S8E9: Can Buddhism Help us During Coronavirus?
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, we are spending a lot of time at home. While some see this as an opportunity for quality time with their loved ones, it can also pose more chances for arguments and...
View ArticleS8E10: The Origins of the Coronavirus Pandemic
We speak with HKUMed Dr. Tommy Lam to learn the science behind how the coronavirus emerged from animal populations and can’t be man-made, why the pangolin could be an intermediary host, and whether we...
View ArticleS9E1: Taiwan — Gold Standard for Recycling
Taiwan went from being nicknamed “Trash Island” to becoming the world’s premier supplier of PET recycled plastic. What did it take to get there? We walk through Taiwan’s unique approach to getting...
View ArticleS9E2: The Hong Kong Alliance Solving Plastic Waste
When it comes to plastic recycling, Hong Kong is falling behind. In the face of government inaction, local organisations are stepping in to fill the gaps. In this episode, we look at the alliance Drink...
View ArticleS9E3: Can Plastic Recycling Become Reality in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong’s tall buildings, narrow streets and small retailers present a challenge for plastic beverage bottle collection and recycling. In this episode, we continue the story of Hong Kong’s Drink...
View ArticleS9E4: Plastic Purge in Bali
Bali’s natural beauty attracts many tourists from around the world, but with that comes plastic waste...a lot of it! We speak with people at McKinsey.org to understand how they developed a plastic...
View ArticleS9E5: Indonesia’s Ocean Plastic Cleanup Plan
Indonesia has more than 3 million tons of plastic leaking into the ocean every year. Its government announced a plan to cut marine plastic waste by 70% by 2025, so they reached out to the World...
View ArticleS9E6: China's Plastic Recycling Challenge
The way Chinese cities are handling plastic waste is changing dramatically - with new household waste separation rules starting in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. There are interesting projects, along...
View ArticleS9E7: Asia's Plastic First Mile - A Review
Over this season, we’ve explored how the problem of the Plastic First Mile is being tackled in countries across Asia. In the final episode of the season, we explore the bigger picture. We speak to Doug...
View ArticleS10E1: China’s Marine Conservation for Future Generations
Jennifer Turner, Director of the China Environment Forum for the Woodrow Wilson Center talks with two Chinese experts about rising ocean conservation awareness in China and why protecting the pristine...
View ArticleS10E2: China’s Role in Preserving the Southern Ocean
Jennifer Turner, Director of the China Environment Forum for the Woodrow Wilson Center, talks with Dr. Liu Nengye and Julian Chen. How does China’s investment in new fishing vessels and icebreakers...
View ArticleS10E3: Athletic Diplomacy for the Southern Ocean
Guest host Jennifer Turner, Director of the China Environment Forum for the Woodrow Wilson Center, talks with UN Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh and renowned freediver JesSea Lu about why they chose to...
View ArticleS10E4: After CCAMLR, What’s Next for China?
We are wrapping up Season 10 with highlights from our #AskSustainableAsia livestream event with guest speakers Jiliang Chen of Greenovation Hub and Zhou Wei Greenpeace East Asia. A lively discussion...
View ArticleS11E1: New show is coming to town!
We have some good news we can’t wait to share with you…. including a brand new series launching in January 2021 that differs from our previous shows. And it gives us the opportunity to wish you...
View ArticleS11E1: Was 2020 a green year in Asia?
As we are all turning over a new leaf in 2021 we cherry-pick the most important updates of the environmental sector in Asia. In this brand new weekly series from now through March, young journalists...
View ArticleS11E2: January’s FrostBite - The New Normal?
In beanies and thick jackets, our young hosts are surviving the coldest winter in East Asia while bringing you the latest updates on the region’s green news! We talk about why climate change is...
View ArticleS11E3: Behind the Masks of Covid-19
Masked up for over a year, our young hosts wonder and report on what is happening to all the disposable masks in Asia. We talk about the notorious plastic crisis in Hong Kong and China, bleaching of...
View ArticleS11E4: A Bite of East Asia’s Reality
Reminiscing about good times in Japan, our tourism-hungry hosts talk about the creative but alarming graphics depicting the country at the end of this century if climate change continues at the current...
View ArticleS11E5: Asia's Climate Activism’s Strong Bite
Is climate activism working? Our young hosts talk about how Japan, South Korea and Vietnam’s student activists rallied against building coal-fired plants. We also discuss China’s national carbon credit...
View ArticleS11E6: Nature's Bite at Lunar New Year
While the Year of the Ox kicked off, our young hosts’ celebration was cut short. Nature’s Bite dampened Asia’s festive atmosphere - from an earthquake in Japan to an avalanche-induced flood in India....
View ArticleS11E7: K-Pop’s Powerful Bite
As K-pop bands like BTS and Blackpink have become global sensation, our young hosts talk about how their fans groups from all over the world are a strong new force for climate action. In this episode,...
View ArticleS11E8: Hong Kong’s Green Bond Bites
As Asia’s financial hub just announced its new budget, Hong Kong is set to launch the largest amount of green bonds ever in Asia, aiming to raise billions for sustainable projects. In this episode: how...
View ArticleS11E9: China’s Carbon Neutral Bite
China is set to launch its most green-focused plan during two important annual meetings, giving more details on how it plans to eliminate carbon emissions by 2060. We also cover China’s crackdown on...
View ArticleS11E10: Fukushima’s Ongoing Nuclear Bite
With Fukushima’s horrific earthquake-induced nuclear disaster still haunting Japan nowadays, the East Asian nation is finding it increasingly difficult to rehash developing nuclear plants as renewable...
View ArticleS12E1: Introducing Mapping Asia's Plastic Crisis
The plastic waste crisis in Asia is real...and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.... It’s clear that we need a new approach to reducing disposable plastic waste and its impact on the communities of...
