Have an idea you are burning to share about how to make Singapore greener? Here’s your chance.
The National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) has launched a nationwide feedback exercise which will be used to draft the country’s first comprehensive climate change strategy.
Speaking at the launch of the new feedback portal yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said the National Climate Change Strategy 2012, as it is called, will set out detailed plans on how Singapore can reduce its carbon emissions and how it can prepare against effects such as sea level rises.
Carbon emissions are widely considered to be the cause of climate change, which affects long-term weather patterns and can result in extreme weather events.
Acknowledging that the concept of climate change may be too abstract for the average person, DPM Teo said the consultation also aimed to raise awareness.
‘The purpose of this is to firstly create awareness… among people, and we want to seek ideas from people on how they can contribute to solving the climate change problem, and to motivate action,’ he told reporters.
The new feedback portal at www.nccs.gov.sg/consultation is the first of a series of initiatives led by the NCCS to gather ideas and feedback from citizens. The NCCS will conduct focus groups and community forums to reach out to the public in the next few months. The four areas it will focus on are households, transport, industries and clean technology opportunities.
The document, due to be released in the middle of next year, will build on the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint, a five-year plan launched in 2009 to help Singapore become greener and more energy efficient.
Industry observers such as Associate Professor Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, welcomed the public consultation. ‘There are times where the Government is looking for a variety of ideas, having set a macro target… It’s a good example of consultative government, (where) different sectors of society can contribute ideas,’ he said.
Ms Olivia Choong, founder of the Singapore chapter of Green Drinks, an environmental movement, said she was looking forward to giving her views.
‘I think we need more incentives to drive greener transportation, such as taking buses or switching to electric vehicles,’ she said.
DPM Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, yesterday also gave prizes to winners of the inaugural National Climate Change Competition at a ceremony held at the Environment Building.
Two teams, from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University, tied for the top prize, which is a trip to Durban, South Africa, at the end of the year to attend the United Nations climate change summit.
The NUS team won for their initiative to remove rubbish bins on the campus for a day to raise environmental awareness, and the NTU team won for their idea of a green mobile application that will help households monitor their energy usage.
The competition, which drew more than 140 entries, invited students and young people to contribute ideas on how they could address climate change.
This article was originally published in The Straits Times.
