tools with customers and business partners to reduce the carbon footprint together,” said Dr. Chen Long, Vice President of Alibaba Group and Chair of Alibaba’s Sustainability Steering Committee.

As a general principle, the company prioritizes carbon reduction over removal, and removal over offset.

Alibaba will continue to improve its carbon reduction measurement and metrics in Scope 3+ by working and partnering with leading expert organizations globally. 

Dedicated ESG Governance Body

The group also announced a new three-tier ESG governance framework to oversee, enable and support the achievement of its carbon neutrality targets and broader ESG goals. 

Chaired by independent director Jerry Yang, the board-level Sustainability Steering Committee will be responsible for strategic planning, goal setting, and management of Alibaba’s carbon neutrality efforts. 

An ESG cross-business action group comprising representatives from each business unit at the working level will be responsible for coordination and execution.

BANKS IN ASIA ARE GOING GREEN TO REDUCE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Aaron Raj | 12 October, 2021

Meanwhile, Alibaba aims to continue to improve its information and data disclosure and reporting mechanism. 

Starting 2022, the firm “aims to release its ESG report annually”, in which concrete and specific annual progress will be included. 

All reports will adhere to the most reputable metrics laid out in domestic and international standards and will be verified by accredited auditors, said the statement.

Alibaba fintech arm pledged carbon neutrality too

In March this year, Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group first detailed a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

The fintech giant aims to neutralize direct and indirect emissions associated with the purchase of electricity from this year and seeks to fully cancel out carbon emissions generated from external sources it does not own or control by 2030. 

APAC BANKS NOW PRIORITIZING CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT FOR RISK MANAGEMENT

Jamilah Lim | 10 September, 2021

This includes emissions within its supply chain and business travel. It also set up a carbon neutrality fund to support the research and development of renewable energy and other green technologies, as well as work with industry partners to promote green finance. 

The Asia-Pacific, comprising 60% of the world’s population, consumes half the world’s power supply. China is Asia’s leader in the production, procurement, and utilization of sustainable and renewable energy. 

However, nearly 60% of the Chinese economy is powered by coal, which has spurred President Xi to pledge carbon neutrality by 2060.

The post Alibaba Group pledges carbon neutrality by 2030 appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

It also revealed 67% of the climate change believers think choosing more eco-friendly transportation methods is how individuals can act on the issue. 

Dynata, the world’s largest first-party platform for insights, activation, and measurement, conducted the survey across 12 countries: Australia, China, India, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK, and the US. 

Drive towards zero-emission

Aside from other efforts to achieve zero emissions, the drive towards zero-emission public transportation is underway in some parts of the world.

For example, in Australia, Hyzon Motors unveiled its first zero-emission, fuel cell electric commercial coach, the first of its kind.

The coach seats 50 passengers and has a range of up to 700km (430 miles) and 350kW motor power.

HERE’S WHY INDIA IS PUMPING US$3.5 BIL INTO ELECTRIC VEHICLE INITIATIVES

Jamilah Lim | 16 September, 2021

The first coach is deployed in Brisbane, with nine more coaches still in production. Similar coaches will be available to customers globally next year.

The coaches attract significant interest from local bus operators, government departments, mining companies, and tourism operators, given their broad applications and Australia’s move towards decarbonizing bus operations.

The state of New South Wales alone intends to have its entire fleet of 8,000 buses operating with zero emissions by 2030. 

Green public transportation 

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, which is currently hosting the COP26 UN climate change conference, 55 zero-emissions fully-electric E12 bus fleets from Yutong join the Glasgow bus service to provide transportation for the residents.

Green public transport is expected to be one of the most impactful solutions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

BANKS IN ASIA ARE GOING GREEN TO REDUCE THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Aaron Raj | 12 October, 2021

“Urbanization will increase demand for sustainable transport worldwide in coping with the high emissions of private vehicles which caused about three-quarters of CO₂ from urban passenger transport,” said Philip Turner, Head of Sustainable Development of International Association of Public Transport.

“Public transportation is the most effective way to improve travel efficiency and energy conservation and emission reduction.”

Yutong taking the lead to achieve emissions targets

“Yutong is taking the lead in helping China and the world to achieve emissions targets by releasing the first net-zero emissions initiative in China’s bus industry.

