Maria Sharapova Wears Couture Dress Made From Water Bottles at 2021 Fashion Awards

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The sustainable dress, named the “Mimesis,” is designed with fabric made from recycled Evian bottles and organic silk

Designing a couture dress with a fabric created from Evian bottles has enabled us to join forces and create a stunning garment that aims to inspire and encourage plastic recycling. I hope this dress will shape people’s perception of upcycling and recycling plastic by reinforcing the different forms the product life cycle can take, highlighting that we all have the power to change our future for the better.”

Relate to 2021 'A' level GP AQ on fashion's impact on the environment.....

Chua Mia Tee's works contributed to shaping Singapore identity: Tharman

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Chua's works have contributed to the building of Singapore's national identity, by helping different groups understand and empathise with one another and by connecting the young with the past, communicating to them what life was like in earlier days.

"When a new generation understands and feels that what the older generation went through is part of their identity, we become astronger nation," he said. "When we have that depth of identity, it allows us to have different perspectives, different views. Knowing that we have a common national identity allows us to have different perspectives or different views, as part of our evolving identity."

Qn: ‘The arts are nothing more than a luxury.’ How far is this true of your society? (Cam. 2021)

Why do some S'pore couples want permanent sterilisation and to be child-free?

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"I never felt a calling to have my own child because of my existential anxiety about the world right now. Covid-19 was just the tip of the iceberg," said Ms Tan, who cited environmental concerns as her biggest reason for not wanting children.

Couples interviewed cited their anxiety about the world that their offspring would live in, changing views of marriage and personal freedom as key reasons for not having children.

Singapore's total fertility rate fell to a historic low of 1.1 births per female last year, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics' 2021 population trends report.

"Now, many young adults argue they are marrying for intrinsic reasons. The purpose of getting married is for self-fulfilment rather than extending your family or meeting your extended family's expectations."

procreation can help fulfil the deep human desire for love and attachment, but the money, attention and time freed up by not having a child allows one's hobbies, friends and family to fulfil a similar role.

COP26: India's opposition to phasing out coal supported at home

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Lack of financial commitment from developed countries to help developing nations move away from coal has been cited as another reason to oppose a phase-out.

India should phase out the fuel as early as possible to eradicate its enormous cost on public health from air pollution and ecological damage caused by mining.

COP26: Australian PM Scott Morrison clings to coal despite Glasgow pledge

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Australia's coal industry, the second-largest coal exporter in the world last year after Indonesia

a net zero by 2050 target without near-term commitments "has very little meaning".

India says difficult to transition from coal to renewable energy

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India cannot end its dependence on coal, with consumption expected to go up in absolute terms to power the economy that is crucial for the livelihood of the vulnerable

At the climate conference, India and China had been criticised for diluting coal pledges. In the text of the COP26 agreement, "phase out" of coal-fired power was changed to "phase down".

India's longstanding position is that development is key to bringing millions out from poverty. It has maintained that countries which have enjoyed the fruits of industrialisation, namely the Western nations, should pay the bigger share of the financing of climate change initiatives and mitigation efforts.

a key area of disappointment has been climate finance...In 2009, it was decided that wealthy nations would plough in US$100 billion (S$136 billion) a year in climate finance to less wealthy nations by 2020. The target remained unachieved, with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development calculating that only US$79 billion a year was given till 2019.

Qns:

1. Assess the view that attempts to control climate change can never be truly effective. (Cam. 2017)

2. Should there be any controls over the production of energy when the need for it is so great? (Cam. 2015)

3. Discuss the view that, with an increasing global need for energy, every possible source should be exploited to the full. (Cam. 2014)

Summit participants discuss how partnerships can better tackle issues like climate, education gap

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brought together philanthropists and non-profit organisations from around the world to help them form partnerships to address some of the world's most pressing problems.

 shift is needed to see philanthropy not in terms of charity, but as risk capital that can help to mobilise and channel resources from business and and even government sources.

philanthropies can step in to plug the market gap by investing in a portfolio of nascent technologies, and even a few breakthrough successes will bring immense social returns

"We need philanthropies because they do have a different risk absorption capacity. They who do have the ability to take risks where the private sector can't. And they do have the ability to fail...investing in untested ideas that others may find too risky to take on for fear that they will not work.

