Local Lifestyle Habits can be Sustainable
June 21, 2012
Minister reveals alarming figures at National Environment Conference
Bandar Seri Begawan – Brunei Darussalam’s energy consumption, solid waste generation, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and water usage per capita are “alarming” for a country as small as ours.
The Minister of Development, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman, said this yesterday while delivering his opening keynote address at the National Environment Conference.
“On the surface of it, the current state of our environment appears to indicate sustainability, but on a per capita basis, what we generate to the environment presents a different reality that the Bruneian lifestyle habits may not fully fit into the sustainable development context,” he said, noting that the Sultanate’s energy consumption per capita stands at 8,842 kilowatts per hour per person (kw hr/person), surpassing those of developed countries such as Japan (8,459kw hr/person), Germany (7,444kw hr/person) and France (8,231kw hr/ person).
He also mentioned that Brunei generates 1.4 kilogrammes (kg) of solid waste per person a day, as opposed to most Asean countries that generate about one kg or less of solid waste per person a day.
Touching on CO2 emissions, the minister pointed out that Brunei generates about 15.5 tonnes per capita a year. “This is higher than what Annex 1 or developed countries generate,” he said, adding that Germany generates 9.9 metric tonnes, the UK 9.1 metric tonnes, Japan 9.7 metric tonnes and Malaysia 7.1 metric tonnes.
The minister also highlighted that water usage in the Sultanate was 450 litres of water per person a day – twice that of Malaysia’s and thrice that of Singapore’s.
“These figures are pretty alarming for such a small country like ours. Therefore, the deterioration of our environment remains an issue in Brunei Darussalam,” he said. “The small size of Brunei and the green natural resources it has make it a jewel whose environment needs to be protected and conserved. It cannot be plundered indiscriminately, nor can it absorb unlimited waste and emissions.”
At the last National Environment Conference, it was announced that the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation would be publishing its first-ever State of Environment Report.
“This has been published recently and we will launch it in due course,” he said, noting that the three environment-related legislations that were being drafted were the Environmental Pollution Control Order, Environmental Impact Assessment Order and Hazardous Waste (Control of Export, Import and Transit) Order.
“Unfortunately, this has not progressed to the position where we would have liked it to be … We are incorporating the Environmental Impact Assessment Order into the Environmental Pollution Control Order,” he added.
According to him, the subsidiary legislations drafted by the Attorney General’s Chambers are now being considered at the Ministry of Development, and it is hoped that they would be finalised before the end of the year.
The minister also revealed that there are a number of other legislations that are currently on the ministry’s table that could have a positive impact on the environment. This includes an updated Town and Country Planning Order, which is focussed on planning and control of development and country areas and related matters, as well as on separating the building control part into its own legislation to allow the relevant authorities to focus on their core business ideas, he explained.
Another is that of a Building Control Order, which is a legislation to regulate and monitor activities related to buildings and connected matters, in which its subsidiary legislations could address green building issues.
A Housing Developers Order is also on the table, for the control and licensing of housing developers, while a fourth possible legislation comes in the form of the Regulations under Land Code (Strata) Chapter 189, which is designed to compel property owners to be responsible for the upkeep of common areas of shophouses, etc.
Touching on the conference itself, which was held at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, the ‘minister said that its theme, “Conserving Our Resources for a Sustainable Future”, was not only aligned with the thrust of Rio+20 (the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development) but also “our needs while we are on that journey”.
“This National Environment Conference has also almost become a permanent fixture in our calendar,” he said. “As it is now an annual event, it is useful to reflect what we have said and done in the past year and ponder the future.”
–Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
Source: http://www.theamotimes.com/2012/06/21/bruneian-lifestyle-habits-unsustainable/