It emphasizes the devotion on technological innovations such as new energy and autonomous driving to accelerate the research and development, manufacturing, and promotion and application of zero-carbon and smart commercial vehicles,” said Kent Chang, director of Yutong overseas distribution sales, of the company’s proposal for net-zero emission by 2050. 

“We will continue to make efforts to promote the transformation of smart manufacturing, speed up the realization of the green commercial vehicle industry chain, and advocate the culture of public transportation.”

Global demand for quality EVs

The growing interest in electric vehicles is also recognized by the 2021 LA Auto Show, which will host its inaugural zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) awards program – THE ZEVAS™ – later this month.

It currently opens the public voting for a selection of ZEVs available for purchase or pre-order in various categories, with the winners to be announced during the show on 19 to 28 November.

Some candidates are Hyundai KONA Electric in the compact class and Kia EV6 in the crossover above the US$50,000 category. In addition, the show will be the ground for a new car and brand debuts as well, including VinFast, Vietnam’s first global automaker. 

AUSTRALIA INVESTS IN MORE EV CHARGING STATIONS

Aaron Raj | 10 November, 2021

“Global demand for quality EVs drives our endless efforts to create high-quality products for everyone. We have made vigorous investments and conducted extensive market research to create premium EVs that will satisfy the desires of global customers,” said Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of Vingroup.

Thuy added, “The LA Auto Show’s early support of the EV market and unique ability to inform influencers and consumers about electrification makes it the right venue to introduce our brand to North American market.” 

The post Zero-emission vehicles to combat climate change  appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The brewing storm threatens to throw a wrench in the plans of nations attempting to address climate change, specifically in their bid to reduce reliance on coal-powered fuel by turning to electric vehicles. 

The woes of Korea’s EV battery manufacturers

Korea’s top three EV battery manufacturers all rank in the top six global manufacturers, controlling as much as a third of the global EV battery market. 

They include LG Energy Solution (LGES); SK On, and Samsung SDI Co Ltd. These EV battery manufacturers serve billion-dollar clients such as Tesla, Volkswagen, and Ford, among others.

In a time where energy use is scrutinized and clean energy is doggedly pursued by many of the world’s economies, EVs (or, electric vehicles), are touted as a viable solution to solving a substantial portion of climate change conundrum.

As reported by Reuters, the three Korean EV battery manufacturers are in dire need of research and engineering specialists, amidst a boom in demand for the tech powering these batteries and vehicles.

Talent crunch not just affecting battery makers

Not just that, giants in the automotive scene are increasingly in need of more technicians with the necessary skills and training to continue the advancement of cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state batteries.

According to an official at LGES as reported by Reuters, recruiting external talent is as crucial as nurturing their own, a sentiment echoed by SK On and Samsung SDI. 

According to the Korea Battery Industry Association, there is a shortage of approximately 3,000 graduate degree-level talents for roles in research & design, among others. Collectively, the three giants only have around 19,000 employees.

To add fuel to the fire, the world is also facing a complex phenomenon of a shortage, and then a glut of semiconductor chips, which also affect automakers.

Alas, this isn’t just a damper for the Koreans — it is but a reflection of talent shortage in the global EV and battery markets, which are growing at accelerated rates.

India is also looking to boost production and development in EV tech, including batteries, with a generous boost of US$3.5 billion in incentives for the sector. 

Taiwan, too, is cranking up the production of their EV batteries. 

Should the talent shortage gap not be filled soon, industry experts warn that it could slow down advancement in the paradoxically booming advanced battery technology market. 

According to the European Battery Alliance planning group, reskilling or upskilling is in need within the EU bloc as the battery industry needs 800,000 new workers by 2025.

EV battery manufacturers targeting universities

The top Korean EV battery manufacturer by volume, LGES, plans to launch a new “battery-smart factory department” at the Korea University by spring next year — and with guaranteed jobs for graduates, to boot.

Additionally, these firms have been aggressively courting talent abroad, such as in the US, in a bid to boost their fledgling numbers of skilled battery tech workers.

Unfortunately, the market they’re in is a highly competitive one — other Asian players such as CATL and Panasonic, as well as western players such as Northvolt, are also hunting for talent wherever they may find it.

Compounding Korea’s EV battery talent crunch is how existing employees are being aggressively poached by competitors dangling bigger carrots, according to two unnamed industry sources quoted in a Reuters report. 

The average annual salary in South Korea is approximately 37.4 million won (2019), but fresh doctorate holders who are battery specialists can earn almost triple that amount (100 million won, US$85,000). For those below, and with a few years of experience can, on average, earn 80 million won, reports Reuters.

