Asia-Pacific Case Competition 2017: The future of the Pacific Ocean
Nicole Lim Pei Pey, the second runner-up for the Asia-Pacific Case Competition 2017, jointly organised by APRU and The New York Times.
What started out as just another assignment turned out to be an opportunity for an article to be published in The New York Times.
Year 3 BES Student Nicole Lim Pei Pey was selected as the 2nd runner up for the Asia-Pacific Case Competition 2017, jointly held by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and The New York Times. The competition focuses on raising awareness of climate change and the future of the Pacific Ocean. The waters of the Pacific Ocean are warming due to climate change. As a result, storms are created and causing problems for people and marine life. The food web of marine life is disrupted as species of fish are showing up at unexpected places. Harmful algal blooms along coast resulted in shellfish toxicity and shutdown shellfish fisheries.
For the case competition, students are expected to provide a policy brief to an influential political leader on climate change and the future of the Pacific Ocean. In the policy brief, they should include recommendations on what should be done to save our oceans. In Nicole’s article, she proposed a demand-side solution to address the threat climate change has on the fisheries in the Coral Triangle, a region located in the Asia Pacific. The first recommendation that she proposed was to raise consumer awareness of the unsustainable practices used for fishing. It might change the purchasing choices of consumers, encouraging them to switch to sources that employ a more ecologically sound and managed fishing methods. As such, raising the international profile of the Coral Triangle is critical. Brochures, presentations and videos can be made to raise consumer awareness. The development of a certification scheme for sustainable fisheries would also inform consumers of unsustainable fishing practices. You may read the full article written by Nicole here.
Nicole first got to know about the competition through a professor as she took a module from Yale-NUS. Submission of an entry would allow her to earn more credits for the module. At the same time, she also felt that if her article was published in The New York Times, it would provide a good platform for the world to be more aware of the significance of the Coral Triangle and its relation to consumption of seafood in Asia.
As a year 3 NUS student, Nicole admits that her university journey had been daunting at times and there were instances where she felt like giving up. However, the people that she met along the way, including the professors, student advisers and her peers have been incredibly inspiring. Her university experience helped her find joy and relevance in what she is doing and also motivates her to work towards creating a positive impact in the real world. Nicole recognises that the world is constantly changing, and the environmental movement is also evolving day by day. She wants to be involved in sustainability and environmental research in future and also aspires to make a change in environmental sustainability in Asia. The BES Programme Office would like to congratulate Nicole on her achievement!