>> hello and welcome to global 3000, your weekly check on the global developments that influence how we live around the globe. and here's what we have coming up for you today. urban mining -- why seoul sees its mounting rubbish as a resource. worst case scenario -- why farmers in australia fear the discovery of gas reserves on their land. and kenya's lifestraw -- how a simple water filter is also helping to cut down on co2 emissions. worldwide there are already 20 cities that count ten million

inhabitants or more. and projections say that in future, population growth in urban centers will continue to explode. megacities are attractive because they offer great opportunities for individuals to find work. and in developing countries in particular they are often the only place where the poor can also gain access to modern infrastructure. and that's the challenge for city authorities. providing clean water, sewage treatment, electricity, housing and waste disposal for millions of people every day is proving a logistical nightmare. the south korean capital seoul is taking a positive approach to this huge task. there, waste management authorities are beginning to rely on sophisticated recycling techniques and reclaiming precious resources to fuel this metropolis. we take a look at seoul's attempt to make city life more sustainable.

>> the district of myeongdong, one of seoul's main shopping areas, is teeming with customers almost every evening. south korean teenagers in particular are keen to keep up with the latest fashions and trends. while the masses shop till they drop, others are getting to work on the night shift. seoul's waste collectors handle with the trash produced by the city's consumerist society. an estimated 20,000 people living in the asian megacity live or earn extra income from recycling what others throw away. they concentrate on the entertainment and businesspdist. the refuse picked up in most of the residential areas is now conscientiously separated and recycled. >> the law allows the trash

collectors to pick up plastic packaging, waste paper and scrap metal. the problem is that they also collect other kinds of refuse, especially electrical scrap. they know metal brings them good money. but the rest is not disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, because refrigerators and other appliances often contain harmful substances. >> seoul's households throw away about 1000 tons of electrical scrap every month -- a mountain of old fax machines, rice cookers, and mobile telephones. until now, just under 20% of it was recycled. seoul hopes this new facility will increase that figure. what's been dubbed urban mining is gaining ground around the

world -- refuse becomes a resource. the workers cannibalize microwaves and computers, looking for silver, copper and even gold -- more than 50 kilograms of the valuable precious metal have already been recovered here. >> the work is often done in developing countries, but in a way that exploits women and children and poisons the environment. here in south korea, we have to import all our raw materials, so we should make use of the growing amount of electrical scrap here at home and greatly increase its amount of recycling. >> more than 20 million people live in the seoul metropolitan area. the south korean capital is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. it's also one of the prosperous of all megacities. office skyscrapers and apartment

buildings are shooting up on land covered by rice fields just a few decades ago. and as prosperity grows in seoul, so does the amount of waste. the city produces about 12,000 tons of refuse every day. that's three times more per capita than in berlin, for instance. the authorities are using incinerators to try to come to grips with the problem. these new high tech facilities emit hardly any pollutants. the heat from the incinerators is used to generate electricity. in addition, it provides about 200,000 households with heating. the refuse becomes a source of energy.

>> by burning refuse we can reduce our use of oil and natural gas. that lowers seoul's co2 emissions by about 21,000 tons a year. but we can't really be sustainable unless we produce less waste in the future and recycle more. >> cherry blossoms provide a glimpse of seoul's greener side. compared to many other asian ities, seoul is a pioneer when it comes to parks, public transport and climate protection. this small river in the city center is an impressive symbol of that. long covered with concrete, it has now been restored to its natural state. it's a peaceful oasis in the midst of urban canyons.

the new futuristic town hall also serves as a role model. the huge administrative building requires about 20% less energy for lighting, air conditioning and heat. its head designer sang-hee lee is relying on geothermal and solar energy. such technologies are to be used throughout the city in the future, because by 2020 seoul wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter. >> building design plays a central role. not only is the new town hall more environmentally friendly -- many buildings are now being renovated so that they'll consume less energy. better insulation has also been installed in the building i've lived in for thirty years. i'm especially proud of the new roof garden, which i designed myself.

>> a great deal of money has been spent planting vegetation on hundreds of roofs under strict conditions -- in total, an area almost as big as 30 football fields. and that has brought the metropolis a bit closer to its ambitious goal. seoul wants to be the world's greenest megacity. >> the authorities in seoul recently launched an image campaign to convince citizens that the city's drinking water is as good as bottled mineral water. but in many parts of the world, access to clean drinking water is a huge problem. in western kenya, for example, it's a scarce resource. there water usually has to be boiled before it's fit for use. and co2 from woodfires is a big contributor to climate change. around the regional capital of kakamega -- not far from lake victoria -- an international company has now set up what it claims is the world's first truly sustainable water purification plan.

