The government “talks a good game” but continues to drag its feet over implementing urgent and meaningful measures that would mitigate climate change, Ms Min Cheong, youth member of the SDP, said today at the launch of the party’s climate change policy.
The launch was streamed live on Youtube and FB this afternoon. You can watch it here if you missed the live streaming.
She was presenting the policy with three of her colleagues, all also of the Young Democrats. Moderating the session was Mr Naresh Subramaniam who laid out the dangers that Singapore faced with the worsening crisis.
He pointed out how global warming was affecting weather patterns, such as bringing about prolonged dry spells and excessive rain in the region. This affects farming and could lead to shocks to our food supply like rice and vegetables.
Singapore is especially vulnerable, given its small size, Global warming is melting the polar caps at an alarming rate which will raise sea-levels and cause many parts of Singapore to be submerged by the sea.
Mr Kenneth Lin, a student at the Massey University in New Zealand, said that one of the problems that Singapore faced was the presence of big corporations which are a major cause of Singapore’s contribution to the worsening situation.
“Big corporations take from Earth and return to it waste to create wealth,” he said. “While this wealth is amassed in their hands, it is the vulnerable, the poor, the common folk who are left to suffer the disastrous effects of climate change.”
Mr Stanley, a student at a local university, then said that the SDP would ramp up the switch to renewable energy like solar power and accelerate conversion to electric vehicles to stem the poisoning of the atmosphere through greenhouse gas emissions.
He also pointed the party’s standing position of curbing population escalation in Singapore, highlighting that forests are being cleared to make way for housing and transportation. “The loss of the country’s ‘lungs’ and biodiversity is incalculable,” he said.
The SDP will also firmly enforce the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act and prosecute business entities operating in Singapore that are linked with companies engaged in forest-burning in Indonesia.
Other measures include prohibiting companies from manufacturing products that depend on single-use packaging as well as incentivising Singaporeans to recycle and reducing waste, significantly upgrading our commitment to reaching the targets signed by Singapore at the Paris climate agreement in 2015, and mandating that the construction and running of buildings adhere to strict stardards of energy conservation.
For an easy-to-follow discuss on climate change and the SDP’s proposal click here.
Ms Cheong rounded off the presentation by calling on the PAP government to spend the people’s money wisely. Building Jewel Changi at $1.8 billion was not a smart investment. “It is breathtaking to admire but consumes excessive amounts of energy,” Ms Cheong said, adding that it is essentially just another shopping centre with the usual shops and restaurants.
Singapore must take meaningful and decisive action to deal with the matter at hand, she said, “If not the government, then the SDP will lead the way forward with our policy.”
Read our policy Climate Change in Singapore: Taking Urgent Measures Towards a Smart and Green Future here.