DPM Gan Kim Yong at the Launch of “Our Climate-Ready Home” Exhibition

My Cabinet colleague Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment,
Staff and students of Mee Toh School,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning to all of you. I am very happy this morning to join you at the launch of “Our Climate-Ready Home”.

For all of us, Singapore is where we go to school, work, spend time with our families and build our future. This is our home, and we want it to remain a good home, even as the climate around us changes.

This is especially important for our students here today. In the years to come, you just finished PSLE, but eventually you will finish your education – enter the workforce start a family, and help shape Singapore’s future. The decisions we make today will determine the home you will inherit.

And that is why we must prepare early as a nation, adapt the way we live and work, and most importantly, stay together and look out for one another.

Preparing early for a changing climate

We are already experiencing hotter weather and more intense rainfall. Rising sea levels pose a long-term threat to our low-lying island. Extreme weather elsewhere can also disrupt food and other supplies we depend on. Drier conditions can also increase the risk of forest fires, causing haze which we have been experiencing through the last few weeks.

These changes affect our health, our livelihoods and our daily routines.

Singapore will continue to do our part to reduce emissions and contribute to the global response to climate change.

Nevertheless, we must prepare for its impacts. Some preparations will take many years to implement. Therefore, we need to start now, even as we continue to learn more about the climate changes ahead of us.

We have taken this long view before. Since independence, Singapore has worked steadily to secure our water supply. Successive generations continued to invest in the future, and we are now benefiting from their foresight. We must bring that same determination to preparing for a changing climate.

The Government will lead this effort. We are strengthening our preparations against coastal and inland flooding, developing ways to keep our urban spaces cooler, and securing essential supplies such as water and food. We must also protect people’s health and our natural environment, support our economy, and help those who may find it harder to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Our first National Adaptation Plan, or NAP, scheduled for release next year, will bring these efforts together. It will review what we are already doing, identify gaps and set out a long-term strategy for Singapore.

We want Singaporeans to join us in developing this plan, and consider how we can implement it together.

Adapting the way we live and work

These national preparations must be complemented by practical actions in our workplaces and our neighbourhoods. At Funan, for example, CapitaLand has made flood resilience a core part of the mall’s redevelopment, integrating flood barriers, raised ramps, pumps, and drainage systems. These are supported by regular staff training and emergency exercises, so that staff are ready to respond when needed.

Protecting our home also means looking after the people who share it, especially those who may need more help to cope.

Earlier this year, the Singapore Red Cross volunteers distributed care packs, checked in on our residents, especially children and the seniors from the vulnerable families. They are trained to recognise early signs of distress from heat and haze.

Each of us can make practical adjustments too. We can check the Heat Stress Advisory and plan outdoor activities for cooler parts of the day. We can conserve water, and support our local farms by choosing produce with the SG Fresh Produce logo. These everyday choices complement our national efforts.

The haze we are experiencing is a timely reminder of this. I know it has been a challenging period for many of us, and I ask everyone to please take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Refer to the daily PSI forecast to plan your schedules for the next day, and check the hourly PM2.5 levels again just before you head out. Reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor activities when the air quality is poor. Look out for those who might be more vulnerable who might need extra help, such as the elderly, the young, pregnant women and those with respiratory conditions.

And to our students here today: you do not have to wait until you are older to contribute. Share what you learn with your parents and grandparents, and encourage your family and friends to also take practical steps.

Shaping our climate-ready home together

As businesses, communities and individuals take these practical steps, their experiences can help us understand what works well and where more support is needed. We will draw on these insights as we develop our National Adaptation Plan.

We will also need to work through choices and trade-offs together. For example, we need to keep people safe and comfortable in hotter weather, while at the same time managing energy use and carbon emissions. We must discuss these choices openly, draw on scientific evidence and practical experience, and work out solutions together

And this is why we have been engaging Singaporeans widely during the Year of Climate Adaptation. Minister Grace Fu launched the National Adaptation Conversations in July. Through dialogues, discussions with businesses and community groups, as well as online feedback, Singaporeans have shared with us their concerns and their ideas. I thank everyone who has contributed. Your views will help shape our first National Adaptation Plan.

The exhibition we are launching today is part of this continuing conversation. It draws on ideas and aspirations shared by Singaporeans. Through its interactive exhibits, we can explore how climate change could affect our daily lives, learn about preparations already underway, and consider what more we need to do.

As you explore the exhibition, think about your own home, workplace or neighbourhood. What concerns you most? Where would more support make a difference? What practical ideas could help? Please share your perspectives with us freely. From Punggol, the exhibition will travel to Westgate in Jurong later this month, and Kampung Admiralty in Woodlands in November. Bring your family and friends, and take the opportunity to discuss how we can prepare for the future together.

I also look forward to visiting the Ground-Up Showcase, featuring adaptation projects by our youths and SG Eco Fund partners, as well as SG Farmers’ Market.

A home for generations to come

As the climate changes and our understanding improves, we will need to review our preparations, learn from experience and keep strengthening our resilience.

Our children and our grandchildren will grow up in a different climate from the one that we know. We want them to inherit a home that is prepared for the challenges ahead, and a community that knows how to look after it while taking care of one another. We owe it to them to make those preparations now, and to sustain this effort year after year.

Let us work together to keep Singapore a good home – for ourselves, for our children and many more generations who will come after us.

Thank you and have a great weekend.