My feedback on Singapore’s revised climate targets

1. Singapore has stated that we intend to achieve net zero emissions by or around mid-century. Reaching net zero emissions by 2050 is:

Not sufficiently ambitious

2. What is a suitable year to reach net zero?

2040

3. Should we enhance Singapore’s 2030 NDC which currently pledges to peak emissions at 65 MtCO2e around 2030? What should our 2030 NDC ambition be and why?

Please see SG Climate Rally and Lepak in SG’s recommendations.

4. What can the Government do to support Singapore’s transition to a low carbon future?

Renewable energy may not be as green as it sounds, though it is less pollutive than fossil fuels.

This is because extracting cobalt and other minerals for manufacturing electric vehicles etc through mining in Congo etc and proposed deep-sea mining has serious environmental and human rights concerns.

In comparison, conserving and restoring forests and mangroves is a more cost-effective and less resource-intensive nature-based solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (as well as protecting biodiversity and boosting public health and well-being).

That means putting an indefinite moratorium to deforestation, instead of just replanting trees while continuing to sacrifice secondary rainforests.

At the end of the day, our priorities should be focused on life and death issues (aka existential crisis of climate change fuelled by unrelenting deforestation and urbanisation) rather than comfort and convenience (aka insatiable demand for housing for upgrading and investment, excessive consumption lifestyles, etc).

5. What can businesses and industries do to support Singapore’s transition to a low carbon future?

Pay carbon tax et al for deforestation to compensate lower income residents affected by the loss of ecosystem services in Singapore.

6. What can individuals and communities do to support Singapore’s transition to a low carbon future?

Consume less. Cycle, walk, take public transport. Don’t use (buy & sell) property at the expense of our forests and mental health just for investment to make quick profits. Learn to be contented in life and do no harm to oneself and others.

A highly urbanised environment in Ang Mo Kio housing estate, where a forest reserve once stood in the 1930s.

7. While there may be trade-offs or inconveniences, I am willing to contribute / play my part in helping Singapore realise its net zero ambition.

I agree to play my part in helping Singapore realise its net zero ambition.

8. Do you have any other thoughts on Singapore’s climate ambition that you wish to share?

Replace “grow at all costs” economic model with degrowth or donut economic model or equivalent. Please see attached link for details.

P.S. In case what I have shared above is seen in a negative light, I was expressing my wish to the government for them to be more mindful to the less privileged who are most affected by the effects of rapid deforestation and urbanisation. It isn’t about anti-development or anti-housing, as it is about sustainable development where everyone has equal rights to housing and health and well-being, instead of only the minority of the ultra rich and megacorporations who keep on encroaching limited green spaces to profit themselves, at the expense of the general populace and the natural environment, including native flora and fauna.

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Lush green spaces: Where can they be found and how important are they?

Lush green spaces with rich biodiversity and coherent ecological connectivity can usually only be found in nature parks.

That’s why we need to conserve the forests in Singapore.

The lush green spaces, such as in Tengah forest, provide climate resilience, support rich biodiversity and protect our health and well-being.

Even as this forest is being cleared and the soil paved over with concrete to build a new HDB town, it is hoped that the greenery in Tengah remains lush and habitable for the forest-dependent flora and fauna too.

For the environmental impact studies have shown that there are hundreds of species depending on the forest for survival, including rare and endangered species.

In the era of pandemic and uncertain geopolitics affecting global supply chains, we need our wildlife pollinators and seed dispersers more than ever for our food security and self-sufficiency.

Our health and well-being also depends on the therapeutic benefits and heat-stress-alleviating effects of the densely growing trees.