The talent shortage in the battery industry has already been a global issue for years. However, due to companies rapidly expanding their production capacities, the talent demand outweighs the talent supply, according to Richard Kim, principal analyst at IHS Markit. 

EV batteries of the future soon?

Fuelling the mad rush to develop cutting-edge EV batteries is the promise of the EV battery of the future, called solid-state. Electric vehicles have long been plagued by two persistent issues — a limited driving range, and slow charging, due in part to the limited battery technology currently commercially available (i.e. Lithium-Ion). 

Global automotive giant Toyota has been working on its dream of advancing solid-state batteries for over a decade to solve these issues. The company is reportedly very close to achieving commercial production of solid-state batteries by as early as the end of this year, and to unveil a new EV car in 2022 featuring the use of solid-state batteries. 

Not to be outdone, domestic automaker rival Nissan has also been working on a prototype by 2028, whereas Hitachi Zosen claims to have developed a solid-state battery capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures. 

The Japanese government is also enthusiastic about driving research and development, as they are reportedly also considering pumping in ¥2 trillion (US$19.2 billion) into a  decarbonization fund. Part of this would go towards building solid-state battery production infrastructure in the country.

The post Korea’s EV battery manufacturers wringing hands over talent crunch appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

HOW TWITTER HASHTAGS CAN HELP UNDERSTAND CLIMATE CHANGE

Aaron Raj | 28 September, 2021

Global impact intelligence platform, HolonIQ, collaborated with regional ecosystem leader New Energy Nexus to vet over 500 tech startups and companies headquartered in ASEAN, before selecting the top 50 most promising ones for the inaugural Southeast Asia Climate Tech 50 list. To determine who makes the cut, the scoring process will include market, product, team (including diversity), capital, and momentum.

The Southeast Asia Climate Tech 50 identifies the region’s young, fast-growing, and innovative climate-focused companies. Only companies less than ten years old, with few exceptions to that circumstance, were considered. A quarter (25%) of the cohort was first established in 2015, and 68% started between 2010 and 2014.

The 50 companies were categorized by their primary focus on the emerging taxonomy for climate tech. HolonIQ has built up an open-source taxonomy with experts from around the world. The Global Climate Technology Landscape 1.0 classifies 50 key categories, providing a standard structure and language for identifying, tracking and making sense of the breadth and depth of innovation happening in climate innovation globally.

The ASEAN list is represented in eight categories this year. The categories are Agri+Food, Environment, Industry, Mobility, Networks, Renewables, Resources, and Storage. Nearly a third (32%) of the companies are in Agri+Food, including smart or vertical farming, plant-based, and cell-cultured food, environment, and renewables.

In addition, there is a strong presence in the Environment, with 16% of startups nvolved in providing nature-based solutions, sustainable materials, and a circular economy. Finally, the Renewables category drills down on wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass energy sources, at 12%.

Most companies (58%) rely on physical forms of technology and innovation, with only 17% being software or digital-based. The remaining quarter provides climate-focused services. Some of the companies named in the 2021 Southeast Asia Climate Tech 50 are clean energy companies.

This comprises of :

• Ingine Pacific and Okra Solar in Vietnam and Cambodia.
• Blockchain-based seafood traceability and data ecosystem Fishcoin Project in Singapore.
• Waste management platform RecyGlo in Myanmar.
• Energy management solution Leastric in Indonesia.
• Sustainable plant-based meat alternatives producer WTH Foods in the Philippines.
• Turnkey provider of sustainable engineering solutions ihandal Energy Solutions in Malaysia.
• Clean energy electric vehicles developer ETRAN in Thailand.

The ASEAN list is part of the ten regional lists making up HolonIQ’s inaugural Climate Tech 1000. The selection was made from more than 20,000 startups and companies who applied or are covered by HolonIQ’s Intelligence Platform. The regional lists ensured a diverse and genuinely global representation, while highlighting the inspiring innovations happening worldwide.

The list showcased the most promising 1,000 making a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation or adaption by applying new technology or scientific knowledge. HolonIQ develops open-source taxonomies and proprietary intelligence to provide impact market intelligence so that better decisions can be made with contextualized data, disciplined analysis, and a global perspective across education, healthcare, and sustainability.

