Climate Change Conversations – Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs

Ladies and Gentlemen,


Introduction

1. Very good afternoon to every one of you.

2. My colleague Hanyan and I are extremely happy to join you here today.


Government Efforts to Address Climate Change Risks

3. We all recognise climate change is a serious issue. It is an existential issue for our times.

4. We in Singapore – we are a low-lying state. About one-third of our island is less than 5 metres above the mean sea level. One-third. So rising sea levels will immediately impact on us.

5. We have seen, around the world and certainly in Singapore, warmer weather, heavier rainstorms, longer and more frequent dry spells. So you’ve seen the weather in the last few days – it gives you a sense of what we go through.

6. Other countries will also face extreme weather patterns caused by this climate change.

7. There will be an impact on biodiversity and ecosystems.

8. Warmer weather also affects our health. More people will face heat-related illnesses. It is easier for vector-borne diseases to spread.

9. Global supply chains will be affected.

10. Which will then affect us – because we are a small country that relies on these global flows.

11. At the whole-of-the-nation level, we have the Singapore Green Plan 2030. It advances the national agenda on sustainable development.

12. We have also taken steps to build resilience and preparedness to deal with climate risks.

13. I will briefly touch on some of them.

Rising Temperatures

14. First, on rising temperatures.

15. We have a national heat resilience strategy. 

16. It looks at many areas, such as implementing cooling solutions, strengthening community resilience and deepening our understanding of heat impacts.

17. We set up a Heat Resilience Policy Office just last month. That will coordinate heat resilience efforts across the Whole of Government.

18. We also launched the Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE) 2030 Heat Resilience R&D Programme.

19. That will help to step up research in this field.

Rising Sea Levels and Flooding

20. Second, on rising sea levels and flooding.

21. We announced that we are building a continuous line of defence along our coastlines. This will protect us, help us protect against coastal flooding.

22. We are studying specific sites more closely to develop suitable measures along different parts of our coastline.

23. The Coastal Protection Bill was passed last month.

24. The Bill makes it clear that private landowners and long-term lessees also have responsibilities. They need to implement protection measures with prescribed standards.

25. For inland flooding, our strategy looks at drainage infrastructure, flood response and community resilience.

Extreme Weather Events

26. Third, extreme weather events – we are preparing for them, because that can affect our water and food supply.

27. On water, we have been working on it for a long time. We have a robust and diversified supply through what we call our Four National Taps. NEWater and desalinated water are weather-resilient.

28. On food, we have the Four Pillars of our Food Story 2 to strengthen our overall resilience.

29. These are: diversify our imports, global partnerships, stockpile in Singapore and grow local.

30. We can tap on these pillars in different combinations to address different crisis scenarios.

31. The Government is making all these investments today to protect our communities tomorrow.


Youths as Agents for Change

32. But building this resilience is not a task for Government alone.

33. We need everyone to participate.

34. Young people in particular have a big role to play and it is very heartening to see so many young people today

35. I will touch on three areas where you, particularly the young people, can play a big part.

Climate Youth Development Programme

36. First, the Government launched the Climate Youth Development Programme, or CYDP in 2023.

37. Since its launch, the programme has nurtured 120 youth climate leaders.

38. This programme looks at trade-offs, policy considerations, real-world implications of climate action in Singapore.

39. What you want to do – but what are the trade-offs? And does it make the world a better place?

40. We take one example – refineries. The world needs refined petroleum products. On per capita basis, we are big contributors because we have one of the world’s largest refinery centres. Supposing we say, okay, we will reduce our emission GDP per capita. It moves from here to a neighbouring island. Is the world a better-off place? No difference to the world, but we lose a lot of jobs, and it may be that the refining facilities are not as effective.

41. And the latest energy crisis has shown - a number of countries around Asia stopped exporting with refined products. And there aren’t that many who do this, and we are one of those who are continuing to work, produce ourselves and export.

42. So you saw the Australian Prime Minister in Singapore last week, and Australia needs the refined products. We need crude oil to continue, crude petroleum. And it’s mutually important, and likewise, other countries too.

