OVER THIRTY leaders from sustainable industries sat down with climate and PAP activists to brainstorm solutions for Singapore’s climate problems this past Saturday (31 Aug).
These participants, ranging from environmental law to the water industry to semiconductor manufacturing, came up with diverse suggestions and topics at our Party’s first-ever Climate Action Group (CAG) engagement session.
Held at the Singapore Sustainability Academy in City Square Mall, this diverse group discussed even more diverse ways to meet Singapore’s climate goals. These included using artificial intelligence (AI) to better calibrate Singapore’s power usage, and exploring the use of nuclear energy to power our energy needs.
PAP MPs involved with the Climate Action Group were there to help facilitate the discussion. MP Nadia Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) led the City in Nature discussion group, while MPs Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC) and Cheryl Chan (East Coast GRC) led the Energy Reset one.
Meanwhile, MP Don Wee (Chua Chu Kang GRC) led the Green Economy discussion group, and MP Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) led the Sustainable Living group. MP Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC), led the Resilient Future group.
“From hearing and consolidating what I’ve heard so far is that education, outreach and awareness is tremendously important for this current generation and forward,” said MP Tan when discussing building a more resilient future Singapore. “So we value the relationships here that are being forged, and the recognition that everybody plays a part.”
The PAP has a long history of tangible climate action
It was the CAG’s first engagement session, but our Party has been taking action for the environment ever since the days of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, a man who among other titles, was known fondly as Singapore’s Chief Gardener.
“He was very well-known to do tree-planting on a yearly basis to green our environment, so much so that Singapore was known as the Garden City,” said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon, who also heads the CAG. “Mr Lee was also our most ardent advocate of water sustainability, from cleaning our rivers, closing our sewage system, and eventually putting forth NEWater as a source of water for us.”
“While we may be the men in white, we are actually the first green Party in Singapore,” added SMS Koh.
Plus, PAP MPs like Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC) have pushed strongly for climate change action these last few years. Six MPs from the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment filed Singapore’s first-ever Motion on Climate Change in February 2021. In it, the GPC members consulted with climate activists and business leaders, and called on “the Government, in partnership with the private sector and the people of Singapore, to deepen and accelerate efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and to embrace sustainability in the development of Singapore”.
This first-ever climate action Motion has had tangible results. Its suggestions help guide the evolving Singapore Green Plan 2030, which rallies different groups of Singaporeans towards sustainability.
“We’re now planning our fourth Motion in Parliament. Now the focus is really on business,” said MP Ng on his recent legislative work for climate action (and who developed the second and third Motion as well). “We decided we should also speak up for the businesses — especially the SMEs [small and medium enterprises] — that are now pushed into this green transition.”
Watch this space, then. The PAP CAG is continuing its vital work, together with Singaporeans who are just as committed and passionate about climate action. We are fighting to keep our nation green and liveable — join us!
