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Singapore

Climate Change effects in Singapore

  • 1980-2020: annual mean temperature rose from 26.9C to 28C
  • 1980-2019: Annual rainfall increased at rate of 67mm per decade
  • 2001: Typhoon Vamei swept north of Singapore, caused major flooding, tropical cyclones near equator could become more frequent

Climate change risks in Singapore

  • Sea level: Much of our nation lies only 15m above the mean sea level. 30% is less than 5m above it.
  • Water: Drought test reliability of water supply, heavy rainfall overwhelms drainage and causes flash floods
  • Biodiversity and greenery: self-explantory
  • Public health: vector-borne diseases are observed during warmer periods of the year. Also makes heat stress more prevalent among the old and sick
  • Urban Heat Island Effect: Replacement of natural land cover with infrastructure which produce/retain heat.

Singapore's efforts

Pledges

  • 2009: Reduce emissions by 16% by 2020

  • 2015: Reduce Emission Intensity (EI) (Amount of GHGs emitted per dollar GDP) by 36% from 2005 levels by 2030. Peak emissions by 2030

Budget 2022

  • Achieve net-zero by mid-century, in line with COP-26 in Nov 2021.

Singapore's output

  • SP Group's My Carbon Footprint calculator: Average resident produces over 8000kg of carbon emissions annually, twice the world average

Awareness

  • OCBC Climate Index: National average of 6.7.
  • Awareness: 8.7
  • Adoption: 6.5
  • Advocacy: 5.6

  • EastCoastBeachPlan, started by Ms Samantha Thian. She started cleaning the beach herself when she noticed large amounts of trash piling up there. Then, she started a Telegram group for like-minded individuals to join and undertake clean-ups together.

Collaboration

  • APRIL 19: Lee Hsien Loong announced on Tuesday that New Zealand and Singapore will be working more closely on the green economy and the fight against climate change

  • "We need stronger cooperation among countries to protect the most vulnerable peoples and places on our planet"

  • "At the same time, we see opportunities for practical collaboration as we adopt low-carbon and green technologies"

  • NZ PM, Jacinda Ardren, noted quarter of New Zealand's imports and a fifth of its exports travel through Singapore's ports

  • New Zealand is a major food producer and while Singapore has stated its goals to reduce its reliance on imported food, both can work together in food research, said Ms Ardern, who added that New Zealand's food research institutes are looking at ways to create urban growing systems.