The Global Climate Technology Landscape 1.0 will be formally launched at the 26^th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) that is set to take place from 31^st October to 12^th November 2021, in Scotland.

The post Green dreams in SEA as HolonIQ debuts first-ever Climate Tech 50 list appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The brewing storm threatens to throw a wrench in the plans of nations attempting to address climate change, specifically in their bid to reduce reliance on coal-powered fuel by turning to electric vehicles. 

The woes of Korea’s EV battery manufacturers

Korea’s top three EV battery manufacturers all rank in the top six global manufacturers, controlling as much as a third of the global EV battery market. 

They include LG Energy Solution (LGES); SK On, and Samsung SDI Co Ltd. These EV battery manufacturers serve billion-dollar clients such as Tesla, Volkswagen, and Ford, among others.

In a time where energy use is scrutinized and clean energy is doggedly pursued by many of the world’s economies, EVs (or, electric vehicles), are touted as a viable solution to solving a substantial portion of climate change conundrum.

As reported by Reuters, the three Korean EV battery manufacturers are in dire need of research and engineering specialists, amidst a boom in demand for the tech powering these batteries and vehicles.

Talent crunch not just affecting battery makers

Not just that, giants in the automotive scene are increasingly in need of more technicians with the necessary skills and training to continue the advancement of cutting-edge technologies such as solid-state batteries.

According to an official at LGES as reported by Reuters, recruiting external talent is as crucial as nurturing their own, a sentiment echoed by SK On and Samsung SDI. 

According to the Korea Battery Industry Association, there is a shortage of approximately 3,000 graduate degree-level talents for roles in research & design, among others. Collectively, the three giants only have around 19,000 employees.

To add fuel to the fire, the world is also facing a complex phenomenon of a shortage, and then a glut of semiconductor chips, which also affect automakers.

Alas, this isn’t just a damper for the Koreans — it is but a reflection of talent shortage in the global EV and battery markets, which are growing at accelerated rates.

India is also looking to boost production and development in EV tech, including batteries, with a generous boost of US$3.5 billion in incentives for the sector. 

Taiwan, too, is cranking up the production of their EV batteries. 

Should the talent shortage gap not be filled soon, industry experts warn that it could slow down advancement in the paradoxically booming advanced battery technology market. 

According to the European Battery Alliance planning group, reskilling or upskilling is in need within the EU bloc as the battery industry needs 800,000 new workers by 2025.

EV battery manufacturers targeting universities

The top Korean EV battery manufacturer by volume, LGES, plans to launch a new “battery-smart factory department” at the Korea University by spring next year — and with guaranteed jobs for graduates, to boot.

Additionally, these firms have been aggressively courting talent abroad, such as in the US, in a bid to boost their fledgling numbers of skilled battery tech workers.

Unfortunately, the market they’re in is a highly competitive one — other Asian players such as CATL and Panasonic, as well as western players such as Northvolt, are also hunting for talent wherever they may find it.

Compounding Korea’s EV battery talent crunch is how existing employees are being aggressively poached by competitors dangling bigger carrots, according to two unnamed industry sources quoted in a Reuters report. 

The average annual salary in South Korea is approximately 37.4 million won (2019), but fresh doctorate holders who are battery specialists can earn almost triple that amount (100 million won, US$85,000). For those below, and with a few years of experience can, on average, earn 80 million won, reports Reuters.

The talent shortage in the battery industry has already been a global issue for years. However, due to companies rapidly expanding their production capacities, the talent demand outweighs the talent supply, according to Richard Kim, principal analyst at IHS Markit. 

EV batteries of the future soon?

Fuelling the mad rush to develop cutting-edge EV batteries is the promise of the EV battery of the future, called solid-state. Electric vehicles have long been plagued by two persistent issues — a limited driving range, and slow charging, due in part to the limited battery technology currently commercially available (i.e. Lithium-Ion). 

Global automotive giant Toyota has been working on its dream of advancing solid-state batteries for over a decade to solve these issues. The company is reportedly very close to achieving commercial production of solid-state batteries by as early as the end of this year, and to unveil a new EV car in 2022 featuring the use of solid-state batteries. 

Not to be outdone, domestic automaker rival Nissan has also been working on a prototype by 2028, whereas Hitachi Zosen claims to have developed a solid-state battery capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures. 

The Japanese government is also enthusiastic about driving research and development, as they are reportedly also considering pumping in ¥2 trillion (US$19.2 billion) into a  decarbonization fund. Part of this would go towards building solid-state battery production infrastructure in the country.