Qn: To what extent is charitable giving desirable? (Cam. 2021)

Resolving NS-elite sports tensions through a paradox lens

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Qn: To what extent is sporting achievement given adequate recognition in your society? (Cam. 2018)

Singapore joins 130 countries in signing pledge to end deforestation by 2030

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ecosystems, such as tropical rainforests and peatlands, have the natural ability to take in planet-warming carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and then convert it to biomass in their trunks, leaves, roots and soils - locking away the carbon from the atmosphere.

They will also help strengthen Singapore's resilience to the effects of climate change, through the application of nature-based solutions to help protect our coastlines from erosion, cool the urban environment, and reduce the risk of flash floods.

AI program to set and mark assessments helps teachers in Singapore save time

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The firm seeks to solve such problems by using artificial intelligence to help teachers create notes, and set and mark simple assessments.

Noodle Factory is not meant to replace teachers, but to cut out or condense time-consuming tasks....This is not about automating away teachers, but to find a way to take some time spent on such tasks and give it back to them, to allow them to focus on what they love and what they are best at.

Qn: To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? (Cam. 2019)

Robot gives teachers and pupils a hand at Hougang Primary

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In the classroom, CoDDiE is able to use artificial intelligence to collate answers in real time, display questions and practices, motivate pupils, and can be used as well by teachers to give more attention to pupils who need it.

Qn: To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? (Cam. 2019)

Chile desert suffering from pollution created by fast fashion

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The social impact of rampant consumerism in the clothing industry - such as child labour in factories or derisory wages - is well-known, but the disastrous effect on the environment is less publicised.

The problem is that the clothing is not biodegradable and has chemical products, so it is not accepted in the municipal landfills."

According to a 2019 United Nations report, global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, and the industry is "responsible for 20 per cent of total water waste on a global level". To make a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water.

The same report said that clothing and footwear manufacturing contributes 8 per cent of global greenhouse gases, and that "every second, an amount of textiles equivalent to a garbage truck is buried or burnt".

Fast fashion advertising "has helped to convince us that clothing makes us more attractive, that it makes us stylish and even cures our anxiety"

Qn: Fashion is as much a good thing as a bad thing. To what extent do you agree? (Cam. 2009)

Developer of UK carbon capture project eyes South-east Asia

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Note distinction btw cutting use of coal vs cutting emissions. It is possible to still use some coal by cutting emissions. This is important for countries which cannot immediately remove coal overnight due to need to protect jobs to tackle social inequality issues, not to mention that revenue from coal exports can be used to fund social policies and support the transition to renewables, which may not be cheap.

Note the concept of carbon capture and storage to mitigate the continued use of coal, given the difficulty to achieve net-zero coal in the short run....

Climate scientists have said that the amount of carbon emissions produced by countries must reach net-zero by 2050 if the world was to stand a better chance of avoiding catastrophic climate impact that could upend economies and societies.

This can be done by reducing the amount of emissions produced through energy-efficiency efforts and by switching to renewables, and taking in unavoidable emissions by safeguarding forests, planting more trees and deploying carbon capture technology.

Singapore's target is to reach net-zero emissions as soon as viable in the second half of the century, with the Government citing constraints such as its lack of access to renewable energy sources other than solar.

But the Republic is doing research into emerging technologies that can help it reach net-zero emissions sooner, with the Government funding studies on the use of hydrogen as a fuel and the development of carbon capture technology.

Carbon capture and storage technology entails the capturing of CO2 and storing it underground. This prevents CO2 from accumulating in the atmosphere, where it acts like a blanket, trapping heat and driving climate change.

The Straits Times reported last month that Nanyang Technological University researchers are doing studies to assess if Singapore's rock formations could be suitable for storing CO2.

Climate crisis could give nuclear energy a second wind

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It already accounts for a quarter of "clean" - that is, carbon-free - energy worldwide

      The meltdown of three reactors at Japan's Fukushima power plant in 2011 following an earthquake and a tsunami profoundly shook confidence in nuclear. The industry also has yet to find a way to dispose of nuclear waste, which remains highly radioactive for thousands of years.

statistically the technology has fewer negative consequences than many other forms of energy. It could also be a complement to renewables.

Price is also not the barrier it used to be....Countries see in smaller units a very interesting alternative, which is not in the range of billions but of hundreds of millions

Qn: Discuss the view that, with an increasing global need for energy, every possible source should be exploited to the full. (Cam. 2014)

Chasm opens between COP26 words and climate action

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COP26's first week saw keynote pledges to end deforestation, phase out coal, and mobilise trillions for green investment. But observers say there is a gulf between host Britain's proclamations and the emissions cuts that must be achieved.

