>> hello and welcome to global 3000, your weekly check on the global issues that drive our planet. and here's what we have coming up for you today. replacing coal - we visit a south african fruit company that is pioneering biomass. aid or investment ?- why china is helping tadjikistan boost its harvests, and clean energy for montenegro - how the country is managing increasing pressure on its resources.

when temperatures soar on the hot and dusty roads of south africa's limpopo region, an ice cold lemonade is just what you need. now we don't like to spoil the fun - but climate aware as we are - we know that a lot of energy goes into producing not just the ice cubes but also the fruit that goes into the refreshing drink.//limpopo is famous for its orange and lemon orchards. a few years ago the country's largest fruit company started switching to biomass energy production, an endeavour that has already started paying off. >> it's the dawn of a new day in south africa and the letaba valley in the northern province of limpopo shimmers in the morning light. the region is blessed with plenty of sunshine and rain - which explains the lush forests, tea plants and fruits such as apples, clementines, oranges -

considered the best in the country. it's this fertile landscape that prompted the letaba company to set up operations here 50 years ago. it harvests and processes citrus fruits - without polluting the environment as far as possible. the story begins here on the fruit plantations. the orange harvest is in full swing right now - the workers have their hands full. >> i enjoy plucking fruit. i really like it. i don't have a problem. i know most of the people, who i am working with, they enjoy the job very well. so that's why i enjoy it. i don't care about the office job. this is my job, this is what i want." >> ivan mushwana and his co-workers work hard - 85 thousand tons of fruit end up in letaba's factory each year. here they are sorted and

prepared for export or washed in long tubs and squeezed into juice. letaba is one of the largest citrus fruits exporters and processers in southern africa. the production process is sophisticated but it's also highly energy-intensive. previously, the company consumed 8 thousand tons of polluting hard coal each year to power its operations. now, the firm's management has opted for a greener alternative - sawdust. since 2011, the company has gradually been replacing coal with sawdust. this biomass fuel already fires the large ovens used to dry the fruit peels. letaba's ceo is visibly proud of the switch to greener energy. >> "from the hopper it comes through to this screw. from the screw it goes down into the oven that is here below us. and

from the oven it goes into the dryer. the carbon emission does not exist with the burning of the sawdust or the woodchips as it does with the coal that we have traditionally burned. >> sawdust is considered a valuable, carbon-neutral biomass. the way it works is easy. it's 800 degrees celsius inside the oven, the sawdust burns like kindling. the tons of wet fruit peels discarded during production are sliced and put in a drying drum. the hot air from the oven sucks out the moisture from the peels. what's left is high-quality animal feed. it's a perfect form of recycling - the fruit remains are simply absorbed back into nature. and that's where the sawdust comes from too. just 20 kilometers away from the factory, huge forests on the slopes are home to pine and eucalyptus - two fast-growing

tree species. it's no wonder then that forestry is booming in the region. here in the mountains, trees are constantly being felled - up to 300 a day at this spot alone. below, in the lumber mills on the main road, the trees are used to make pallets for industrial use. each cut generates wood shavings - what begins as a small pile soon turns into a gigantic organic waste mountain. the lumber mills are more than happy to turn their waste over to the letaba company. "i mean, if they can use the stuff to the advantage, it's much better than for me just to leave the stuff lying around here. so, no, it's a hundred percent, if they can help me clean my place a bit. if we can help the environment in any way that we can, that's a hundred percent. it's a win-win situation for both the citrus juice maker and the lumber mills. and even transporting the

sawdust brings tangible benefits to this man, truck driver gold munyayi khoza. he began delivering the biomass from the lumber mills to letaba a year ago and now he has a steady job. >> "i felt very lucky when i got the new job. in my old job, i sometimes had to drive loads as far away as johannesburg. now i can work here in the region close to my family. that is really nice. >> gold munyayi khoza sometimes drives two or three sawdust truckloads to the factory each day. and that's expected to increase in future because letaba wants to replace its coal-fired boilers for juice production with biomass-fired ones. the steam generated here and used in juice pasteurization would also be an organic byproduct. in the coming ten years, letaba wants to save 100 thousand tons of carbon emissions. to capture that amount, you'd have to plant 8 million trees. but not everyone has benefited

from letaba's green initiatives. hundreds of workers - many of them seasonal hands - and their families live in housing provided by the company - rundown huts. donald maluleke for instance lives with his wife in their cramped home and he's angry about the conditions. >> "this house is not good. it doesn't have proper sanitation. we are really suffering. the company doesn't give back anything to us. they don't give us anything. we don't benefit at all. >> but the company at least seems to have accepted that it urgently needs to improve conditions for its workers. >> "we will form a trust and a portion of the carbon credit income will go into that trust. and our employees will directly

benefit from it in terms of education and housing. >> letaba seems to be trying to protect the climate as well as bring about a social change. and if that brings benefits for the workers - then the company's green project would be a real success story. >> we will keep a close -- eye on whether or not that is fulfilled. >> "landgrabbing" is increasingly becoming a hot topic. the top investors in arable land abroad include china, britain, the us and the united arab emirates. in total the land transferred from local landholders to foreign owners makes up an area about the size of france and germany together. china is currently investing heavily in neighbouring tadjikistan's agriculture. but restrictions apply: everything produced on tadjik soil has to be sold locally. so at least for now many feel this could be a win-win situation.