it gives away filters for free, making profits with carbon credits. here's how it works. >> she's been away since six in the morning. now it's nearly midday. molly adhiambo is back from the mountain forests where she's collected nearly 20 kilograms of wood. >> the forest men chase us sometimes. sometimes we give them a little bit of something, even50 bob, for them to let us pick the firewood. because without firewood we can't survive. >> molly uses the wood to boil dirty water from the river, to kill the bacteria and other microorganisms it contains. she can't get water from a tap. she wants to protect her

children from typhus and cholera, diseases that are spread by contaminated water and kill mainly children. molly isn't a unique case. hardly anybody here in western kenya has access to clean drinking water -- almost everyone boils it over a wood fire to purify it. buying wood is much too expensive, so they get it from the forests illegally. kenya's forests have shrunk by almost 50% in the last few decades. janet omari wants to change that. for a year she's been working for the swiss company vestergaard frandsen. she travels to the villages to offer people an alternative. here in the region, she and her

colleagues have distributed 900,000 of these water filters -- filters with pores so small that they don't catch just dirt but also bacteria. the people no longer need to boil water to purify it. now janet is checking to see how well the filter, called a lifestraw, is working out and where there are still problems. >> where we still have to work with the people is education. you know change is gradual. so the only thing we need to do is educate our community. will they use our lifestraw and have safe drinking water. so the only challenge is, like, we need to educate them more and inform them more. so once they are empowered with education, things will work out. >> the filters are completely free of charge for the families. but they aren't always received whole heartedly.

it took some effort for 15-year- old sarah to convince her parents. they were used to boiling water, and found filtering it too time consuming. but it's not just clean water that's at stake here. every filter saves on carbon dioxide emissions, because the families need much less wood from the forest. sarah now uses it only for cooking. >> because of lifestraw we are saving 2000 shillings in one week. >> so it has changed a lot? >> it has done a lot to us. >> mikkel vestergaard frandsen heads the project. his company's primary products are mosquito nets and aids tests. he's invested 30 million euros in the water filter project.

it still pays off. for every ton of co2 he saves, vestergaard frandsen gets climate certificates, which he in turn can sell on the carbon market. >> in the first six months of operation we reduced carbon emissions by 1.35 million tons, which has been sold already to buyers who see this as highly charismatic carbon credits. because it offers carbon offset and it does good! >> 400 kilometers away lies kenya's capital nairobi. the certificates are sold from here through a partner company and this man, tom morton. morton sells the certificates mainly to businesses in europe and the us -- companies that want to offset their own carbon emissions. he passes on most of the money about 10 million euros in the past year.

tom morton considers the water filter project highly sustainable because it's stringently controlled. >> carbon finance is about being paid for outcomes. and if you get it wrong then you are not paid. and so there is a much greater incentive to have a very robust system in place. >> back to western kenya -- to a sporting field. vestergaard frandsen's employees are spreading good cheer. they've organized a football tournament. football is very popular, especially with young people. the occasion is used to acquaint them with the water filter. vestergaard frandsen wants to expand the project in africa.

janet, his instructor, is prepared to go abroad if she's needed. >> as long as i am going to do the same thing, as long as i am going to change peoples lives, to save a life, to save the environment, i'll go, i won't say no, i'd say yes! >> next year vestergaard frandsen even plans to go to indonesia with 3 million water filters in his luggage. the business model appears to be working.+ in kenya, at least, a whole lot of people now have one worry less. >> it's always nice to be invited into someone's home, and we here at global 3000 like nothing more than taking a look at where you live. this week we head off for a visit with the wirschings, who have an unusual apartment in new york city.

>> hello, welcome to our home in new york. we live in manhattan, on 57th street. this is my wife elizabeth. we have been together for 53 years. as you can see from the various items in the apartment, we enjoy travelling all over the world. most of it was obviously on business. we lived in the philippines for ten years, where i found the

most important treasure in our apartment, my wife elizabeth. this tankard we bought in germany, actually, in baden- baden. it's a wonderful example of ivory carving. it is seldom that one can find such a large tusk carved in such deep relief this is my grandson, a picture which was taken during a chess- tournament in 2005. he started to learn playing chess on this table. he has done really well and attended many different tournaments. when i come out of my living room, i have a wonderful view of manhattan. in spite of the wonderful different parts we saw in the world, there is no other place where we would like to live

except in new york it was nice that you were able to visit us and spent a little time in our home in new york with my wife, elizabeth. i hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you again. >> anytime! >> australia in many ways offers ideal conditions for mining companies. it has vast reserves of oil, natural gas, uranium, coal and other mineral resources -- all on land that is sparsely settled. this coupled with a stable government that grants access to the most promising sites provides a general license for making money. but for the farmers who live on the land, the promise of fast cash is often more of a curse than a blessing. in the state of queensland, the search for fossil fuels also takes place on private land...whether the owners want it to or not. the potential effects on the environment are fostering fear and a ground-swell of resentment against corporate interests.