43. So when you want to do something, you just don’t look at the superficial actions. You look at “Does it make the world a better place?”, “What are the trade-offs?”. We lose jobs – the world is not a better-off place. In fact, it may be worse off because our standards are quite high, and it actually affects our energy security if we lose it. So these are the kind of things – you need to have deeper conversations, not just what’s a soundbite on top.

44. This programme will give opportunities for the young people to engage government and private stakeholders.

45. Selected participants from CYDP have represented Singapore internationally. We are trying to train a core of people who will be passionate about this, and the Government pays for it, send some overseas, get some to participate in programmes.

46. Last year, 10 of them attended COP30 in Brazil as Singapore’s youth delegates.

47. They did not go there just to observe. They consolidated their reflections into a Youth Delegation Report. They had concrete action plans to engage the wider community.

48. One such initiative from this Report is titled “Beat the Heat”.

49. This is a youth-led community heat-mapping toolkit.

50. It generates ground-up place-based data on heat exposure.

51. This will be useful for adaptation planning and policy.

52. So positive contributions from the CYDP.

53. The CYDP will begin its fourth run in this year, from June onwards actually.

54. We look forward to the results from this run and the future ideas.

Climate Youth Community

55. Second, I will mention the Climate Youth Community.

56. CYDP participants become part of this community after completing the programme.

57. It is a network that continues to build knowledge, expand partnerships and drive action.

58. Some have built on national platforms and funding to bring their ideas into reality.

59. Let me list a few.

60. The Climate Sparks Lab. This lab has organised climate education workshops. They identify local climate issues and develop actionable initiatives.

61. It is funded by the National Youth Fund, and 40 young people have been engaged through these sessions.

62. Climate Interfaith is supported through the Youth Action Challenge.

63. It promotes climate goals within faith-based communities through workshops and podcasts.

64. There is ACCESS, or Action for Climate Change and Environmental Solutions for Sustainability.

65. This is supported by the SG Eco Fund.

66. You see the Government everywhere, funding, by giving to the young people to take up their ideas.

67. It introduced a superworm facility that has broken down two thousand kilograms of food waste and 16 kilograms of packaging materials.

68. They have also engaged 240 participants through educational talks and workshops.

Professional Expertise

69. Third, I encourage the young people here who are interested in this field to translate your passion into professional expertise.

70. To build a climate-resilient Singapore, we are going to need engineers who design our coastal protection systems – that is a 50, 60-year project. But typical of Singapore, we put aside the money, we have announced a 50-year project, and we have started.

71. We need scientists who advance climate modelling and heat mitigation.

72. We need urban planners who integrate resilience into our built environment.

73. And we need entrepreneurs who build sustainable technologies.

74. So sustainability is more than a lifestyle choice. It is a good career pathway.

75. The green economy will become a core part of economic development in all sensible countries.

76. And it is a cornerstone of Singapore’s roadmap to remain a vibrant hub in a rapidly changing global landscape.

77. It makes economic sense for Singapore to go into this field and be a thought leader, be a hub for many others as we have been in the past. We have been a hub for many different types of activities, and now green economy is certainly something we will move into, that we are moving into.

78. I encourage as many of you as possible to pursue higher education in fields such as environmental science, sustainable engineering, green finance and climate policy.

79. You are not only advancing your own careers.

80. You are strengthening the resilience both in Singapore and across the world, and Singapore’s competitiveness.


Conclusion

81. To conclude, I’m glad this event is taking place now.

82. Ministry of Sustainability and Environment has designated this year as the Year of Climate Adaptation.

83. They will also be developing our first National Adaptation Plan. Agencies will be reaching out because everyone of us has a part to play.

84. I encourage each of you to sustain the engagements beyond today and seriously consider how you can be, everyone of you, can be an agent of change.

85. I hope the thinking will be bold, the efforts will be persistent and the purpose will be united.

86. The resilience of our society depends on all of us working together.

87. Thank you.