Global solidarity: The way forward for a green recovery

AS THE world continues to reel from the Covid-19 pandemic and maps out strategies to deal with its longer-term impact, deep reflections are taking place not just on the continued brunt of this crisis but the many lessons we are all learning - lessons that will undoubtedly help us build a better future.

The recent lockdowns have shown us first and foremost how interdependent countries are and the high exposure we all have to unanticipated external shocks. The second lesson, and indeed a key one, is multilateralism and global solidarity work. Many governments have joined forces to boost coordination and mobilised assistance for the particularly vulnerable, effectively saving lives and livelihoods around the world.

The third lesson has been the necessity to accept science and respond to it. Covid-19 is an unprecedented human tragedy. While similar outbreaks can be expected in the future, science tells us this is just a warning compared to the existential risks for our civilisation associated with global warming and other planetary challenges.

Healthy natural ecosystems are a prerequisite for continued prosperity. Unaddressed climate change - if the international community fails to bring the increasing greenhouse gas emissions down - and environmental degradation will lead to catastrophic consequences, including making large parts of our planet uninhabitable in the coming decades.

Global warming is harder to tackle than the Covid-19 pandemic. There will be no vaccine against climate change and its devastating impacts. Flattening the emissions curve will only be possible if we take bold and courageous climate action, together. The good news is, we can do it and we must use the economic rebound from the current pandemic to accelerate the transition to a safer, more resilient future.

Over the next two years, governments around the world will seek to spend around 10 trillion euros (S$16.1 trillion) borrowed from future generations. This is why recovery plans should be designed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to 'build back better' and invest in an economy of the 21st Century.

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Together with the EU heads of state or government, the European Commission has reconfirmed its commitment to a green, digital and resilient recovery and embedded it in its proposal for the EU's recovery plan released at end-May.

RECOVERY PLAN

Through our recovery plan called Next Generation EU and a revamped EU budget, every euro of investment will be made available to get Europe back on its feet, while accelerating the twin green and digital transitions and building a fairer and more resilient society. The Commission has proposed that for the next seven years 25 per cent of the EU budget be spent on climate investments.

Some areas where strong action can lead to big impacts are: circular economy, ecosystem restoration, the built environment (renovation), mobility (electrification), and energy (renewables and clean hydrogen).

The EU will stick to its goal to be climate-neutral by 2050 - and we challenge anyone to beat us to it so the whole of humanity wins.

We stand ready to engage with partners around the world, such as Singapore and Asean, on ways to direct investment to environmentally sustainable economic activities. I see particularly three ways in which the EU and Singapore can join forces in driving green recovery from Covid-19.

Firstly, great potential lies in learning from each other. By recognising climate change as an existential challenge, both Singapore and the EU have placed climate action and environmental issues at the heart of our policies. The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) also includes a robust chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development to ensure that trade supports environmental protection.

There are unparalleled synergies in shared lessons and we learn from one another, in particular in areas such as circular economy, marine plastic litter, green mobility and urban planning, renewable energies and sustainable finance. The EU's Green Deal with its ambitious climate target, and Singapore's Climate Action Plan are examples of this commitment.

Secondly, the EU and Singapore, as longstanding and like-minded partners, are ideally placed to jointly promote a global green recovery in international settings. The EU and Singapore have confirmed their continued commitment to maintain effective multilateralism and a rules-based global order as the basis of the fight against climate change in the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Agenda for 2030.

The EU and Singapore are both members of the International Platform on Sustainable Finance. The first of its kind, this platform facilitates multilateral exchanges on best practices and initiatives to mobilise private capital towards environmentally sustainable investment.

Thirdly, with Singapore's strong support as Asean's coordinator for relations with the EU, collaboration between the EU and Asean on shared regional and global challenges related to protection of the environment and climate change has been stepped up. The first EU-Asean high-level dialogue on environmental protection and climate change took place in July 2019.

To speed up economic recovery, we are enhancing our ongoing dialogue in areas such as renewable energy and reinforcing EU-Asean cooperation. A number of new, green EU-Asean programmes are in the pipeline including the Smart Green Asean Cities programme, supporting sustainable urbanisation in the region. And existing programmes on the sustainable management of peatlands and haze mitigation and Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in Asean are already delivering promising results.

RECOVERY STRATEGIES

Recovery strategies from Covid-19 must have climate change mitigation, adaptation, and the protection of the environment at their centre. While learning from each other, by teaming together, we are showing the power of collective responses, as illustrated in the collaboration between the EU and Singapore. It is about staying true to our values, listening to science, rebuilding our economies, and building a better future.