The post Korea’s EV battery manufacturers wringing hands over talent crunch appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Interestingly, Twitter hashtags are also now being used in dealing with the global climate crisis. According to Amy Udelson, Director of Marketing, Twitter Developer Platform at Twitter, the social media app discovered an annual increase of 50% for English Tweets that mention the phrase “climate change” or hashtag #climatechange.

TWITTER RAMPING UP EFFORTS TO STOMP OUT MISINFORMATION

Jamilah Lim | 5 August, 2021

For example, when the Australian bushfires made headlines around the world prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were nearly 10 million Tweets related to it from people around the world between December 2019 and March 2020. In Indonesia, the Jakarta floods in the first week of January 2020 saw 20,000 Tweets alone.

But how can these Tweets be used to help with climate change?

As extreme weather unfolds across the globe, people come to Twitter before, during, and after these events to talk about what’s happening. Powered by social insights and analytics, these real-time conversations can be harnessed to provide instant alerts, relief efforts, and assessment of the situation on the ground.

(Photo by PETER PARKS / AFP)

Twitter provides companies and individuals with programmatic access to Twitter data through its public application programming interfaces (APIs), allowing them to build apps and tools for consumers to draw insights out of Twitter. Following natural disasters like the Jakarta flooding in Indonesia, Australian bushfires, and Typhoon Hagibis in Japan, Twitter worked with Peta Bencana and Twitter Official Partners Brandwatch, and NTT Data respectively to help local communities understand trends in conversation data.

Climate change and Twitter hashtags

In collaboration with award-winning creative studio Design I/O, Twitter has unveiled an interactive webpage to explore how conversations evolved on Twitter during each extreme weather event. The key moments are summarized as follows:

• Before: Even before the natural disaster affects areas, people Tweet about things they notice in nature, like higher water levels, or drier and hotter-than-usual temperatures. People also Tweet about their preparations, such as readying their home or neighborhood for a fire or creating flood or hurricane defenses for critical structures.
• During: As the extreme weather event begins to affect people, alarms start to raise on Twitter. At the apex of such events, conversations on Twitter spike the most as people Tweet about what they are experiencing in real-time.
• After: At this time, the conversation on Twitter begins to shift towards humanitarian assistance like donation drives for supplies, rescue or medical assistance, and financial contributions to help people in the affected community

“Through our public API, developers can build innovative solutions on and glean insights from the public conversation, helping governments, businesses, and people advance their collective understanding about any given topic. With climate change, Tweets offer valuable information about what’s happening around the globe before, during, and after these natural disasters. Developers can use the API to analyze things like the evolution of climate change trends over time, build tools for a good cause or enable academic research,” said Amy.

At the same time, Amy added that they are seeing unlimited opportunities for how developers can utilize the Twitter API for further research and innovation to support how to understand and respond to the global climate emergency.

This includes helping local communities during unforeseen extreme weather events to seek rescue efforts, share resources, and raise funds as well as research to study public sentiments about climate change without human bias.

Amy also hopes that the successful use cases will also see them continue their work with NGOs and governments to harness the power of Tweets to make informed decisions.

(Photo by BAY ISMOYO / AFP)

“We’ve seen how Twitter data can be used in real-time to provide vital support to people on the ground in times of extreme weather such as the Jakarta floods. In fact, the PetaBencana.id platform has been adopted by government agencies such as the National Emergency Management Agency (BNPB) and NGOs to monitor flood events, improve response times, and share time-critical emergency information with residents – and even in other countries: the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Vietnam,” said Amy.

Twitter also hopes to collaborate with both public and private partners on using their data as an insights engine. For example, Twitter’s partner Brandwatch found that although many people on Twitter pointed out climate change was an underlying cause for the #AustralianBushfire devastation, their Tweets accounted for only 7% of the conversation about what happened. This observation could spark discussions and campaigns about the consequences of climate change and why it should not be taken lightly.

Fighting the pandemic with Twitter

Apart from climate change, Twitter hashtags data have also enabled the company to build and open applications for a COVID-19 stream endpoint to help developers and researchers access data for studies in support of the public good.

“We’ve seen a number of developers and researchers use the COVID-19 data stream to understand public perceptions, sentiment, and the evolution of people’s attitudes about the pandemic over time,” explained Amy.

