SINGAPORE – Protecting Singaporeans from the impacts of climate change is a long-term endeavour, and the country is starting to put aside funds now so future generations will not have to bear all the costs, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
“Many aspects of the Budget are about getting ourselves ready for the long term,” she said, referring to Singapore’s spending plan for the year ahead.
“In the area of sustainability, the coastal protection fund (top-up) of $5 billion is a very clear sign that when we have resources, when we have a surplus, we are going to put that aside so that this generation will start to pay for the future generation and not load all the costs on them,” she added.
Ms Fu was speaking about how Singapore is tackling climate change on The Straits Times’ current affairs podcast, The Usual Place.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had announced in his Budget speech on Feb 18 that another $5 billion will be injected into the Coastal and Flood Protection Fund, which was set up in 2020 to protect Singapore against rising sea levels and enhance flood resilience.
As coastal protection is a long-term effort, the use of the fund is expected to ramp up towards the end of the decade to fund the design and construction of coastal protection measures, ST reported.
Despite the current geopolitical situation not being conducive for climate initiatives, with the United States scaling back on its climate plans, Ms Fu said Singapore is pressing on with climate action.
“We are a very small emitter in the overall scheme of things… whether we reduce our emissions or not, it’s not going to really move the needle,” she said. “But we always think that Singapore likes to do what’s right. We know that that’s our responsibility as a citizen, as an individual, as a corporate citizen, as a global citizen.”
On how the Republic is cutting emissions, Ms Fu cited various initiatives, including efforts to tap more renewable energy and import clean-generated electricity from elsewhere.
(From left) Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu speaking to ST assistant news editor Audrey Tan and podcast host Natasha Ann Zachariah on March 20 about how Singapore is tackling climate change.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
By importing renewable energy sources such as hydropower and solar power from other countries, Singapore will be able to have a more resilient grid, said Ms Fu, who is also Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations.
In South-east Asia, renewable resources are unevenly distributed, so having a connected grid could allow countries to trade electricity freely to meet rising demand. Such a grid would hedge against the intermittencies of renewables by distributing energy more efficiently.
Ms Fu said improving energy efficiency will also help the country to cut its emissions.
“We can swop fossil fuels for renewable energy. But if we can reduce the amount of energy that is needed, we can actually need to swop less,” she said.
Her ministry is also helping households contribute to energy-efficiency efforts, she said, pointing to the expansion of the Climate Friendly Households Programme.
The expansion, also announced during the Budget, will see all Singaporean families living in private property receiving $400 worth of vouchers to purchase more efficient household appliances, including certain types of air-conditioners.
All Housing Board households will also receive an additional $100 worth of vouchers. This means that HDB households that have not spent the first tranche of vouchers will now have $400 worth of vouchers to spend.
For households, although swopping older electrical appliances to more energy-efficient ones can be more costly, she said Singaporeans can tap the climate vouchers to offset some of the costs incurred.
She added that in the long run, utility bills could be lower as a result of being more energy-efficient.
But aside from cutting emissions, Ms Fu said that Singapore must also move to protect its people from climate impacts. Such adaptation strategies are also a key part of climate action.
The ever-thickening layer of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is like a person being cloaked in a growing number of blankets, she said.
“Imagine somebody putting on layers and layers of blankets on you… now you have something like 50 layers of blankets on you and you’re starting to sweat profusely. That’s exactly what’s happening to planet earth,” she said.
The move by the US to scale back on its climate plans will add on to these “layers”, she said.
Given this, Singapore also needs to protect itself from the impacts of climate change.
“It’s going to take a long while for us to remove those layers and we need to adapt,” she said.
“We have to really be serious with our adaptation. Whether it’s on heat, whether it’s on coastal protection, whether it’s on water security or food security, we need to keep our eyes on our plans and keep at it,” said Ms Fu.
To tackle sea-level rise, Singapore is conducting eight islandwide site-specific studies of its coastlines to determine the most suitable coastal protection solutions for each segment.
During the debate on her ministry’s budget on March 4, Ms Fu announced that two site-specific studies on Sentosa island and the nation’s south-west coast will begin by 2026.
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