Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

ADB in Clean-Energy Initiatives

There is opportunity in being part of the 6.3 trillion dollars that needs to be invested in clean and green developments in Asia, soonest. Although most of this will be in China and India, there is opportunity in the Philippines, particularly in improvements in energy efficiency. Thus said our guest speaker, Josh Carmody of the Asian Development Bank, who proved to be a truly resourceful advocate of the way ahead in protecting the ecosystems of the world from mankind’s destructive ways.

Two other notable visitors were Past Rotary International Director Paing Hechanova (RC Makati), the “father” of RCMN, and Mike Clancy’s guest Gareth Leather, Asian editor of The Economist newspaper (as it calls itself), Mike’s partner in his Philippine Business Leaders Forum.

Chito Frondoso reported on a very successful golf tournament in aid of our fifth L.E.A.P. Congress on January 11. Pres. Joe recognized RCMN’s major contributors to the Rotary Foundation through Paul Harris Fellowships.

Asia’s contribution to the world’s carbon emissions has risen to 30% from 10% a few years ago. A lot of this is from coal-fired generation of electricity, particularly in China, where one new power station opens nearly every week! Here in the Philippines, simply changing to energy-efficient light bulbs would make a big difference – as Mike Clancy confirmed from his own experience. Josh Carmody, who is ADB’s Senior Specialist for Clean Energy and Climate Change and Fund Manager of the Asia-Pacific Carbon Fund with 15 years as a lawyer with commercial, project and transaction experience in Australia, Europe and Asia, emphasized that clean energy not only helps the environment but is also vitally necessary for the alleviation of poverty. So ADB has two important reasons for being involved.

The ADB’s current initiatives include helping identify innovative investments under the Kyoto Protocol for renewable-energy sources, identifying measures to support the development of the carbon market, and creating greater awareness of the issues in leading Asian universities and research institutes.

The carbon market and carbon trading attracted some questions. We agreed that our speaker was the best person to perhaps explain these issues more widely. We were grateful to Chris Bellinger for introducing Josh Carmody to us first.