Back
About RSIS
Introduction
Building the Foundations
Welcome Message
Board of Governors
Staff Profiles
Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
Dean’s Office
Management
Distinguished Fellows
Faculty and Research
Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
Visiting Fellows
Adjunct Fellows
Administrative Staff
Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
RSIS Endowment Fund
Endowed Professorships
Career Opportunities
Getting to RSIS
Research
Research Centres
Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
Centre of Excellence for National Security
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
Research Programmes
National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)
Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
Other Research
Future Issues and Technology Cluster
Research@RSIS
Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
Graduate Education
Graduate Programmes Office
Exchange Partners and Programmes
How to Apply
Financial Assistance
Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
RSIS Alumni
Outreach
Global Networks
About Global Networks
RSIS Alumni
Executive Education
About Executive Education
SRP Executive Programme
Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
International Programmes
About International Programmes
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)
International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
Publications
RSIS Publications
Annual Reviews
Books
Bulletins and Newsletters
RSIS Commentary Series
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
Commemorative / Event Reports
Future Issues
IDSS Papers
Interreligious Relations
Monographs
NTS Insight
Policy Reports
Working Papers
External Publications
Authored Books
Journal Articles
Edited Books
Chapters in Edited Books
Policy Reports
Working Papers
Op-Eds
Glossary of Abbreviations
Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
RSIS Publications for the Year
External Publications for the Year
Media
Cohesive Societies
Sustainable Security
Other Resource Pages
News Releases
Speeches
Video/Audio Channel
External Podcasts
Events
Contact Us
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
  • About RSIS
      IntroductionBuilding the FoundationsWelcome MessageBoard of GovernorsHonours and Awards for RSIS Staff and StudentsRSIS Endowment FundEndowed ProfessorshipsCareer OpportunitiesGetting to RSIS
      Staff ProfilesExecutive Deputy Chairman’s OfficeDean’s OfficeManagementDistinguished FellowsFaculty and ResearchAssociate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research AnalystsVisiting FellowsAdjunct FellowsAdministrative Staff
  • Research
      Research CentresCentre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)Centre of Excellence for National SecurityInstitute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      Research ProgrammesNational Security Studies Programme (NSSP)Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      Other ResearchFuture Issues and Technology ClusterResearch@RSISScience and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      Graduate Programmes OfficeExchange Partners and ProgrammesHow to ApplyFinancial AssistanceMeet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other eventsRSIS Alumni
  • Outreach
      Global NetworksAbout Global NetworksRSIS Alumni
      Executive EducationAbout Executive EducationSRP Executive ProgrammeTerrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
      International ProgrammesAbout International ProgrammesAsia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
  • Publications
      RSIS PublicationsAnnual ReviewsBooksBulletins and NewslettersRSIS Commentary SeriesCounter Terrorist Trends and AnalysesCommemorative / Event ReportsFuture IssuesIDSS PapersInterreligious RelationsMonographsNTS InsightPolicy ReportsWorking Papers
      External PublicationsAuthored BooksJournal ArticlesEdited BooksChapters in Edited BooksPolicy ReportsWorking PapersOp-Eds
      Glossary of AbbreviationsPolicy-relevant Articles Given RSIS AwardRSIS Publications for the YearExternal Publications for the Year
  • Media
      Cohesive SocietiesSustainable SecurityOther Resource PagesNews ReleasesSpeechesVideo/Audio ChannelExternal Podcasts
  • Events
  • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
      rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
      rsis.sg
      rsissg
      RSIS
      RSS
      Subscribe to RSIS Publications
      Subscribe to RSIS Events

      Getting to RSIS

      Nanyang Technological University
      Block S4, Level B3,
      50 Nanyang Avenue,
      Singapore 639798

      Click here for direction to RSIS

      Get in Touch

    Connect
    Search
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • Environmental Awareness: Alternative Strategies Beyond Symbolism
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • RSIS Commentary Series
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • Future Issues
    • IDSS Papers
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers

    CO19091 | Environmental Awareness: Alternative Strategies Beyond Symbolism
    Sofiah Suaad Binte Mohamed Jamil

    09 May 2019

    download pdf

    SYNOPSIS

    Are existing environmental campaigns making an impact? Environmental awareness strategies should incorporate lessons from history and traditions, to bring about more effective outcomes.