>> wieambilla farm in queensland. there are easier jobs than cattle farming in this place. 10 years of drought, then the flood this past year. nature s whims are unpredictable. katie and scott lloyd were born here. despite the harsh conditions they've built up a business with 5000 head of cattle. >> this is our life. this is what we're working for. we live and breathe this every day. we wouldn't be here if we didn't have a connection and we didn't love what we're doing. >> but not long ago everything changed. katie and scott live on a gas field. all over the farm access roads, gas wells and pipelines are cropping up. it's useless to protest. it's all within the law. mineral resources belong to the state, and it allocates drilling rights to gas companies in return for hefty payments.

>> we certainly couldn't say, "no, you can't put wells in, full stop." so i guess it is a big sense of loss of control. >> they feel like guests on their own property. they take us to one of the wells. the gas is brought up from a depth of 700 meters. what worries the couple is that groundwater has to be tapped to get to the gas. huge amounts of it flow up, in dry queensland, of all places, where water is a luxury. >> this little read-out here says how much water's coming up per day, so there's 654 barrels of water from this well per day. but the water, i think, is there for a reason. once you take that water away, you're upsetting the balance of nature, and who knows what's going to happen.

>> some 40,000 wells are planned in queensland. to process the gas, huge industrial plants are being built and hundreds of kilometers of pipeline being laid. the plan is to start exporting the gas in 2014, primarily to satisfy china's thirst for energy. in brisbane, queensland's state capital, a gold-rush mentality prevails. queensland gas corporation, a subsidiary of a british energy giant, is one of the companies with headquarters here. its head of development, an american, loves australia. he says the continent is rich in natural resources and has a low population -- the perfect combination. >> what i really think is exciting about this is that, with good luck, with the wind at our back, essentially we will create an industry that will be the pride of australia and the envy of the region. it's a big deal! >> but not everyone is so enthusiastic. the farmers are getting rebellious. "no mines -- gas or pipelines!

lock the gate!" is their call to arms. they're refusing to cooperate, risking expensive lawsuits. the protest movement is growing throughout australia. conservative farmers march side by side with environmental activists, demonstrating against the ruthless exploitation of their land. >> the biggest worry is the water. in a country like australia, a continent like australia, the driest continent on earth, the last thing you want to do is to deplete or contaminate your water supplies. this is an industry which is going to do one of those two things -- deplete or contaminate our underground water! >> other farmers have fewer misgivings -- simon drury, for instance. many consider him a traitor to the cause, but he welcomes the gas as an additional source of income. on his 2000 hectare property, 47 wells are being drilled. for each production site he

receives a few thousand dollars a year in compensation. he's not allowed to say exactly how much. a confidentiality clause forbids it. >> they are trying to help us. they want to do the best for the landholders. because what it is -- it's a joint venture between the landholder and the gas company. we're going to be working together for 20 or 30, as kylie said, 40 years. so we can't be clashing. i mean it's just like a bad marriage gone wrong. >> his two youngest sons are learning cattle herding, but in a few years they'll certainly be working in the gas industry. for simon drury and his wife kylie, it's a gift -- because the region is experiencing a small job miracle. >> make the best of the situation and see the opportunities that present themselves, and instead of being negative about it, actually look to it and see where we can benefit from it.

>> back to the lloyds. katie doesn't trust the energy giant's promises. instead, she's keeping a video diary to document everything that goes wrong -- for instance, when gas escaped from an exploratory hole unchecked for months. >> there's something seriously wrong here, isn't it? >> it took months before the company plugged the leak. >> seeing that happen was something that no one would believe could actually take place. i mean we saw it and we were horrified! >> we can and do operate safely in the gas fields, and will continue to work to do so. there have been problem wells that have been identified. where such problems are identified, we immediately take steps to remediate and fix them. >> the groundwater level worries katie lloyd the most. she says it's dropped by ten meters in some places. she can't prove whether there's

a link to the gas drilling, but it's just that uncertainty that gets her down. >> it is basically, "we'll just trial it and see." so i certainly feel like we're a very big social experiment to see how things evolve and we'll just fix that as it progresses. but when you've got other people's lives and livelihoods on the line, it makes it extremely unfair. >> katie reveals to us that her greatest wish is just to be a farmer again and think about her livestock, not other people's greed for gas! >> and that's all we have time for on this edition of global 3000. thanks for watching and we hope you'll join us again next week. for now from me and the studio crew here in berlin, bye bye! captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--