SINGAPORE – The third National Climate Change Survey, released on January 5, predicts climate warming and more extreme weather impacts in Singapore by the end of 2100.
The Singapore Center for Climate Research (CCRS) and the National Supercomputing Center (NSCC) ran climate data through supercomputers to produce a three-and-a-half-year simulation depicting long-term climate scenarios for Singapore.
But Singapore will need the world’s support to collectively reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions, to prevent higher temperatures, more rainfall, stronger winds, and longer and more frequent dry seasons.
This means that the Republic’s emissions account for only about 0.1% of total global emissions, and even if Singapore aims to achieve this by stopping greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by 2050, This is because even if we achieve zero emissions, it will be difficult to suppress global warming.
Residual emissions from sectors that are difficult to reduce can be offset by purchasing carbon offsets or using carbon capture technology.
But even so, Singapore can play an important role in global efforts by influencing change and driving improvement, while also implementing adaptation measures.
climate change mitigation
Singapore already imports renewable energy, encourages the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and imposes a carbon tax to reduce reliance on burning fossil fuels for energy, a major cause of global warming. There is.
But the Republic will need to rely on global efforts, especially from large emitters like China, the United States and European Union countries, to move the needle on climate change mitigation. For Singapore, perhaps the most important aspect of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) held in Dubai in December was meeting with world leaders on the ground.
Grace Fu, Minister of Sustainability and Environment, who co-facilitated the talks on mitigation at COP28, said at the launch of the Third Climate Change Report that the goal of COP28 is to limit global temperature rise by 1.5°C. He said global efforts are currently insufficient. 2015 Paris Agreement.
Professor Benjamin Houghton, director of Nanyang Technological University’s Singapore Earth Observatory, agreed, telling The Straits Times that the world was likely to warm by 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century “if current policy settings are followed”. Ta.
But Singapore has done its part to block global efforts to prevent further global warming.
“Singapore’s involvement in the COP28 negotiations and outcomes will help us understand and facilitate the nuances of the transition pathway,” said PwC Singapore’s Sustainability and Climate Change Leader, Huang Yulin, who attended COP28. ” he said.
We need to act on the collective decision reached at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels.
“Developing countries that are less advanced in the transition may have concerns about employment and livelihoods,” Huang said.
Leading by example in the transition away from fossil fuels is another way Singapore can influence the international community.
Another COP28 attendee, Associate Professor Simon Schillebekes of the Singapore Management University Business School, said that for Singapore, “our goal is to realize that high development and high well-being are possible in a fraction of the current footprint.” It’s about proving it.”
“Our role in reducing emissions is less than our emissions, simply because we are a much richer country and benefit significantly from embedded carbon imports. It should be much bigger,” he said.