    COMMENTARY

    2019 MARKS the 12th year of Earth Hour. What began as a Sydney-based event in 2007 to raise awareness on climate change by dimming lights for an hour, Earth Hour has spread worldwide with various cities taking part annually. The effectiveness of this annual environmental campaign, however, is debatable; much criticism cites that the symbolic action of reducing carbon emissions for an hour, is just that – symbolism.

    Some reports suggest that energy use during the event has in fact, increased rather than decreased during the event. Indeed, one may get this impression, given the numerous side events that have been organised during Earth Hour, including concerts. Other observations have also noted that that limiting the use of lights for an hour does not necessarily reduce carbon emissions, as electrical power generation remains constant in power grids. As a result, the “feel good” factor from switching off lights for an hour, is not only misplaced, but also over-emphasised.

    Sustaining Environmentally Conscious Behaviour

    Realistically, such campaigns alone will not instil sustained environmentally conscious behaviour. In many instances, individuals will not act unless they feel the financial pinch. How such a pinch is applied also requires some thought. Higher electricity prices, for instance, may not necessarily encourage individuals to reduce their consumption.

    Rather, in some countries, it potentially provides a reason for individuals to protest against the establishment for further increasing the cost of living. Similarly, carbon taxes ultimately affect consumers as companies seeking to maximise their profits push the costs over to their customers.

    What is arguably lacking from existing environmental awareness campaigns, is the sustained experiential awareness of resource scarcity. In the case of Singapore, given the fact that majority of residents start from a point of easy access to resources, they generally lack an acute experience of being without resources. Two approaches could be taken – learning from tribulations, and learning from traditions.

    Learning From Tribulations

    Learning from tribulations of energy insecurity would potentially allow individuals to experience what it is like to be without a constant supply of energy. In fact, Singaporeans have in recent months been exposed to a few tribulations of energy insecurity – namely in the form of electrical blackouts.

    Arguably a real Earth Hour, the disruptions to industrial, business activities and household activities, have been tremendous. Depending on the size of businesses entities, the costs of electrical outages can range from as little as S$1500 per hour to (in the case of Google in 2013) $175,000 per minute. Moreover, cybersecurity vulnerabilities are no doubt a major concern for start-ups and the fintech industry in Singapore.

    That said, the intangible benefits of such incidents are worth noting. On the one hand, surface-level public reactions to blackouts seem to suggest that Singaporeans have a fairly low resilience to sudden disruptions in public services. This is also consistent with societal reactions to other disruptions – e.g. flash flooding and train breakdowns – as well as, and surveys of societal preparedness in times of disaster.

    On the other hand, silver linings have also appeared in the form of greater sense of community action.  According to the Business Times’ coverage on the island-wide blackout on 18 September 2018, one driver noted that he had “never seen people being so considerate while driving” at traffic junctions.

    In light of these considerations, there are opportunities that could be taken to communicate the need for greater appreciation of resources and thus more impetus to save resources and not take it for granted. It remains to be seen how well such an initiative will go down with various sections of Singapore society.

    Public communications strategies will also need to think through how to effectively balance messages that promote a sense of security and sufficiency, with the awareness of vulnerability and scarcity.

    Learning From Traditions

    A second strategy would be to learn from existing traditional practices that advocate limited use of resources. Such practices can in fact be found in various world faith traditions, all of which contain principles on caring for nature and/or God’s creation. In Bali, the annual Hindu ritual of nyepi warrants a day without electricity. The Sabbath tradition in Judaism makes this abstention a weekly affair.

    Other major faith traditions also have the opportunity to incorporate abstention from various forms of consumption. Ritual periods of fasting in Islam, and abstention during Lent in Christianity are prime times of introducing initiatives of reducing one’s carbon and water footprints. Buddhist and Taoists traditions also encourage minimalism – which in fact can also be found in some teachings in Islam and Christianity.