For example, the CoMuNe Lab with the Bruno Kessler Foundation used Twitter data to create the COVID-19 Infodemic Observatory. The observatory analyzes geolocalized Tweets, aggregated at the country level, to estimate the fraction of automated posts taking place in the public discussion. This data helps to create a picture that quantifies the “infodemic risk” of a particular location.

Researchers at Penn Medicine, who created an in-depth dashboard of COVID-19 attitudes and perceptions in the US using Twitter data, aimed to inform potential public policy and health communications with its dashboard.

In India, Amy pointed out that developers used the platform to build apps and tools to help people find critical info about medical services, oxygen, medicine, and food. For example, several developers have created websites that make it easier for people to run advanced searches on Twitter, so they can look by location plus specific keywords for things like oxygen tanks near them.

And when vaccines started rolling out, Amy said TurboVax, a Twitter bot, used the Twitter API to aggregate vaccination appointments from various websites in the New York area and post to Twitter when appointments were available.

“Developers inspire us every day with how they use the Twitter API. Their creativity and work with our API make Twitter better for people and organizations and make the world a better place. We are excited to see more use cases,” she added.

The post How Twitter hashtags can help understand climate change appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

For example, almost all the big tech companies are advocating sustainable environment programs and reducing their carbon emissions. This includes reducing the use of environmentally harmful materials for their products and recycling old products. A few mobile phone companies have also decided to not include phone chargers when selling their products so that users can use their older ones.

CAN E-WASTE MANAGEMENT ENSURE A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT?

Aaron Raj | 7 September, 2021

In Asia, Allinfra, a Hong-Kong based company is answering the call to action against rising CO2 emissions through climate tech solutions. Allinfra’s product Allinfra Climate focuses on using technology to revolutionize the way climate-relevant data is collected, stored, used, and monetized by institutions, corporates, and governments.

Allinfra is helping organizations to calculate their carbon footprint to offset and meet their net-zero goals and use technology to create the most advanced, provenanced, and trusted digital environmental financial products such as renewable energy certificates and emission reductions.

Allinfra’s climate data tools are being integrated to allow for ongoing verification of assets under green financing, allowing issuers, lenders, investors, and rating agencies to have a highly provenanced and common understanding of how assets are tracking concerning environmental goals.

Tech Wire Asia caught up with Bill Kentrup, the co-founder and head of origination of Allinfra to understand how organizations are approaching the goal of reducing their carbon emissions and creating a sustainable environment with modern technology.

Are organizations really sincere in their approach to reducing carbon emissions or are they doing it because they are forced to by environmental regulations?

We see corporations setting decarbonization goals and taking action with an increasing degree of buy-in that the average temperature of Earth is increasing, which is driving notable shifts in climate patterns that are large, dangerous, and hard to manage or adjust for, and indeed that this represents a real risk to corporations and humanity at large. That’s not to say the buy-in is universal, but I would say this view is so much more widely shared than it was 20 years ago, or even 2 years ago.

Whilst the above is more of an “existential” view, what tends to drive corporate strategies and action is the management of “carbon risk” and unlocking “carbon opportunity”. So I would say there’s a fair degree of sincerity as to the need to decarbonize, though, in the short term, the action certainly tends to factor in financial and other business health metrics.

How technology is playing a role in allowing for more cost-effective and reliable data to underpin environmental finance (equity, debt, or hybrid), financial services (e.g. ratings, accounting), and environmental financial products such as renewable energy certificates or emission reductions?

(Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP)

Whether for climate-related finance or products or reporting and ratings, the market is inherently data-driven, ie. achieving, evidencing, and being rewarded for emission reductions is very different from delivering and being paid for a cargo of soybean, just for example.

You might say that carbon-related data together with methodologies that convert data into impact, is akin to the fiber, protein, and other nutrients of that soybean. Hence, climate policy and markets cannot function without systems in place to track and report data. In fact, one of the few legally binding aspects of the Paris Agreements is the periodic reporting on carbon from each signatory of the Agreements.

Historically, the process for collecting that data and relating it to environmental products and services was quite manual. However, with technology currently available, this market can function with greater efficiency, reduced risk, and greater optionality.

For example, our end-to-end environmental solutions platform, Allinfra Climate, helps institutions achieve their sustainability goals in many different ways—from carbon accounting to verifying data for green bonds to creating, trading, or retiring digital renewable energy certificates and emissions reductions.

