Keeping Earth Alive
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Unpack what climate change means to the average Singaporean with PHOEBE RAE
Dreams come in all shapes and sizes, no matter who you are. We talked about the Singaporean Dream in HYPE 48. Whether you’re aiming to enjoy a life of travel, gain new experiences or simply to live comfortably with a family by your side, it’s something we’re all striving towards.
In HYPE 49, we also talked about how even the truck drivers of Abam2 Trailer Singapura share the same dream of financial stability, future job prospects, travelling, retirement and family, health and happiness.
But who’s to say that we will be able to achieve any of these dreams in the future?
THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE
Most of us aspire to take annual holidays and travel the world. But if our favourite travel destinations slowly disappear due to climate change, where then, can we go for a getaway?
Beach destinations like the Maldives, Bali and Phuket may be a thing of the past as sea levels rise and eat up the shore. And with global temperatures rising, the once vibrant coral reefs turn ghostly white, in what is called “coral bleaching”.
Perhaps not all of us dream of travelling. We’d simply have to live with erratic weather and current record temperatures being the norm. Lifestyle changes will also shift according to the evolving climate we’d be living in.
That $8 latte you’re thinking about is likely to increase in price by 25% by 2050. Rice may become more of a luxury in the future, rising in cost by 32-37%. Other vulnerable crops include corn and banana.
As Time’s Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year, Greta Thunberg, 16, said: “We are [at] the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”
So, what are we doing to preserve the Singapore Dream?
CURRENT EFFORTS
A survey conducted by HYPE found that a majority of respondents perceived environmental sustainability as the lowest of government concerns, contrary to areas like the national security, economy and home a airs that are perceived to have the highest importance.
Yet no matter where Singaporeans think environmental concern fails, 69.6 per cent of respondents feel that we should focus more on measures that mitigate the impact of climate change than adapt to its consequences.
Singapore has rolled out various policies and schemes to address this issue. Offices such as the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change have been set up to boost the existing Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR).
“We should treat climate change defences like we treat the SAF – with utmost seriousness... These are life and death matters,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declared during the last National Day Rally speech.
As such, the Centre for Climate Research Singapore was set up back in 2013, to understand the impact of climate change on Singapore and her neighbours. During the Landmark Paris Agreement, Singapore pledged to reduce carbon emission intensity by 36 per cent, in comparison with 2005 levels, by 2030.
One notable effort towards this goal is the introduction of a carbon tax, the first in the region, starting at $5 per tonne this year. This will be reviewed by 2023, with plans to increase it to between $10 and $15 per tonne of emissions by 2030.
Singapore has even hinted at going beyond reducing carbon emissions to be reliant on energy that isn’t fossil fuel.
On Jan 20, at the Singapore Perspectives 2020 conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, 55, said: “Are we thinking of a post-fossil fuel future? Yes, we are, because we know where the trend of the world is going.”
Are these measures enough?
REALITY CHECK
According to the Climate Action Tracker, Singapore’s targets are considered “highly insufficient” to limit global warming to 2 deg C above pre-industrial levels. In reality, there will be a 3-4 degree increase if everyone followed the rate we’re going.
According to economists at IMF, the carbon tax should be an estimated $75 a tonne by 2030 to be consistent with a two-degree Celsius warming target – a far cry from the $10-$15 goal we set.
MEWR has time and time again emphasised that Singapore only contributes 0.11 per cent of global emissions. As Minister Mr Masagos, 56, puts it, “even if we stop emitting, it would not move the needle.’’
However, in a survey conducted by HYPE, 94.4 per cent of respondents still feel that Singapore is not doing enough to fight climate change.
Survey respondents cited four areas that hinder their efforts to be more sustainable: Poor public reception to current national campaigns pushing for individual action; lack of public commitment for climate action, lack of support from businesses and insufficient climate policies.
“We need to take ownership of the fact that we need to do our part to reduce our 0.1 per cent share of global emissions... It’s a question whether Singapore wants to uphold its reputation of being highly capable,” says Ms Wong Pei Chi, a volunteer at 350SG, a global grassroots organisation aimed at educating Singaporeans on the climate crisis.
HOW TO TAKE ACTION
Whether it’s recycling your trash, switching to energy-efficient appliances, reducing your food waste, buying second-hand clothes or taking public transport, you are already taking steps to “walk the talk” for the environment.
According to environmental activist and co-founder of LepakinSG, an informal calendar and event organiser for green events, Ho Xiang Tian, 24, says: “The most important thing is to educate yourself on the issues.”
The Head of Sustainability of a multinational commercial company also suggests: “You can demand brands to be more sustainable by shopping, by buying differently, by consuming differently... that’s where the collective power of the consumer to demand that change [comes in].”
According to NCCS projection for 2020, households will only account for 7.6 per cent of business as usual emissions, while industries produce 60.3 per cent. In short, as consumers we need to use the voice that we have the only way that businesses will understand: our coin is our vote.
“The challenge for all of us is to translate our daily actions and individual habits into something much larger in terms of collective action, to say this is a problem that we’re concerned with, [that] this is going to affect us,” Ms Wong says.