    Some headway has already been made in promoting faith-based environmental initiatives in Singapore. Fitree, a Muslim environmental group, has engaged mosques during the annual Ramadan period in promoting environmentally conscious practices. More recently, a car-pooling app was launched for Muslims to use when participating in the supplementary evening (Tarawih) prayers during the fasting month of Ramadan.

    Inter-faith Environmental Action

    With such wealth of environmental ethics within religious traditions, steps can be taken to promote inter-faith projects. Not only would this facilitate environmental awareness, but also potentially add value to existing inter-faith dialogues but working collaboratively on real projects.

    The launch of the Faith and Nature environmental guide book in 2014 is one example of an inter-faith dialogue and online resource for faith communities to take the first steps in greening their faith community premises and activities. The inter-faith discussion, along with the book launch, was held in Singapore by Young AMP (Association of Muslim Professionals) in collaboration with Firstfern Training and Consultancy.

    Secular organisations also stand to benefit through working with faith-based organisations. Some secular entities may be adverse or not familiar with interacting with faith communities. Yet, in a region where religion plays a significant part of people’s lives, collaborations on addressing environmental challenges provides a bridge for communities to better understand commonalities rather than differences.

    With these alternative suggestions, the opportunities for increased environmental awareness efforts can in fact stem from unlikely places. Beyond symbolic “feel good” environmental activities, there is much to learn and build on crises and traditional/cultural practices.

    About the Author

    Sofiah Jamil is an Adjunct Research Associate with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is completing her PhD on Islamic environmentalism in Indonesia with the Australian National University.

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies / Non-Traditional Security / East Asia and Asia Pacific / South Asia / Southeast Asia and ASEAN / Global
    comments powered by Disqus

    SYNOPSIS

    Are existing environmental campaigns making an impact? Environmental awareness strategies should incorporate lessons from history and traditions, to bring about more effective outcomes.

    COMMENTARY

    2019 MARKS the 12th year of Earth Hour. What began as a Sydney-based event in 2007 to raise awareness on climate change by dimming lights for an hour, Earth Hour has spread worldwide with various cities taking part annually. The effectiveness of this annual environmental campaign, however, is debatable; much criticism cites that the symbolic action of reducing carbon emissions for an hour, is just that – symbolism.

    Some reports suggest that energy use during the event has in fact, increased rather than decreased during the event. Indeed, one may get this impression, given the numerous side events that have been organised during Earth Hour, including concerts. Other observations have also noted that that limiting the use of lights for an hour does not necessarily reduce carbon emissions, as electrical power generation remains constant in power grids. As a result, the “feel good” factor from switching off lights for an hour, is not only misplaced, but also over-emphasised.

    Sustaining Environmentally Conscious Behaviour

    Realistically, such campaigns alone will not instil sustained environmentally conscious behaviour. In many instances, individuals will not act unless they feel the financial pinch. How such a pinch is applied also requires some thought. Higher electricity prices, for instance, may not necessarily encourage individuals to reduce their consumption.

    Rather, in some countries, it potentially provides a reason for individuals to protest against the establishment for further increasing the cost of living. Similarly, carbon taxes ultimately affect consumers as companies seeking to maximise their profits push the costs over to their customers.

    What is arguably lacking from existing environmental awareness campaigns, is the sustained experiential awareness of resource scarcity. In the case of Singapore, given the fact that majority of residents start from a point of easy access to resources, they generally lack an acute experience of being without resources. Two approaches could be taken – learning from tribulations, and learning from traditions.

    Learning From Tribulations

    Learning from tribulations of energy insecurity would potentially allow individuals to experience what it is like to be without a constant supply of energy. In fact, Singaporeans have in recent months been exposed to a few tribulations of energy insecurity – namely in the form of electrical blackouts.

    Arguably a real Earth Hour, the disruptions to industrial, business activities and household activities, have been tremendous. Depending on the size of businesses entities, the costs of electrical outages can range from as little as S$1500 per hour to (in the case of Google in 2013) $175,000 per minute. Moreover, cybersecurity vulnerabilities are no doubt a major concern for start-ups and the fintech industry in Singapore.