But the most essential feature of our technology is the ability to capture verifiable, auditable data directly from assets. Without that accurate underlying data, organizations will struggle to track, verify, articulate, and ultimately benefit from their decarbonization achievements.

Why technology can and is helping to accelerate our climate goals?

Following on from above, the historic process of gathering data that relates to environmental products and services was very expensive and with lengthy and unpredictable timelines. Because many compliance carbon markets and also corporate reporting takes place in annual cycles, this often sets the stage for many governments and corporates needing to “settle their carbon books” around the same time of year, and this has often led to very painful bottlenecks in getting carbon audits or verifications done, sometimes with penalties or liquidated damages on the other side of a delayed verification.

Put another way, what would often take 6 months and cost many tens of thousands of US dollars can now be achieved almost instantaneously at significantly lower cost with greater certainty and unprecedented optionality (ie. the final product is not just a static report and a single product issuance, but rather a live and growing pool of data that is networked into financial markets & professional services).

Any time you take a meaningful component of a financial market and make it cheaper, with reduced risk and more versatility, you tend to accelerate that market. When you accelerate the carbon market, you accelerate positive climate impact. Also, any time a transition toward environmental improvement gets “imposed” on the industry, the more manageable and predictable that transition is, the less the industrial push-back tends to be.  This has played out over the past 30 or so years across many emissions-related markets (not just carbon).

What is the limitation surrounding corporate sustainability strategies, why they need to be improved, and what role digitization and technology can play?

(Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

Given that there’s been a recent and concerted wave of corporations articulating broad decarbonization goals, a major challenge for management, staff and other stakeholders of those corporations is to work out — what exactly do those goals mean, ie. where should we start, what can we do internally, where do we need external help, and how are we doing relative to their peers.

More specifically, how can we set up a system that measures carbon, identifies areas where we can achieve immediate and/or scalable reductions, map out longer-term carbon transition strategies, and incentivize operational business units to identify and achieve targets that are aligned with the group’s decarbonization goals. Complex stuff.

How do we measure, price, and incentivize carbon reductions?

Technology can’t necessarily determine the measures that should be taken in light of the full range of considerations a corporation must make, but technology can certainly help them:

• Measure what’s happening across assets
• Track the carbon impact realized through various changes in operations or deployment of new technology
• Create legally transferable instruments that carry with them rights to current and future emission reductions
• Package carbon-relevant data for select parties that can help improve the cost of funding, eg. for ratings agencies and financiers.

Having confidence and capability around the above helps as corporations weigh a range of factors and ultimately take action.

Are local organizations taking sustainability less seriously in Asia compared to large international MNCs?

Historically, the answer to this is yes, but there’s been a rapid growth in Asia of corporates taking the sustainable environment  topic very seriously. Perhaps with countries like Japan and Korea taking early action and China moving at scale and pace, corporates with exposure to these markets have had the lights switch-on in a big way – highly cognisant of very real and very consequential risk and opportunity. Most countries in Asia have accelerated domestic policies relating to decarbonization. It’s getting quite “real” and fewer and fewer corporates are taking it casually.

How Allinfra is supporting other companies in Asia to create trusted and verifiable sustainability data?

We have several clients where we’re helping them put their best foot forward concerning carbon-relevant data who have assets in the power sector, commercial and industrial properties, transport, and agriculture. As an example of an interesting use case, we have a renewable energy client with operating assets and where their financiers have contractual rights to the “environmental benefits” (eg. carbon credits, renewable certificates, or other sustainable environment products) from those assets.

Whilst those rights have been commercially agreed upon, they require a system in place to quantify the magnitude of that environmental benefit and record the transfer of that benefit from operators to lenders. Allinfra Climate, which is our solution for environmental data and products, is designed precisely to allow for low cost, high frequency, and permanent digital matching of renewable power production with consumption — or, in this case, quantifying and transferring environmental benefits from an asset to a financier.

The post Advocating a sustainable environment with modern technologies appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

This is according to the 11th EY and Institute of International Finance (IIF) bank risk management survey titled “Resilient banking: Capturing opportunities and managing risks over the long term.”

“Climate change has climbed to the top of Asia-Pacific banks’ short- and long-term risk agendas for the first time since we began this survey over a decade ago. The greater immediacy that Asia-Pacific banks’ CROs are placing on climate change risk over the next year, compared to the global average, reflects the urgency that regulators across the Asia-Pacific region have placed on climate risk management capabilities, as well as a heightened focus by investors and shareholders on disclosures,” said EY Asia-Pacific Financial Services Risk Management Leader David Scott.

