WWF has put together a ranking of the vulnerability of eleven Asian cities to the impacts of climate change.  Each city receives a scorecard which contains a profile of the city, climatic change highlighted and the major impacts the city is facing summarised. The scorecard also suggests adaption strategies to decrease the vulnerability of each city. Following Dhaka (9 out of 10 possible vulnerability points), other cities at high risk are Manila and Jakarta (8 each), Calcutta and Phnom Penh (7 each), Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai (6 each), Bangkok (5), and Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore (4 each).

The full report can be downloaded here

There were two interesting developments in Singapore yesterday.  The first was a business initiative - a green labelling programme for qualifying products made in Singapore.  The label will only be awarded to firms that embrace sustainable manufacturing and can prove that they've achieved certain standards.  The label is offered by the Singapore Manufacturers Federation and companies looking to gain the label will be audited by the Singapore Environment Council.  The second is a resource for businesses in Asia set up by a Singaporean journalist Jessica Cheam.   Eco-business.com is set up to be the  leading provider of news and views for Asia Pacific’s environmental business community.  There is definite momentum here in Singapore to enable companies to 'prove' their CSR and to also raise awareness. 

A new green fund aims to invest across Asia and is looking to buy into companies that focus on clean energy, water and waste. It is mainly looking at companies in China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. The investment manager for the new fund predicts that key drivers of Asian environmental markets will include tightening environmental policy and falling costs of new technology, which will continue to generate highly attractive investment opportunities. I predict that they are going to find it difficult to find companies to invest in but there are huge opportunities for companies to go green in Asia and a lot more to do. The fact that investors are increasingly interested in green compnies though should at least spark some discussion in Board rooms, one would hope... More here.

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has released it Environmental Claims in Advertising and Marketing Code. The theory of the code is that  "Providing clear, straightforward, environmental information, as outlined in this code, has benefits for consumers and business alike. By providing information about the environmental impacts and qualities of products and services, environmental claims (sometimes called ‘green’claims) help consumers make informed buying choices. They also help raise awareness of the issues, enhance consumer understanding and improve product standards overall. At the same time businesses can enhance their credentials and demonstrate to the community at large their willingness to be accountable for upholding these standards." 

It will be interesting to see if there are any other bodies in the Asia Pacific who do the same before the consumer becomes very cynical about another new 'eco' claim. As reported in last weeks CSR Asia Weekly  we are bombarded with advertising  - but with little regulation. The code above is a voluntary industry code developed by the AANA. A useful tools for those looking for relevant guidelines.