View ArticleS12E1: Once Upon a Plastic Covered Beach...
We start with Melati Wijsen’s story….a young Indonesian civic advocate who went on a hunger strike in an effort to ban plastic bags on Bali. With waste collection rates hovering around 44%, are Asian...
View ArticleS12E2: Shouldn't They Know Better?
We first travel to a waste bank on the island of Lembeh, Indonesia to see how recycling works (or doesn’t work) in small villages. Then we take a look at PET plastic recycling in Asian urban...
View ArticleS12E3: Community Trash Talk
Sparked by the zero waste movement, Asian countries are focusing on reducing..rather than recycling... plastic waste. We start our story on the wealthy island nation of Japan…where the rural village of...
View ArticleS12E4: Lessons From a Pandemic
In this episode… we’ll traverse from Hong Kong to South Korea and onto Pune, India. We start with Hong Kong, where Sustainable Asia is based, because no new legislation on plastic waste has been...
View ArticleS12E5: The Plastic Carbon Footprint
As ocean temperatures rise with global warming, tropical cyclones are hitting Asian nations like Japan and the Philippines like never before. So to end this season..we wanted to talk about climate...
View ArticleS13E1: Introducing Asia's Noisy Oceans
It turns out, sound is the dominant sense for animals underwater. For anything further than 10 meters away, marine life uses sound rather than sight to gather information. So human produced noise...
View ArticleS13E1: Sounds from a Healthy Coral Reef
In this episode, we visit the Great Barrier Reef to discover the clamorous underwater world of marine life sounds. What can we learn from listening closely to the underwater soundscape? And are there...
View ArticleS13E2: Surviving the Cacophony in China’s waters
The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is protected at the highest level in China, but its numbers are dwindling fast. In Hong Kong, where the species is affectionately known as the Chinese white dolphin,...
View ArticleS14E1: New Season!
Put on your headphones and get ready for two new seasons from the Sustainable Asia Podcast about the Global Plastic Treaty and Asia’s Air Pollution woes.Guests:Jennifer L. Turner, China Environment...
View ArticleS14E1: View from Asia
Could it be true that countries from the UN Environment Assembly committed to negotiate a global plastic treaty over the next two years? And even if the treaty is signed…will it have enough teeth to...
View ArticleS14E2: Can Plastic Laws get a Boost in Asia?
Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, Legal and Policy Director at the NGO Oceana, is taking on the Philippine government. A decades-old solid waste management law has not been enforced, contributing to massive...
View ArticleS14E3: Finally...New Initiatives for Asia
Of the various challenges Asian countries face when tackling plastic waste…lack of funding is perhaps the one common thread. So how can more money get to needed programs here? Seeing the rising...
View ArticleS15E1: New Season: Clearing the Air
Why haven’t the governments in Asia’s larger cities done something about the decades old problem of air pollution? Our two young environmental journalists, based in Hong Kong, Khoa Tran and Chermaine...
View ArticleS15E1: Bangkok | Toxic Air
In their first stop across Asia’s megacities, environmental journalists Chermaine Lee and Khoa Tran head to Bangkok, Thailand. The government’s blind eye towards pollution has left Bangkok’s air...
View ArticleS15E2: Jakarta | A Choking Hazard
Chermaine and Khoa’s journey continues onto Jakarta, Indonesia where they meet with environmentalists who shed light on the health concerns surrounding the heavy air pollution there. Lack of government...
View ArticleS15E3: Lahore | Fighting for Clean Air
The next stop on the Chermaine and Khoa’s tour of Asia’s megacities is Lahore. This episode goes in depth to explore the political and social causes of air pollution, sheds light on what people can do...
View ArticleS15E4: Delhi and Kathmandu | Signs of Progress
Chermaine and Khoa move southeast and talk to a leading advocate in New Delhi who has successfully engaged the government there. Delhi’s air pollution is still one of the worst in the world, and we...
View ArticleS15E5: Seoul | Too Many Coal Plants
It turns out Seoul, Korea has the worst air pollution amongst all of the top 10 economies in the world. Why is air pollution still such a huge challenge in a country with abundant resources and...
View ArticleS16E1: Soil｜The Silent Climate Fighter
Are you aware of the critical role soil plays in the battle against climate change? But 75% of soil is already degraded from unsustainable farming practices...so earth's “living skin” is suffering from...
View ArticleS16E2: Rice｜A Sticky Climate Challenge
Over half of the world’s population eats rice as its staple food. But did you know that rice production also contributes to about 10% of the world's methane emissions? And that methane is 80 times more...
View ArticleS16E3: Cows | A Climate Stomach Ache
Our focus in this episode is livestock…specifically dairy products made from cows. It turns out enteric fermentation, the cow's digestive process of turning grass into food, contributes to over 40% of...
View ArticleS17E1: New Season | Global Plastics Treaty Negotiations
The Global Plastics Treaty negotiations kicked off! This is a historic moment for Asia, because after decades of plastic waste washing up on their shores…finally..there may be a path forward. Join us...
View ArticleS17E1: Why It's No Longer About Recycling
We need other solutions to the plastic waste crisis. Solutions that involve reduce, reuse, refill and repair here in Asia. And those types of solutions…need to be included in the Global Plastics Treaty...
View ArticleS17E1: Bonus Episode: Plastisphere Podcast's Demands for the Plastic Treaty -...
A bonus episode about the Global Plastics Treaty from one of my favorite podcasts called Plastisphere. It’s run by Anja Krieger in Berlin, and like Sustainable Asia, Plastisphere really looks at the...
View ArticleS17E2: What happened at INC-2?
The second meeting of the International Negotiations Committee (INC-2) had lofty ambitions. But the first three days of these Plastics Treaty negotiations were mired in political antics…making many...
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