However, while APAC bank CROs have caught on to the emerging risk that is climate change in looking at risk management, the survey also found that, in practice, only 20% of the polled respondents have indicated a “somewhat complete understanding”.

This, according to the survey, is indicative of how, in practice, APAC banks are still maturing in their ability to assess physical and transitional risk exposures, and that sourcing and managing climate risk-related data continue to be a challenge.

“Similarly in Malaysia, climate change risk continues to be a key area of focus of CROs. Driven by increased regulatory focus and expectations, many financial institutions have begun to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into their strategy and risk management practices.”

“The issuance of the Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy by Bank Negara Malaysia earlier this year has provided a common framework for the classification of climate risk-related exposures,” said Joazral Yusof, Partner of Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd.

Joazral added that, the more recent update of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance by the Securities Commission had proposed that boards and senior management be evaluated on how well they manage sustainability risks and opportunities.

“As such, it is critical for financial institutions to keep pace and continue to build the right capabilities and capacity required to successfully implement ESG strategies and risk management,” Joazral said.

As it stands, climate change as a major issue is nothing new for big tech companies, many of which have already taken the lead in sustainable development in APAC, such as Amazon’s forays into renewable energy in the region, and Australia’s advances into technology to lower its national carbon footprint.

Cloudflare’s target of a zero-emissions internet stands as a more global example of how tech companies have already identified climate change as a significant factor moving forward.

Covid-19 and risk management

Other than climate change, APAC bank CROs also listed resilience factors, amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, as leading items on the risk management agenda, followed by cybersecurity, and credit risk linked to economic uncertainty.

However, global results differed, with 98% of global CROs seeing credit risk as the top concern for banks over the next 12 months, as the world continues to recover from the pandemic, with cybersecurity following at 80%.

“While cybersecurity has long been the leading immediate concern for CROs, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the game. The breadth and depth of the pandemic’s shock to the global economy have brought credit concerns to the forefront for banks over the next 12 months,” said IIF Regulatory Affairs Managing Director Andrés Portilla.

It was also noted that the pandemic had proven to be an unprecedented and unexpected test of risk management for banks, one that most of the banking sector had passed through building greater and higher-quality capital and liquidity. Another positive is that, with banks accelerating their digital moves due to the pandemic, greater technological resilience was also built.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how quickly things can change, but it’s also shown us the agility of the banking sector in times of crisis. It’s clear that banks, both regionally and globally, may have to contend with persistent and dynamic disruption not just today, but tomorrow and into the future, and it’s vital they remain resilient to all forms of risk – existing, new and emerging,” said EY APAC Banking and Capital Markets Consulting Leader Douglas Nixon.

Nixon added that, over the next decade, APAC banks would very well survive new challenges and continue to thrive through the combination of talent, data, and technology.

Digital transformation and tech disruption

The survey had also identified that five of the top ten emerging risks according to APAC bank CROs relate to technology and data, including disruption to the industry due to new technologies, the pace and breadth of change from digitization, and model risk related to machine learning or AI.

However, the same CROs also expect banks to further accelerate digitalization through automating processes, modernizing core technology, and delivering enhanced insights to customers.

80% of APAC bank CROs also expect to see the introduction of new or additional regulatory requirements on operational resilience, with 70% expecting the same for financial resilience, based on the lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Still, the majority of APAC banks still see rising control costs, mainly attributed to building greater resilience and effecting digital transformation agendas. However, 10% of those banks believe they can manage down control costs over the next three years through the use of data and technology to improve risk management.

Key takeaways

Climate change as a risk in coming years is being increasingly accepted across more and more industries, with efforts being stepped up to address the issue in ways that are sustainable to the environment in accordance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

This presents opportunities for companies that can bridge the gap between traditional industries and sustainable efforts, that can aid in the transformation of companies towards sustainable development.

However, this also marks the sector as a crowded competition zone, as more of such companies pop up in the market. The importance of a USP in this regard would serve a company well in standing head and shoulders above the competition.

With consumers also aiming towards greener, more sustainable products, to the point where three-quarters of global consumers are willing to change consumption habits, it stands to reason that this trend can only continue to provide opportunities for growth, providing an organization can stand out from the crowd.

The post APAC banks now prioritizing climate change impact for risk management appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.