How is climate change affecting us in Singapore?

As we continue to face the realities of climate change, the built environment has become a key area of focus for sustainability efforts. In this three-part series with sustainability advocates Esther An and Joy Gai, who are both at the forefront of the climate movement, we discuss how we can work to transform the built environment, and make our cities and communities more sustainable.

It’s getting hotter by the day here in Singapore. In May, the Republic experienced one of its hottest days at 37 deg C, equalling a 40-year-old record for the highest daily maximum temperature that was set in 1983.

The weather is expected to further heat up with the Meteorological Service Singapore releasing a forecast earlier in June, announcing that El Nino conditions are likely to develop in the second half of 2023, thereby bringing warmer temperatures to Singapore.

Climate change is, without a doubt, one of the most important issues of our time.

To find out more about how it's impacting us here in Singapore, we sat down with Esther An, chief sustainability officer at City Developments Limited (CDL) and Joy Gai, who is the Programmes Head for World Green Building Council’s Asia Pacific Region, as well as a life coach at sustainability movement Joy of Sustainability (JOS).

Meet the advocates

Esther An

Chief Sustainability Officer at City Developments Limited (CDL)

Known as one of the pioneers in the sustainability movement in Singapore, Esther has been leading the climate change movement for more than two decades now. As the chief sustainability officer (CSO) of CDL, one of the largest real estate companies in Singapore with residential, commercial and hospitality assets globally, the avid advocate often attends both local and international conferences, working to expand awareness of green construction and sustainability principles.

Joy Gai

Programmes Head for World Green Building Council’s Asia Pacific Region and founder of Joy of Sustainability (JOS)

As part of the World Green Building Council, Joy works on delivering projects that would help drive the uptake of net zero carbon buildings across the globe. The former engineer is also a passionate sustainability teacher and certified life coach. In practising positive psychology, she believes that sustainability starts from a sustainable mindset.

Why is it urgent for us to meet our goals for the 2030 Singapore Green Plan? How has climate change affected us in Singapore already?

Esther An (EA): Singapore is very small, and our impact in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions may be insignificant, but don’t forget we are part of Asia-Pacific. Globally, Asia- Pacific accounts for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions. Many countries in Asia are very highly vulnerable to climate risk – for example, Jakarta is talking very intensely about moving to a new capital.

Singapore has almost zero natural resources, and that’s why, even more so, we need to contribute more as we are highly vulnerable and reliant on imports. What Singapore can offer to other countries is knowledge and collaboration – it’s important for us to offer support to all the neighbouring countries, whether it is sharing knowledge on sustainability practices and green building standards, or green financing.

Joy Gai (JG): Singapore has actually positioned ourselves in two very important areas. Firstly, we are demonstrating to the world that we are able to contribute to sustainable efforts, for example by building net zero buildings even in the tropical climate, which often requires a heavy air-conditioning system. We’re also looking at how we’re able to continue to build our green buildings in the most innovative, resilient, and creative ways. This is a good learning ground for South-east Asia, and even the rest of the world.

The second is Singapore’s youth and climate champions, who are really spreading our initiatives around the world. Though our island is small, our voices are strongly heard. In that way, Singapore is heavily influencing the global movement.

I think many have also been increasingly affected by the growing recognition of the severity of the climate crisis, leading to a rise in climate anxiety.

EA: We want to turn climate anxiety to positive thinking and action, so that we can give hope to the younger generation. As climate change is a very fast-growing and sad scenario, many might feel hopeless and helpless about the future.

We can’t change the world overnight, but if you don’t do anything, nothing will change. If you don’t change yourself, the climate will not change. Everyone has a voice and can influence people. That is our message: Let’s be patient and work together.

JG: It’s a very real topic, but to sum it up, essentially it’s all about switching our mindset. The fight is long and we can’t look at it in a negative manner, because the most important thing for us is to believe that this can be done, and to believe that we are able to make an impact.

PHOTOGRAPHY NUR ATHIRAH ANISSA
ART DIRECTION ADELINE ENG
MAKEUP BENEDICT CHOO, USING NARS
HAIR AUNG APICHAI, USING KEVIN MURPHY