Green alternatives and some concerns back home

Following the green developments back home, I found out that more and more taxis are using Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPGs) as an alternative fuel. According to reports, it managed to save 50% of their energy consumption.

However, this initiative is not yet fully recognized by the government and might create complications in the future if this is not fully addressed.

I have also seen signs of green hopes budding amidst the simmering heat of Manila. Green architecture is catching up among the ecology-friendly people. This is an initiative that we can fully support.


Another challenge that brought to my attention is the worsening quality of water in the Philippines. This is not an isolated problem for my country. Other countries are not only facing problems on water quality but also water scarcity.

Looks like we have so much work in our hands…

Wake up and take a lead: British Anglican bishop

Wolverhampton Anglican Bishop Clive Gregory has published a pastoral letter to his Lichfield diocese in which he warns of environmental "catastrophe" but also says that there is still time to respond.

Quoting St Paul he says that it is time to "wake from sleep".

"Who should be the most committed environmentalists?" he asks.

"Those whose vocation is to be stewards of God's wonderful creation."

Muhammad Yunus on Microcredit

Microcredit pioneer and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh has published a new book Creating a world without poverty which is reviewed in the Austin American Statesman.

In his book Yunus tells the story of the foundation of the Grameen Bank which pioneered microcredit among Bangladeshi women and which has been instrumental in reducing poverty in that country.

More recently, Yunus says, the microcredit industry has extended its focus to "social businesses" that endeavour to chart a middle path between profit making businesses and social welfare charities.

"Such businesses engage in commercial activities with the purpose of creating a social good. Unlike charities, however, they don't depend on contributions — they aim at self-sufficiency, and expand depending on how much they take in," says book reviewer Roger Graham.

Yunus distinguishes the social business approach from that of hybrid businesses that aim for both profit and charity because these "hybrids quickly become for-profit entities, disguising themselves behind a set of good intentions".

Viva Kiva!

Here is a site with a really fantastic service that we could perhaps make use of in our YPD network.

Kiva provides a mechanism for connecting those with money to lend to those in developing countries who need finance for their projects.

It is doing record business after publicity on the Oprah Winfrey show and backing from Bill Clinton.

Lafayette Lament

I noted just before Christmas that the Australian company, Lafayette Mining, which operates on the Philippines island of Rapu Rapu has gone into voluntary administration.

Here is an article by Andrew Hewett of Oxfam Australia that analyses exactly what went wrong with this company.

"Initially lauded as the darling of the Philippines' mining revival program, Lafayette quickly turned sour for local fisherfolk," Hewett writes.

"Just months after the start of mine operations in 2005, two cyanide-laden spills into the sea killed fish and created consumer fear. People refused to buy fish from the island. Communities on the island and surrounding the bay, whose livelihoods depend on selling fish, struggled to feed their families" Hewett continues.

Months later a government-appointed fact-finding commission chaired by Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes accused the company of gross negligence for failing to establish environmental safeguards.

With the mining company under administration Hewett says that "the real question now will be what happens to those communities on Rapu Rapu in the wake of the financial failure of Lafayette".

"Will the mine be abandoned, as so many other mines have been in the Philippines, leaving the local communities to deal with the legacy of continued pollution of their waters and fisheries? Will the administrators start a fire sale of the mine to try to pay off the company's debts to ANZ and others, which may result in another speculative operator without a commitment to social or environmental responsibility?"

Hewett concludes that the case demonstrates that an official complaints mechanism should be established in Australia to inquire into community dissatisfaction abroad.

"Doing so would ensure that Australian mining companies act in accordance with internationally accepted human rights and environmental standards. Compliance with these standards could have benefited all those who have missed out in the Lafayette case - communities, shareholders, mine workers and governments," he says.