"The other reality is outside this PR bubble. 

But experts say there is actually a glaring disconnect between what some called "inflated, rehashed pledges" and genuine progress on reducing fossil fuel emissions.

Finance is a crunch issue at COP26, with developing nations demanding rich emitters make good on decade-old promises to provide US$100 billion (S$135 billion) a year to help them cope.

 required "governments to turn their pledges into clear and credible policy actions and strategies today"...But scientists say it is based on vague net-zero plans with few or no short-term emissions targets...most of the net-zero pledges are void of content".

Qn: Assess the view that attempts to control climate change can never be truly effective. (Cam. 2017)

The metaverse is coming: Should we be more worried?

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an "Internet that you're inside of rather than looking at".

an online world that people escape to by putting on virtual reality (VR) goggles and earphones - where digital representations of themselves interact with everyone else's digital avatar.

Others don't see the metaverse as an alternate digital universe to escape to, but rather as an augmented reality layer superimposed over the real world. In this version too, one lives inside the Internet rather than accesses it....Thanks to your augmented reality goggles, you would see his name, age, occupation and most recent social media posts hovering over his head the moment you glance in his direction.

We do not live in that world but we are painfully aware of the looming climate crisis and a dozen other crises, not to mention a pandemic that has forced us to live a significant part of our daily lives online.

we have just very recently received confirmation that Facebook knew its products were hurting society but decided not to do anything about it because it made them money. It did not care that its algorithms were making people more extreme as long as they kept them on the site longer.

In some ways, the metaverse feels like a Plan B for the planet. If the metaverse is thriving, it suggests something very bad has happened to the real world.

Then there is the romantic notion of equality. The gulf of inequality in the real world is often narrowed significantly in the online realm. 

For Stella McCartney, fashion must ditch leather or die trying

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The fashion industry must prepare to eliminate waste and take radical stances such as ditching animal leather altogether

Fashion is the second largest manufacturing sector on Earth, responsible for up to 8 per cent of all carbon emissions

We need to let people know that, you know, hundreds of millions of animals are being killed every single year for fashion, for leather, for skins and animal glues

People wear fast fashion maximum up to three times before they throw it away. And that's creating over US$500 billion (S$676 billion) worth of waste

Qn: Fashion is as much a good thing as a bad thing. To what extent do you agree? (Cam. 2009)

A Chinese tennis star accuses a former top leader of sexual assault

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Qn: Consider the view that social media has more influence than politicians. (Cam. 2019)

World leaders pledge to end deforestation by 2030

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Said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the Forest and Land Use event at COP26: "These great teeming ecosystems - these cathedrals of nature - are the lungs of our planet. Forests support communities, livelihoods and food supply, and absorb the carbon we pump into the atmosphere.

The Glasgow leaders' declaration is backed by almost US$20 billion (S$27 billion) in funding. Some US$12 billion of public finance from 12 countries, including Britain, will go towards supporting activities in developing countries,

The planetary crisis today is caused by an ever-thickening layer of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which traps heat and throws the Earth's systems out of whack. But ecosystems - such as tropical rainforests and peatlands - have the natural ability to take in planet-warming carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and then convert them to biomass in their trunks, leaves, roots and soils - locking away the carbon from the atmosphere.

Forests are the lungs of the planet, absorbing around one-third of the global carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels every year...But we are losing them at an alarming rate. An area of forest the size of 27 football pitches is lost every minute

deforestation and forest degradation contribute to about a tenth of annual global emissions

Singapore did not sign the Glasgow leaders' declaration on forests and land use. 

China's tiger mums switch kids to sports after govt cuts tuition time

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The government has pledged to "gradually increase" the score of sports in the senior high school entrance exam, and regions such as the southern province of Hainan have listed swimming, soccer, basketball and volleyball as options for students to get additional credits.

In addition, the country's young people are increasingly suffering from obesity, myopia and depression. More than half of China's schoolchildren are short-sighted and nearly one in five between the ages of six and 17 is overweight or obese.

An avid soccer fan, Mr Xi has said he wants the next generation to "civilise the spirit and toughen the body

It has tightened controls over the playing of video games and vowed to stamp out "distorted views of beauty" such as the recent fashion trend of androgynous male stars. "Video-game addiction, 'sissy' boys and stars' fan clubs stimulate hedonism, individualism, not sacrifice and service of the collective; they contribute to dissolving nationalism

Qn: To what extent is sporting achievement given adequate recognition in your society? (Cam. 2018)