Nov 08 2024 94 mins
New Delhi had an air pollution watch leading up to this year’s Diwali celebrations, with its air quality remaining ‘very poor’ for the 7th consecutive day. Meanwhile, across the border, the Pakistani city of Lahore had to close all primary schools for a week, with the air quality index (which measures a range of pollutants) exceeding 1,000 on Saturday. This is WELL above the benchmark of 300, which is considered "dangerous" by the World Health Organization.
Right across Southeast Asia, a health crisis is unfolding due to coal-fired power plants releasing fine particle pollution, causing millions of premature deaths annually. But it’s deforestation too. In Singapore, Malaysia, and many other neighbouring countries (depending on which way the wind is blowing), the region experiences an annual “haze” season. This happens because tropical forests in Indonesia’s peatlands are intentionally burned, so palm oil plantations can replace them. It causes havoc in the region, including driving many local animals close to extinction – like the Sumatran Tiger and the Orangutan. While not over, stronger action has been taken, and the region hasn’t seen a haze like its worst, which happened in 2015!
Moving up North to Thailand, it also has an annual burning season in the northern regions of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, resulting in haze sweeping across the country, and for those living in the smoke, it’s deadly. Until you’ve experienced living in this type of pollution, it’s very challenging to describe how terrible it is, but of course, it is also very easy to sit back and say “someone else will sort it out.” Well, our amazing guest this week – Khun Weenarin Lulitanonda aka Weena - is leading from the front and established the Thailand Clean Air Network nearly six years ago, and is fighting with all of her power to get this act passed.
A Senior Consultant for the World Bank, please join us is welcoming Weena to the show, where she will share the work she is doing, what drove her to act, the challenges she faces and what she hopes to achieve. Weena is an inspiration, but also an example of what can be done when someone cares enough. We can all be like Weena.
The air we breathe is vital for all life and we need to prioritize it, so please do join us Friday, 6th November – 2pm Bangkok time, 3pm Singapore time, and 7am UK time.
Climate Courage is a livestream, held every two weeks and is co-hosted by Andrea T Edwards, Dr. David Ko and Richard Busellato. On the show, we cover critical topics across the full spectrum of the polycrisis, in everyday language, and we go big picture on the climate crisis, while also drilling down and focusing on the actions we can all take to be part of the solution. Whether individual action, community action, or national/global action - every single one of us can be part of ensuring a live-able future for our children and grandchildren. We owe them that!
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To get in touch with me, all of my contact details are here https://linktr.ee/andreatedwards
My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage
My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar