Greening Singapore will involve transforming every aspect of our lives, and Singaporeans must be prepared for this “difficult” change, says Minister for National Development Desmond Lee.
“Through the [Singapore] Green Plan [2030], you see that every aspect of our lives — our infrastructure, our transport, our industry, the way we work, the way we live — transformation will happen in every aspect of it. But… the government and people have to carry all these changes, because change does entail some pain,” says Lee on a fireside chat at Temasek’s Ecosperity Week on June 7.
The Singapore Green Plan 2030, unveiled in February 2021, is a whole-of-nation movement with the aim of achieving the Republic’s 2050 net-zero emissions target. This is a collective effort, says Lee, and it is important not to work in silos.
“It galvanises every segment of society, every department in government, businesses who need to transform, but also active citizenry; because we all have to change our lifestyles and make difficult changes to the way we live in order for the entire nation to achieve our net-zero goals,” says Lee.
‘We need to be realists’
When discussing climate change, people tend to be gathered around one extreme or the other, says Lee. “Maybe over-optimism on the one hand, and excessive pessimism on the other.”
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What we all need to be are realists, says Lee, in response to a question by moderator Chintan Raveshia of built environment advisory Arup, “realists with a quiet optimism that this can be done, because it must be done if the next generation is to have a fighting chance”.
Lee stresses that “action must take place today”. “Unless we get our act in order to be a net-zero city… the talk will not end and action will not begin.”
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With the second day of Ecosperity Week themed “Enabling Net-Zero Cities”, the audience at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre were invited to share one word they associate with “sustainable cities of the future”. Overwhelmingly, the audience chose the word “green”.
As much as “green” captures the imagination about the sustainability movement, our water bodies or oceans are also a major part of the equation, says Lee.
Unlike land, a lot of the blue spaces are global commons, he adds. “They have the potential to sequester so much carbon. On the other hand, if you exploit them relentlessly, they will be emitters. They are a tremendous supply of food for the world. A lot of solutions can be found by harnessing the energy of the high seas and oceans if we do so sensitively and carefully. And of course, not to mention maritime traffic and transport, where there needs to be some further action on emissions as well, just like every other sector of the industry.”
Singapore is both a city and a state, and we are exposed to the full force of climate change, says Lee. “We therefore have to act collectively to secure our future in a world where climate change poses tremendous uncertainties and risks.”