these workers have been laboring since early morning in the cornfields of yavan in the former soviet republic of tajikistan. their bosses are from china. they've leased about one thousand hectares of land near the capital dushanbe. the chinese didn't even have to pay to lease the land. but the workers here aren't complaining. they get more than average pay. "we like to work here. they pay us on time and we also get food for our lunch break. translator yang yizhan is indispensable especially when representatives from the local authority come by. he studied management in russia and calls himself oleg. many tajiks speak russian because of their country's history. but in future, it's china that wants to play a big role here.

>> "we don't have enough space in china. there are so many of us and there's not enough farm land. tajikistan is a small country but it has space and the soil here is not bad. we're here to work for ourselves - but also to help the tajiks develop their agriculture. >> for now, the chinese are obliged to sell their harvests in tajikistan. that's the condition for not paying for the land. like here in the region of yavan, rusting soviet-era industrial complexes litter tajikistan. the specialists and subsidies of those days are all long gone. now the tajiks are hoping for more technical assistance and expertise from neighboring china. most of the seven million inhabitants depend on agriculture for a living.

>> "the tajik population is growing each year - in 2020 it will be ten million. we want to be in a position to feed our people, we want cut our reliance on food imports. but to achieve that, we need to manage the land that we have more intensively . >> yang yizhan, the translator, has taken on the role of agricultural specialist ever since the project began a year ago - commissioned by the chinese state. the chinese provide money for seeds and tractors, all imported from china. but their goals go far beyond pulling off a record harvest. >> "we don't just want to be involved in agriculture - we want to build various factories in tajikistan. there is a need for them - the tajiks import so much from china anyway - clothes, technology or

food. >> more than 20 agricultural engineers and specialists from china work in the fields of yavan for months before going home for a break. the local residents are happy they don't have to go to russia as migrant workers like so many tajiks who live in rural regions. >> this is my home, my family lives here. being a migrant worker in russia is not easy, you have to get used to it. even the weather there is very different from ours. i prefer working here for the chinese, i can make a good living. >> plenty of paperwork and bureacracy - that's a big part of yang yizhan's life. but things are good at the moment - the governments of both countries want to push cooperation. yang yizhan says

tajiks and chinese are actually a good fit. >> tajiks don't shy away from hard work and they're very friendly - just like the chinese. the only difference is that we work harder. nobody works as hard as the chinese. >> but the international cooperation seems to end during lunch - the chinese stay among themselves and eat their own food. soon, they'll need to cook even more. during the harvest, dozens of skilled workers are expected from china. yang yizhan has already taken care of the necessary paperwork. everyone who's been to montenegro testifies to its natural beauty. its dramatic mountains, rivers and lakes also offer perfect conditions to produce green energy.more than two thirds of electricity already come from hydro-electric plants.// the piva reservoir provides for the country's largest hydro station. it is in urgent need of repair while the country's energy demand continues to

rise. so despite great efforts, montenegro is constantly racing against the increasing demands of tourism. >> montenegro on the sparkling adriatic coast. in the 1980s, it was a magnet for the rich and the famous. the country is hoping to build on that legacy. in recent years, a number of luxury hotels have been built along the coast. that's led to a huge demand for water. the country has already invested a lot of money in modern water infrastructure as tourism booms. but all the wastewater needs to be treated. sewage treatment plants are still being built. a pump station is under

construction a few meters behind the hotels of herceg novi. it's meant to divert the treated wastewater into the ocean. german engineer joachim zietlow is in charge of the site for the entire wastewater disposal system. the aim is to prevent untreated wastewater from being discharged directly into the ocean. the coastal towns are investing more than 150 million euros in the entire water supply and sewage treatment system - the biggest investment in 30 years. a large chunk was financed by germany's international development bank, the kfw. zeljko uljarevic manages the various water infrastructure projects for the kfw in montenegro. he's worried about the timeline. this sea outfall pipe has to be laid 1000 meters out in the ocean before the tourists arrive. this is a discharge pipeline

