Taking green steps forward

2015 is an important year for sustainable development and climate change solutions, as world leaders will meet in September to approve the Sustainable Development Goals to guide national and global policies to 2030. In December, leaders will also assemble in Paris to adopt a global agreement on the growing dangers of human-induced climate change.

While Singapore is fortunate enough not to have witnessed extreme weather events, we are not spared from climate change. Just last month, Singapore submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, stating its intention to reduce its Emissions Intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030.

According to the Second National Climate Change Study published in April this year, Singapore will become a lot hotter and wetter by the turn of the century if no action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a worst-case scenario, daily temperatures could spike and sea levels could rise by more than a metre. As a low-lying island, the rise in sea levels poses the most immediate threat to Singapore.