    That said, the intangible benefits of such incidents are worth noting. On the one hand, surface-level public reactions to blackouts seem to suggest that Singaporeans have a fairly low resilience to sudden disruptions in public services. This is also consistent with societal reactions to other disruptions – e.g. flash flooding and train breakdowns – as well as, and surveys of societal preparedness in times of disaster.

    On the other hand, silver linings have also appeared in the form of greater sense of community action.  According to the Business Times’ coverage on the island-wide blackout on 18 September 2018, one driver noted that he had “never seen people being so considerate while driving” at traffic junctions.

    In light of these considerations, there are opportunities that could be taken to communicate the need for greater appreciation of resources and thus more impetus to save resources and not take it for granted. It remains to be seen how well such an initiative will go down with various sections of Singapore society.

    Public communications strategies will also need to think through how to effectively balance messages that promote a sense of security and sufficiency, with the awareness of vulnerability and scarcity.

    Learning From Traditions

    A second strategy would be to learn from existing traditional practices that advocate limited use of resources. Such practices can in fact be found in various world faith traditions, all of which contain principles on caring for nature and/or God’s creation. In Bali, the annual Hindu ritual of nyepi warrants a day without electricity. The Sabbath tradition in Judaism makes this abstention a weekly affair.

    Other major faith traditions also have the opportunity to incorporate abstention from various forms of consumption. Ritual periods of fasting in Islam, and abstention during Lent in Christianity are prime times of introducing initiatives of reducing one’s carbon and water footprints. Buddhist and Taoists traditions also encourage minimalism – which in fact can also be found in some teachings in Islam and Christianity.

    Some headway has already been made in promoting faith-based environmental initiatives in Singapore. Fitree, a Muslim environmental group, has engaged mosques during the annual Ramadan period in promoting environmentally conscious practices. More recently, a car-pooling app was launched for Muslims to use when participating in the supplementary evening (Tarawih) prayers during the fasting month of Ramadan.

    Inter-faith Environmental Action

    With such wealth of environmental ethics within religious traditions, steps can be taken to promote inter-faith projects. Not only would this facilitate environmental awareness, but also potentially add value to existing inter-faith dialogues but working collaboratively on real projects.

    The launch of the Faith and Nature environmental guide book in 2014 is one example of an inter-faith dialogue and online resource for faith communities to take the first steps in greening their faith community premises and activities. The inter-faith discussion, along with the book launch, was held in Singapore by Young AMP (Association of Muslim Professionals) in collaboration with Firstfern Training and Consultancy.

    Secular organisations also stand to benefit through working with faith-based organisations. Some secular entities may be adverse or not familiar with interacting with faith communities. Yet, in a region where religion plays a significant part of people’s lives, collaborations on addressing environmental challenges provides a bridge for communities to better understand commonalities rather than differences.

    With these alternative suggestions, the opportunities for increased environmental awareness efforts can in fact stem from unlikely places. Beyond symbolic “feel good” environmental activities, there is much to learn and build on crises and traditional/cultural practices.

    About the Author

    Sofiah Jamil is an Adjunct Research Associate with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is completing her PhD on Islamic environmentalism in Indonesia with the Australian National University.

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies / Non-Traditional Security

    Popular Links

    About RSISResearch ProgrammesGraduate EducationPublicationsEventsAdmissionsCareersVideo/Audio ChannelRSIS Intranet

    Connect with Us

    rsis.ntu
    rsis_ntu
    rsisntu
    rsisvideocast
    school/rsis-ntu
    rsis.sg
    rsissg
    RSIS
    RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    Getting to RSIS

    Nanyang Technological University
    Block S4, Level B3,
    50 Nanyang Avenue,
    Singapore 639798

    Click here for direction to RSIS

    Get in Touch

      Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
      Privacy Statement / Terms of Use
      Help us improve

        Rate your experience with this website
        123456
        Not satisfiedVery satisfied
        What did you like?
        0/255 characters
        What can be improved?
        0/255 characters
        Your email
        Please enter a valid email.
        Thank you for your feedback.
        This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
        OK
        Latest Book
        more info