for the treatment plant through which treated sewage is pumped into the ocean at a depth of 35 meters. divers are to fasten the pipes onto the ocean floor so they aren't washed away by the current. the clock is ticking. in a few days, the beaches here will be full of tourists. tourism is montenegro's biggest source of revenue. but more tourists also means higher power consumption. the electricity comes from montenegro's hinterland, one of europe's most water-rich regions. clean hydro power meets almost 70 percent of the country's power requirements. but demand is increasing. the country's largest hydropower plant is located at the piva reservoir. the dam walls are 200 meters high. for decades, it's been supplying a large amount of montenegro's

electricity. but the facility is now outdated and is being retrofitted with the help of kfw loans. it's important for the future to extend the lifespan of the plant by 30 years.the power plant is 37 years old - even with the best maintenance, its service life is at an end. some of it's components are finished. so basically, the safety of the plant is our top priority, in second place extending its service life and the most important thing is environmental compatibility - generating green power." green power mitigates huge carbon emissions caused by firing coal or oil. after retrofitting, the power plant is expected to produce even more clean electricity. for that, the first of three water turbines is shut down.

it's a tricky procedure because of the huge water pressure. but important components urgently need replacing so that the plant can continue to generate power reliably for the decades ahead. in the control room, the technicians are nervous, hoping everything will work out smoothly. the first turbine has stationary and ready for retrofitting. in the months ahead, the other two will go through the same procedure. the control system will be completely replaced. then a fully-retrofitted power plant will hopefully operate without blackouts. but not everyone is happy with the power plant - even though it's meant to generate clean electricity. that's because building the reservoir in the 1970s involved flooding the historic town of pluzine. mirko vukovic remembers how he lost everything. he and his family and the entire village were

relocated. he says all they got was symbolic compensation. >> i grew up on the right shore of the piva. this lake was flooded 38 years ago. before that, the piva was a wonderful mountain river. i was born here, our house was over there. the old settlements were there. now the town of pluzine is up there. everything there is under water, over 70 meters deep. back on the other side of the mountains, on the coast. the bay of kotor is a unesco world heritage site. the historic centre of town is full of tourists. the 1,200-year-old

cathedral is the main attraction. in summer, there are three times more tourists than residents. the tourists are good for montenegro but not for its environment. with german help, montenegro is now preparing for the future - not just by investing in harbors and luxury hotels but also in effective water- and power infrastructure. 625 >> a lot is moving in burma since myanmar's miltary rulers allowed the country to open up for the first time in decades. a young generation of entrepreneurs is determined to move the country forward no matter what. the "global shapers community" are all under 30 and enjoy support from the world economic forum. this encouragement together with their determination will help them take charge of their country's destiny. we meet a few of them in rangoon.

>> it's saturday morning english lessons at the yatanabon orphanage. it's a new situation for the over 100 boys there. volunteers like sue swezin aung are teaching them. the 26-year-old has organized the project. the orphans are to have classes at least once a week. the orphanage was founded by a buddhist monk. it relies on donations. these boys are on kitchen duty. the monks only eat once a day. even the kids have just the basics. there's no money for schooling. i really want to fulfill their needs. when i say their needs - such as teaching, their food,

clothes. i might probably ask other people to donate for this orphanage. i will try to do as much as i can. apart from the monks, there's no one to look after the children. that's why they need the help of volunteers. each child has one box containing everything that they own. but now they have sue and the other volunteers. for them, taking responsibility, championing equality in myanmar seems natural. myanmar is still one of the poorest countries in south east asia. but political freedoms are growing - even the economy is

opening up. younger burmese in particular are seizing the opportunities. a meeting of kindred spirits. sue has joined the local global shaper network. it was founded a few months ago and has ten members. it receives advice from the world economic forum in switzerland which has experience and expertise. all three volunteers have studied abroad. now they want to have their say in myanmar and shape the country. i think it's a crucial time in our history and we need as much brain power, as much skills, professional power that we can get. every great country did not start with one person, instead they started with one team. that must be it here. that's what i want to do. i want to create a community, a better team. by doing that our believe

our country will pick up. >> the global shapers are under 30 years old and they believe that a lot needs to be changed - for instance the gap between rich and poor. pyae is an entrepreneur and trades in rice. his parents gave him the inital start-up money. today he heads a small company in rangoon. it's not easy. the stakes are high. on this day, there's another power blackout. that means the machines can't run. daily laborers are recruited to carry the 50-kilogram sacks. pyae wants to encourage other young entrepreneurs like himself. >> i always want to share my experience and knowledge with other people. some of the people are afraid to share their own knowledge.....but in

my case it's a different story. the ocean is big, there's a lot of fish. ly a few years younger. the businessman knows his country needs jobs and incomes for people. he's working tirelessly to make that a reality. his next project is to expand the mobile phone network in his country. and if you would like to find out more about our reports, please find us online. and that's all we have time for this week. thanks for watching and don't forget to tune in again in seven days. until then - bye bye!