The Straits Times Podcasts

As more carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, the urgency is growing for safe and sustainable methods to remove this main greenhouse gas from the air to limit the impact of climate change.

Synopsis: Every first and third Sunday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

CO2 is the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. We can’t see it, we can’t smell it but we can definitely feel its growing impacts as the planet heats up with devastating consequences. And every year, it keeps accumulating.

Human activity is producing about 40 billion tonnes of CO2 a year. That’s mainly from burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

To fight climate change, we not only need to slash CO2 emissions, we would also need to remove billions of tonnes that our human activities had earlier emitted into the atmosphere.

And that means dramatically scaling up carbon dioxide removal technologies. We’ll never reach the Paris Agreement’s climate targets by 2050 unless we remove at least four times more CO2 from the atmosphere every year than we do at present.

That’s the conclusion of a major study on carbon dioxide removal released in June 2024.

So what exactly is carbon dioxide removal, or CDR? And what is needed to really get investment pumping?

In this episode, ST's climate change editor David Fogarty hosts one of the lead authors of the report, Gregory Nemet, a Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs in the United States. Greg studies the process of technological change and the ways in which public policy can affect it.

Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):

1:44 How does carbon dioxide removal (CDR) help in the fight against climate change?

3:12 The difference between CDR and carbon capture and storage (CCS)

4:58 Main findings from the recently published global report on CDR

7:58 Examples of the different types of CDR

11:43 What are the costs?

19:55 What are the environmental risks from CDR? How to ensure scaled-up methods can be sustainable?

Produced by: David Fogarty ([email protected]), Ernest Luis & Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

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Follow David Fogarty on X: https://str.sg/JLM6

Read his articles: https://str.sg/JLMu

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

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ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

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Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Indonesia’s bold plan to catch cervical cancer early will see 50-60 million women screened and vaccinated

Synopsis: Every fourth Friday of the month, The Straits Times' US Bureau Chief Nirmal Ghosh shines a light on Asian perspectives of global and Asian issues with expert guests.

Indonesia’s bold plan to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health concern - the country’s cervical cancer rate is higher than the global average - is being approached not as a programme but as a movement, says its Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin

The plan aims at using thousands of primary health clinics and also private sector partners across the sprawling and diverse country, to screen 50-60 million women early for cervical cancer - because catching it early is the key to bringing down the numbers.

Currently roughly 70 per cent of cases are diagnosed when they are already in an advanced stage - and the fatality rate is high.

The Minister, a nuclear physicist and among other things former CEO of Indonesia’s micro lending bank giant Mandiri Bank, spoke to Asian Insider host Nirmal Ghosh on this episode, stressing that early intervention and a massive vaccination drive, enabled by wide buy-in across the government and private sector - the result of a wide consultation process - will reduce the fatality rate.

Highlights (click/tap above):

00:48 Indonesia's cervical cancer rate is higher than the global average

04:28 Reducing mortality rate to below 30 per cent, possible but with early detection

06:37 The key strategy is to fix this problem earlier, not later

07:45 First: Massive immunizations for about 50 to 60 million Indonesian women

11:16 Approach as a movement, not a programme

12:55 Providing healthcare facilities to private sectors - free screening, free vaccine

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected]) and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Follow Asian Insider with Nirmal Ghosh every fourth Friday of the month here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Nirmal Ghosh on X: https://str.sg/JD7r

Read Nirmal Ghosh's articles: https://str.sg/JbxG

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

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Special edition series:

True Crimes of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i4Y3

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#STAsianInsider

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Could “return to office” save workplace toxicity?

Synopsis: Every first Monday of the month, the Work Talk podcast helps you work smarter, think deeper and get ahead in your work life.

“There are elements of working hybrid that can easily lead to situations that become toxic. And that is one of the things that we want to recognise, so we can recognise when those are happening and cut them off,” says associate professor Mark Mortensen, of organisational behaviour at Insead university.

If you are reading this on the way to the office, or at your workplace, you may be one of those who wonder why you have been summoned back to the office.

About 79 per cent of Singapore workers are showing up on mandated days, more than the global average of 75 per cent, says a report by workplace strategy and design firm Unispace.

In this episode, ST's senior correspondent Krist Boo hosts Prof Mortensen, who cautions that long-term hybrid work could lead to workplace toxicity. Joining the podcast too, is Ms Yoshi Kakimoto, head of talent acquisition at Informa, and Mr Mark Ng, the social content lead at employment portal JobStreet.

They round up hybrid work from the perspectives of business, HR and Gen Z, and also question if the downsides of seeing too much of one’s colleagues might justify working from home.

Highlights (click/tap above):

5:29 Do companies offering hybrid work have an edge in hiring?

8:25 Why doesn’t anyone talk about the downsides of Return To Office?

12:07 How could bosses resolve the discord over the number of remote days?

14:21 Is an equilibrium in sight?

16:39 How do young people find mentorship in a hybrid world?

Produced by: Krist Boo ([email protected]), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai and Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Teo Tong Kai

Follow ST's Your Money & Career Podcast channel here:

Channel: https://str.sg/wB2m

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Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/ioWR

Spotify: https://str.sg/wBr9

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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Read Krist Boo's Work Talk columns: https://str.sg/wB2P

Get business/career tips in ST's HeadSTart newsletter: https://str.sg/headstart-nl

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

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Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (new): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#moneycareer

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The affordable luxury of personalised car licence plates are proving an enduring and endearing avenue for self-expression in a changing Hong Kong

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe, about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

HEY YU, DREAMER, ADD OIL. The messages on Hong Kong's vanity car plates can draw nods of appreciation or chuckles for the city’s motorists. They can tell you a thing or two about their owners' status, sense of humour and beliefs.

Since the authorities made these special plates possible 20 years ago, Hong Kong has seen a proliferation of such plates on its roads. And along with it, communities have sprung up online devoted to sightings of this phenomenon.

In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying chats with Hong Kong correspondent Magdalene Fung on the motivations behind this trend and what it reveals about Hong Kongers' deepest desires and obsessions.

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:50 Why vanity plates aren’t just for vanity’s sake alone

3:20 What Hong Kong’s vanity plates reveal about the city and its people

9:55 How a car with a special plate came to be impounded in Hong Kong on the anniversary of China’s Tiananmen incident

12:33 The biggest changes in Hong Kong society in recent years

Read Magdalene Fung’s article here: https://str.sg/KKxa

Produced by: Li Xueying ([email protected]) and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR

Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x

Read Magdalene Fung's articles: https://str.sg/dbo9

Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

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Discover more ST podcast channels:

All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7

The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

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ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa

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Special edition series:

True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

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Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:

The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB

Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX

#STAsianInsider

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.