Singapore's climate action: It is time to be more ambitious

For the first time, climate change concerns dominated the top five long-term global risks among surveyed business leaders, investors and policy-makers at this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The concern in the business world about climate impacts has been matched by recent actions by prominent investors. In January, BlackRock - the world's largest asset management firm - announced it would make climate change and other sustainability issues a cornerstone of its future investment strategy.

Last March, Norway's Government Pension Fund Global - the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund worth US$1.1 trillion - announced that it would divest more than US$13 billion of investments from coal companies and oil producers. The reshaping of global finance and business in the age of climate change is just as important as the vocal activism of a youth movement, associated with Greta Thunberg, calling for global action commensurate with a climate emergency.