Fact: CO2 Drives Climate Change

The COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland is in session. Since Sunday.

One subject that is bound to be hotly debated is carbon dioxide emissions. 

And I wasn't aware that Malaysia's CO2 emissions are pretty high! Malaysiakini had reported yesterday that at 7.2 tonnes per person, Malaysia's carbon emission per capita is greater than China(!) but thankfully, a lot less than the United States. 

In fact, the carbon emission per capita for China is 7 tonnes, while the United States emits 15 tonnes per capita. 

I decided to find out more and so, I'm sharing what I found out here. 

Malaysia’s carbon dioxide emissions per capita for the 1960-2018 period, according to theglobaleconomy.com showed an average value of 3.67 metric tonnes with a minimum of 0.44 metric tonnes in 1960 and a maximum of 7.76 metric tonnes in 2014. 

The latest value from 2018 is 7.6 metric tonnes. For comparison, the world average based on 186 countries is 4.24 metric tonnes. 

Compare this to China with 7.4 metric tonnes and the US with 15.2 metric tonnes (World Bank). 

And from knoema.com, CO2 emissions per capita for Malaysia in 2020 was 7.98 tonnes of CO2 per capita. 

If you must know, in 2020, Palau was the #1 country for CO2 emissions per capita at 55.29 tonnes of CO2 per capita. The other countries to make the Top 5 were Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Per-capita emissions are highest for oil-producing countries and some island nations, reflecting the huge energy costs the oil business has on the global environment – even before those fossil fuels are burned. 

CO2 emissions per capita in selected countries and regions, 2000-2020 (last updated Oct 28, 2021: 

Source: International Energy Agency

FYI, carbon dioxide is a key greenhouse gas that drives global climate change. 

Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are at the highest levels ever recorded. Greenhouse gas levels are so high primarily because humans have released them into the air by burning fossil fuels. The gases absorb solar energy and keep heat close to Earth's surface, rather than letting it escape into space. That trapping of heat is known as the greenhouse effect. 

Today, climate change is the term scientists use to describe the complex shifts, driven by greenhouse gas concentrations, that are now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only the rising average temperatures we refer to as global warming but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other devastating impacts.

There is widespread belief that world leaders at COP26 will likely have their last chance to curtail the deadliest consequences of human-induced planetary warming. 

Time is of the essence for unified global action as studies suggest as little as 9 years remain before the most catastrophic effects of climate change take hold and are impossible to stop. 

But I'm not putting much hope in COP26 anyway.  

The Great Covid Vaccine Stockpile

It’s no surprise to know that rich countries spout empty rhetoric and in reality, they are just plain selfish. 

According to Human Rights Watch, 75% of Covid vaccines have gone to 10 countries. The Economist Intelligence Unit have calculated that half of all of the vaccines made so far have gone to 15% of the world's population, the world's richest countries administering 100 times as many shots as the poorest. 

In June, members of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – pledged to donate one billion doses to poor countries over the next year. 

Read this interesting comment from Agathe Demarais (left), lead author at the Economist Intelligence Unit and a former diplomat: "I smiled when I saw that. I used to see this a lot. You know it's never going to happen"! 

The UK promised 100m of that pledge, so far it has donated just under nine million. Joe Biden pledged 580m of which the US has delivered 140m so far. And the EU bloc promised 250m doses by the end of the year – it has sent about 8% of those. 

And who can forget the storm of derision that greeted the US of A when it announced a donation of 80 vials of vaccine to Trinidad and Tobago, a country of 1.4 million people in June?!

Even Covax, the global scheme supported by the WHO to get doses where they're needed most has supply issues. 

Covax purchases and then sells vaccines at low-cost to middle income countries and donates to poor countries. It planned to distribute two billion doses in 2021 with most of them coming from a facility in India but when a second wave of infections crippled India in May, the government issued an export ban. 

Since then, Covax has relied on doses donated by rich countries. And supply has been slow, some of the receiving countries have yet to vaccinate 2% of their population. It's not a global supply problem. 

Rich countries have been building up surpluses of vaccines, according to Airfinity, a science analytics company researching global supply. Vaccine manufacturers are now making 1.5bn doses every month, 11bn will have produced by the end of the year. The world's richest countries could have 1.2bn doses that they don't need – even if they start administering boosters. 

Dr. Matt Linley (right), lead researcher at Airfinity had even made the claim that a fifth of those doses – 241 million vaccines – could be at risk of going to waste if they are not donated very soon. 

"I don't think it was necessarily rich countries being greedy, it's more that they didn't know which vaccines would work", says Dr Linley. "So they had to purchase several of them". 

With their latest research Airfinity hope to show governments that there is a healthy supply of vaccines and that they don't need to keep surpluses. Instead they can donate what they don't need now and be confident that more doses will be produced in the coming months. 

So far, we've heard only empty words from these rich countries – but it’s still not too late to translate words into action.

Adrian Nathai Recommends Nicki Minaj

Colleague and friend, Adrian Nathai recommends this Nicki Minaj number “Pound the Alarm” because the music video features his home country Trinidad and Tobago. Damn, those gals are hot!

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said yesterday allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud that he illegally amassed humongous sums of money have been over-politicised and the commission should be allowed to continue its scrutiny without interference. The probe into alleged corruption over timber concessions began in June last year, following a move by the Swiss anti-corruption agency to freeze Taib's assets.

MACC boss Abu Kassim Mohamed sure loves to crap. With Teoh Beng Hock, MACC was so super-efficient  that they hounded him to death for a paltry sum of RM2,500! With Taib, they plod along at their own sweet time so much so that I am unlikely to expect to see any outcome in my lifetime!

ROTFL! I believe I will see pigs fly before action is taken against Taib!

Image credit: http://mariah.stonemarche.org/favlinks/favlinks.htm

Yesterday, at the MidValley Toastmasters meeting, I had a good time listening to speeches and evaluations. It is a warm feeling to be at their meeting because there’s always learning to do and experiences to share. Ainsley Tan (Money & You Toastmasters Club) was a first-time General Evaluator and she gave sharp critical insights on the conduct of the meeting – I found this fitting because she was just being honest. And yes, I did enjoy the meeting and it deserves a 7.5 out of a 10.