The world is living amid a climate crisis whose impact could be more severe than the Covid-19 pandemic, says President Halimah Yacob.
Among Asean nations, a combination of long coastlines and heavily populated low-lying areas makes the region vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by global warming, she adds. A one-metre rise in sea level, for example, will affect at least 89 million people in the region, as they live in areas with frequent coastal flooding.
In her keynote address at Ecosperity Week 2021, Madam Halimah stressed that Singapore is not immune to the effects of climate change either.
“The Centre for Climate Research Singapore has projected that by the end of the century, daily mean temperatures could rise by up to 4.6 degrees Celsius. Daily peak temperatures hitting 40 degrees Celsius could happen as early as 2045,” she says.
“Four out of the past six years were among the top 10 warmest years ever recorded in Singapore. intense rainfall has also caused more flash floods. Climate change will begin to affect our access to critical resources, like energy, water and food,” she adds.
Climate change is a global problem that needs to be addressed with a “multilateral, rules-based approach”, says Madam Halimah. “Singapore participates actively in global climate negotiations, we can play our part as a fair broker in forging consensus and international discussions on climate change. I am confident that what we do here in Singapore does matter and can influence others.”
At home, she highlights the Green Plan conversations — public consultations organised by the government to finetune the Singapore Green Plan 2030, which was unveiled this February. “The Singapore government has kickstarted the Green Plan conversations this year to engage Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds, to seek their views and generate ideas for climate action to be realised through ground-up initiatives and collaborative platforms.”
“As the saying goes, our society grows when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in,” says Madam Halimah. “We need to both figuratively and literally plant these trees. We are called to rise to this challenge.”
Presented by Temasek, the Ecosperity 2021 hybrid event is running from Sept 28 to 30 and features speakers such as Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; Dr Ma Jun, chairman of the Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking; and Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank.
See: Singapore and EU reaffirm joint commitment to climate change
Launched in 2014, the annual conference returns after Covid-19 forced a hiatus last year.
In his welcome remarks, Lim Boon Heng, chairman of Temasek Holdings, notes that many organisations have grasped the importance of sustainability.
“We see many more organisations pledging to embrace climate change and sustainability as part of their strategy. They recognise the strategic role of preserving and creating long-term sustainable value,” says Lim.
On the flip side, organisations that reject sustainability will suffer “value erosion, be left behind and may not survive”, warns Lim.
We are “way past a wake-up call”, says Lim. “Covid-19 has shown that the world can come together. However, let's not wait for the seas to rise to our ankles and knees, or for the climate crisis to show even worse effects, before we act.”
See also: The geopolitics of climate change
Photo: Screengrab/Temasek
