Earth Matters

A year ago, Sampah-Menyampah was launched, with the aim of raising awareness among Malaysians about setting our consumption habits right, and also to empower each other to take back our shared responsibility in looking after our environment. One year on, we speak to Sampah-Menyampah's co-founder, Carolyn Lau and also to Sue Yee Khor, the co-founder of Zero Waste Malaysia , to find out how the grou...

Comprising a coalition of residents’ associations from Kuala Lumpur, Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur or Save Kuala Lumpur (SKL) are advocating for improved city planning to protect communities and environment, for the future. The coalition's chairperson, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, and Datuk M. Ali, the vice president of SKL, join us to discuss the aims of the coalition, and how they hope to ca...

A chartered biologist with a keen interest in environmental studies, zoology and a long standing voluntary commitment to environmental issues and museums, Dato Sri Gathorne - the 5th Earl of Cranbrook or Lord Cranbrook, was one of the early conservationists to have worked in Malaysia. A member of the British nobility, he is a specialist in the biology and management of cave swiftlets, the biology...

In recent years, environmental politics and policymaking have expanded and grown increasingly multifaceted. Prof. Philippe Le Prestre, a professor of political science at Laval University in Canada, has been a member of numerous national and international scientific committees, and has authored books on international environmental politics and international relations. He joins us to discuss the ne...

Erik Solheim, the Head of UN Environment, said this is a make or break year for the world’s coral reefs. 2018 has been declared as the third International Year of the Reef, which, among other things, aims to strengthen awareness globally about the value of, and threats to, coral reefs and associated ecosystems. We discuss the possibilities of this international initiative at both a global an...

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not for-profit, multi-stakeholder organisation, established to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. It's considered by many to be the gold standard of forest management in the world. FSC Malaysia  began operations back in 2014, with the aim to be the main driver for bringing the world's leading standards to our c...

Since 2008, Bea Johnson and her family of four have only been producing one jar of waste, per year. Author of the book Zero Waste Home , Bea is acknowledged as the founder of this now global movement. She joins us to share her story of going zero waste and explains why zero-waste is not just about ‘trying to be eco-friendly’ by recycling or giving away old clothes: it’s about not...

Today we look back at some of our popular Earth Matters episodes for Year 2017. We revisit President Trump’s decision to pull U.S. out from the Paris agreement with Dato' Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar, the Taman Tun residents’ battle with DBKL to protect Taman Rimba Kiara from development with Hafiz Abu Bakar and Leon Koay, and the shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels with Ric...

SAVE Rivers is a group of concerned citizens building broad-based support to mobilise the public to speak-up against plans to build more new dams that are destructive to both the people and ecosystems of Sarawak. Peter Kallang, an indigenous leader and the SAVE Sarawak Rivers network Chairman, joins us in conjunction with Human Rights Day to share the group's story. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is beginning its first readiness funding to Malaysia in partnership with Carbon Trust. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and CEO of Carbon Trust Tom Delay explain how the country's first GCF Readiness project will be rolled out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia has one of the world's fastest deforestation rates. To conserve forests, Cleantech21's Nick Beglinger believes that distributed ledger technology could be the solution; but María José Sanz Sánchez from Basque Centre for Climate Change explains why it's not that easy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Led by Canada and Britain, more than a dozen countries have formed an international alliance to phase out coal by 2030. Which countries are in, and which ones are not? Find out the heroes and villains of the UN climate talks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We speak to the Obama Administration’s lead climate negotiator about his thoughts on Trump’s Paris Agreement withdrawal and coal support, and whether sub-national governments and businesses can make up for it all. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In conjunction with Universal Children's Day this year, we speak to Claire Sancelot, a zero-waste advocate and the director of The Hive , and her 7-year old daughter Lucie Padmanaban, about their zero-waste way of life. There are also special appearances by Charlotte and Emily Padmanaban, Lucie's five-year old twin sisters. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Researchers at the World Resources Institute have found that tenure-secure indigenous forestlands provided significant global carbon benefits. In Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia alone, they say this is worth between USD25bn to USD34bn over the next 20 years – equivalent to taking between nine million and 12.6 million passenger vehicles off the roads for a year. Dr. José Manuel Vieira Fra...

Just last month, international advisory company Climate Focus released three reports, which laid out how emissions from land use sector — with a focus on deforestation and diets — can be eliminated in a couple of decades, and quantified how much this could contribute to Paris Agreement goals. Joining us to share more is Charlotte Streck, the Co-founder and Director of Climate Focus, wh...

Pun Pun, which translates from Thai to mean "a thousand varieties" is an organic farm cum learning center for sustainable living in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Founded by city worker turned farmer Jon Jandai, the Pun Pun Center of Self Reliance works very much against prevailing models, and focuses on simplicity, affordability, communal living and a shared sense of responsibility for each other's well-b...

In 1999, Von Hernandez , a former literature professor from the Philippines, successfully led the campaign in making the Philippines the first nation in the world to ban waste incineration. For that, he was honored with a 2003 Goldman Environmental Prize , considered to be the Nobel Prize for grassroots environmental leaders and in 2007, he was named one of Time Magazine's Heroes of the Environmen...

Conceptualized and organized by not-for-profit environmental organization, EcoKnights, the Kuala Lumpur Eco Film Festival is a platform to facilitate building a nation of ecologically conscious people, through on-ground activities and film screenings focused on environmental issues and stories. Back for it's 10th installment, we find out what's in store from Yasmin Rasyid, the President of EcoKnig...

The International Community has designated “Sustainable Development” as a central issue for the future of humanity. Here in Malaysia, the Environmental Protection Society Malaysia or EPSM, has been working towards that goal for about two decades now, through its Local Communities and the Environment programme, and also its ‘Sustainable Living in Malaysia’ (SLiM) programme....

With over 1,300 species, bats illustrate many key issues in ecology and evolution, from the beauty of their unique biology to their importance for ecosystem services, disease and conservation. Now, scientists here have discovered that Southeast Asia’s highly popular durian tree is pollinated by locally endangered fruit bats known as flying foxes. By putting camera traps in durian trees on Ti...

Many studies in recent years have investigated the effects of climate change on the future of biodiversity. Ongoing future climate change will likely create a perfect storm for biodiversity, exacerbating the effects of existing stressors and adding new direct stressors to push many species and ecosystems into extinction or system transformation. Dr. Lesley Lancaster, a macroecologist and evolution...

Gunung Palung National Park is a diverse ecosystem of mangroves, swamp and montane forests southeast of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Sadly, 20% of the unfenced national park is reportedly lost to logging and farming in the past two decades. Much of the illegal logging has ended, but conservation awareness remains weak. A local non-profit organization, Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) works on p...

It’s been years since Ewok Perai last set foot in the Temiar village he once called home. The highland communities there made national headlines last year when they built several blockades to stop deforestation. Journey to Raya Padi (Ke Raya Padi) is a film that follows Ewok's journey home for the Temiar celebration and the Semais and Temiars he meets along the way. We speak to one of the di...

It has become increasingly obvious that issues of energy and environment cannot be ignored if development, economic fortitude, and societal well-being are the goals of a country. Back in 2011, Malaysia had an ambitious plan to build a “green economy”, in line with this. We discuss what a truly green economy looks like and what Malaysia's national green economy framework reflects, with...