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Perspectives Asia #11: Transitions

This latest issue of Perspectives Asia showcases how partners, friends and fellow travellers of hbs in Asia look at and participate in ongoing transition processes in different fields, including digital technologies, demographic, democracy, gender and engery.

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Webinar series

Regulating AI: Debating Approaches and Perspectives from Asia and Europe

Artificial intelligence (AI) has reached a stage of maturity and extensive application across supply chains and manufacturing, in automation, public governance, media and entertainment. While industries and societies are quick in the uptake of AI to harness benefits and opportunities, many governments are catching up to develop responsible and appropriate regulatory frameworks, to prevent immense possible harm of mismanaged AI. 

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Latest Articles
Photo of Covid healthcare workers

Digital Threads for A New Social Fabric: The Case of Shanghai

Article
At the end of March 2022, Shanghai was plunged into surreal silence, and scarcity. The country’s strictest Covid-19 pandemic lockdown lasted for two months. Never, since decades, had the people minded their three meals that much, to the extent of becoming the only thing they cared about. In their struggles for self-sufficiency and survival, group buying came to rescue. Did dwellers find a new sense of community or were they more fragmented?
By Cao Haili
AI-generated image

Don't Just Dismiss The Voluntary Carbon Market Because Of Its Imperfections

Commentary
The market for carbon offsets is growing exponentially but remains filled with dodgy projects that do little for the environment. Sceptics say it’s time to do away with the voluntary carbon markets altogether and take real action through carbon taxes and emissions caps. But by focusing on the imperfections of carbon offsets, they are dismissing a viable approach to climate action that should be used alongside a broader transition towards lower carbon emissions. Read more to find out why carbon credits shouldn’t be dismissed just yet and how technology is improving the integrity of the carbon market.
By Shihan Fang
New book released

Unpacked! Plastic, Waste, & Me 拆解！塑膠、垃圾與我

專為年輕的國際讀者設計的電子書《拆解！塑膠、垃圾與我》，以彩色信息圖和六個真實故事回答了 70 個關於塑膠的問題。設計師和作家 Gesine Grotrian、Heinrich Böll Stiftung 的專家團隊，以及來自世界各地的青年顧問委員會，為 12 歲及以上的年輕人創作了一本令人興奮的非小說類書籍。

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Industry report

World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2022

#EnergyCrisis, Nuclear Renaissance? There are many plans but little implementation, long construction periods, rising costs, plus growing technical problems in existing nuclear plants. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2022 (WNISR2022) reviews nuclear power plant data, including information on operation, production, construction, and decommissioning, and compares the development of nuclear power and renewable energy globally.

"WNISRs are vital reality checks of the nuclear industry’s performance. Every yearly report is a barrier against utopian fantasies and wishful thinking, a tool to connect with reality." -- Prof. Aviel Verbruggen

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Events
Sri Lanka article

Overnight conversion to 'exclusively organic agriculture' in Sri Lanka: How not to promote green technology

Article
Sri Lanka is in the midst of arguably the worst economic crisis during its 74-year post-independence era, with its political and social stability strained to almost breaking point. One facet of this crisis is shown in the Sri Lankan agriculture sector, which is trying to recover from the self-inflicted wounds of a misguided policy of overnight conversion to exclusively organic agriculture (EOA). The author analyzes the background that led to such an ambitious, but unrealistic, venture and describes its wide-ranging repercussions, which have put the country’s food security and farmer livelihoods under serious threat.
By Janendra De Costa

Debating technology and politics from a green perspective - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Asia Global Dialogue

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Debating technology and politics from a green perspective

Explainer The video explains how technology is shaping our lives and explores how we can ensure its impacts are socially useful, environmentally sustainable, and politically legitimate.

Not to be Taken Lightly: Image-based Sexual Violence 不可視作等閒：影像性暴力 - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Asia Global Dialogue

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Not to be Taken Lightly: Image-based Sexual Violence

Interview  25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The hbs has interviewed Jacey Kan from Hong Kong’s Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women (ACSVAW) to introduce its campaign in fighting against image-based sexual violence.

Digital Life under Covid-19 and beyond: A video on impact resource bridging platform Dream Impact - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Asia Global Dialogue

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Digital Life under Covid-19 and beyond: A video on impact resource bridging platform Dream Impact

Video Series  Meet Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst Dorothy Lam and Chief of Strategy and Growth Cintia Nunes from Dream Impact Hong Kong, an impact resource bridging platform which helps social startups grow and scale, both their impact and business.

Digital Life under Covid-19 and beyond: a video on innovators in Sustainability and Social Impact - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Asia Global Dialogue

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Digital Life under Covid-19 and beyond: a video on innovators in Sustainability and Social Impact

Video Series  This article and video take a closer look at examples of Sustainability and Social Impact entrepreneurs and startups in Asia which have accelerated their business or had a market launch or even expansion because of Covid-19. 

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Cover page of Perspectives Asia

Perspectives Asia #11: Transitions

Perspectives

Change is all around us; experiencing it can be exciting or worrisome, confusing or even disturbing. By contrast, the idea of “transition” stands to provide a sense of direction, in a sea of change and insecurity. Change may be happening to us; a transition has direction, it can be planned, perhaps even be initiated. It moves into a positive, sustainable direction – or so we hope.

pdf
Cover page of "Regulating AI: Debating Approaches and Perspectives from Asia and Europe"

Regulating AI: Debating Approaches and Perspectives from Asia and Europe

E-paper

Artificial intelligence has left the lab and entered our everyday lives. A critical mass of countries are shifting from moralising AI to regulating it. What happens in the EU matters for the rest of the world. The EU's proposed AI Act is a first law on AI by a major regulator anywhere. International cooperation will be crucial to effectively regulating AI.

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The Feasibility and Future of Japan's Climate Policy cover. jpg

The Feasibility and Future of Japan's Climate Policy

E-paper

Japan has set an ambitious target of attaining carbon neutrality by 2050. However, the government seems unwilling to abandon nuclear and fossil-fuel options, alongside with prolonged recession, many view climate change as a preoccupation of the elite rather than a pressing issue. To give substance to climate policy, the climate movement needs to be galvanised, to better inform the public and challenge the ruling party to implement its promises. 

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Coal Atlas (Korean)

Coal Atlas 석탄 아틀라스

Atlas

The coal boom has negative consequences for humans and nature that outweigh its economic benefits. Coal does not just kill the climate. In coal mines, terrible working conditions are rife. Accidents are commonplace. The environmental and health costs linked to the use of coal to generate electricity are enormous. The atlas provides insights on how turning away from fossil (and nuclear) fuels towards renewable energy can offer huge economic and social opportunities. 

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Web Dossier

Tech, Farming, Biodiversity

Digitalisation, genomics, climate geoengineering: What is the impact of new and emerging technologies on farming and biodiversity? Here are assessments undertaken on the occasion of the Biodiversity Convention COP 2021-22 in Kunming, China.

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Perspectives Asia #10

In this latest issue, we look at how the pandemic is reshaping state/society relationships in Asia, share down-to-earth Covid-19 experiences from different regions and cultures and issues such as trust in government institutions, the situation of migrant workers and gender relationships.

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