Keynote Speech by President Halimah Yacob at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit

Your Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

President of the United Arab Emirates

Your Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces

Distinguished Guests

Good afternoon.

I thank His Highness Sheikh Mohamed for inviting me to deliver this keynote speech at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Summit. I am honoured by the invitation, as this Summit is a premier platform for environmental and climate-related discussions. This year’s Summit provides us a timely opportunity to reflect and exchange views on our collective response to pressing global challenges, and the urgent steps needed going forward.

Two months ago, governments, businesses, and NGOs met in Glasgow for the COP-26 Conference, the key multilateral forum for climate-related discussions. The Conference took place amidst the unprecedented changes of the past two years. Countries are still working hard to emerge from the pandemic. In the near term, COVID-19 will continue to be a preoccupation of governments around the world. But even as we tackle the pandemic, we must not lose sight of other equally pressing global challenges.

In the long term, climate change remains an existential threat, with far-reaching impacts on lives and livelihoods. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was sobering. It projected that every region in the world will experience concurrent and multiple changes in climate impact-drivers. The corollary will be more frequent droughts, rainfall, and wildfires. We have already experienced some of these impacts which pale in comparison to the upheaval projected in coming decades.

However, tackling climate change is an immensely complex challenge, and must go far beyond annual conferences. It requires a global response through ambitious plans, concrete action and resolute commitment from all countries – big and small. This is the only way we can close the emissions gap and reach our collective goal of a net zero planet. How we turn this crisis into opportunity will determine our future, including our place on this planet. Let me share how Singapore is committed to doing our part through the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

As a small low-lying coastal state with no natural resources, Singapore faces competing demands for land. We lack alternative energy options and are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. More frequent and intense rainfall as well as rising temperatures will have consequences on public health and threaten global food supplies which Singapore relies heavily upon.

Last February, we launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030. It builds on the sustainability efforts of preceding decades, taking into account Singapore’s unique national circumstances and environmental vulnerabilities. The Green Plan is a roadmap for sustainable development, and positions Singapore to achieve our net-zero emissions aspiration through concrete sectoral plans and targets in five areas, namely:

a. City in Nature: where we will create a green, liveable, and sustainable home and build up our carbon sinks by extending nature throughout our island.

b. Energy Reset: where we will use cleaner energy and increase our energy efficiency to lower our carbon footprint.

c. Sustainable Living: where we will reduce carbon emissions, keep our environment clean, and save resources and energy as a way of life.

d. Green Economy: where we will achieve green growth to create new jobs, transform our industries, embrace circular economy approaches, and harness sustainability as a competitive advantage; and

e. Resilient Future: where we will build up our climate resilience and enhance our food security.

The Green Plan is an ambitious and whole of nation endeavour. Since its launch, there has been enthusiastic support from amongst Singaporeans about transforming the way we live, work and play to create a more sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient future.

Given the magnitude of the shifts we expect, innovation and new technologies will be critical. Singapore is therefore investing heavily in technology, infrastructure, and research. Key areas include low-energy desalination; resource efficient urban food production; clean fuels; and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Singapore is working with companies to green their operations, and transforming Jurong Island, our current petrochemical hub, into a sustainable energy and chemicals park. At the same time, we are adapting to the impacts of climate change by developing nature-based solutions to mitigate rising urban temperatures, designing new drainage solutions to enhance flood resilience, and building high-tech farms.

Our efforts are bearing fruit. Last July, Singapore commissioned one of the world’s largest floating solar photovoltaic systems. At the size of 45 football fields, the Tengeh Floating Solar Farm sits on one of Singapore’s freshwater reservoirs.

We are also happy that Wateroam, a Singapore start-up, is a finalist under the Water category of this year’s Zayed Sustainability Prize. Wateroam has deployed filtration membranes in various rural and disaster-hit areas around the world. We hope there will be more such innovations that push the frontiers of technology in the water-food-energy-resources nexus.

Sustainability plans and roadmaps, including our Singapore Green Plan, will need to be refined as technologies evolve, mistakes are made and learnt from, and the knowledge and experiences of others guide us onto better and wiser paths. We cannot afford to work in isolation when our planet’s future is at stake. Cooperation, partnerships and leadership are critical.

This is why Singapore is a key advocate for robust global responses to the climate crisis. We are glad that Parties were able to reach an agreement at COP-26 on the Glasgow Climate Pact. This will help sustain the momentum of global climate action. Singapore is particularly honoured to have contributed to the success of COP-26 by co-facilitating ministerial consultations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on carbon market rules. Notwithstanding Singapore’s relatively small carbon footprint, we will continue delivering on our commitments, and reviewing our policies and actions.

As we work to implement our respective plans, Singapore stands ready to collaborate with the UAE and other partners in the Middle East. The Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a net-zero energy building and a living demonstration of Singapore’s sustainable urban solutions. I hope that visitors will draw inspiration on how cities can integrate design and technology to create more liveable environments.

Likewise, the UAE has made bold strides in your sustainability ambitions as the nation celebrates its Golden Jubilee. You have built vast solar parks and were the first in the region to declare a net zero commitment by 2050. Leveraging advanced technology, you are building expertise in hydrogen and CCUS which are potential game-changers. Under the framework of the Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership which was signed during His Highness Sheikh Mohamed’s visit to Singapore in 2019, Singapore is keen to collaborate with the UAE on improving the technical feasibility and the establishment of supply chains for low-carbon hydrogen.

Singapore and the UAE will also be enhancing our bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Protection and Climate Change to include food and water security. This builds on our longstanding cooperation and reflects our shared recognition of the challenges ahead.

Let me also congratulate the UAE on your Presidency of COP-28 in 2023. Like the UAE, Singapore recognises the importance of multilateral rules-based solutions. Singapore looks forward to working closely with Egypt for COP-27, followed by the UAE for COP-28, so as to maintain the momentum for climate action.

Come April 2022, Singapore will host the Singapore International Water Week and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore. I invite all participants to continue advancing sustainability efforts.

In closing, let me once again thank His Highness Sheikh Mohamed for inviting me to share at today’s Summit. This is an important platform for us to exchange views on the blueprint of sustainable development. I wish everyone meaningful discussions over the course of this week.

Thank you.