Speech by Minister Grace Fu - Committee of Supply 2025

4 March 2025

Transcript of speech delivered by Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, at the Committee of Supply debate 2025 on 4 March 2025.

Madam Chair,

Introduction

As we mark SG60, looking back at the last sixty years, it is not difficult to note the progress we have made since independence.
We laid the foundations for a modern metropolis, cleaning up our waterways and environment, putting in place a modern sanitation system, reducing flood risks, and improving food safety.
Our hawker centres remain an important source of affordable food, a cherished social space for many Singaporeans, and a proud showcase of our food heritage for friends visiting from abroad.
We have also harnessed science and technology through NEWater and desalination to strengthen our water resilience, and developed Project Wolbachia to fight dengue and improve public health.
The green and livable city we enjoy today is the collective result of our boldness and our resilience over the past six decades.
Since our independence, we have pursued economic growth in tandem with environmental protection and social inclusion. It is a careful balancing act – one that requires boldness in decision-making and the resilience to rise above our constraints.
MSE’s work is vital in safeguarding the food we eat, the water we drink, and the environment we live, work and play in. At the core, MSE’s work is about “Our Sustainability, Our Resilience, Our Everyday.”
Our Sustainability – is to steward our limited resources responsibly for future generations; and
Our Resilience – is to prepare for and adapt to new challenges; and
Our Everyday – is to improve the daily living of Singaporeans, and our daily interaction with our environment, present and future.
In this COS debate, we will touch on these areas.

Our Sustainability

First, our sustainability.
Improving energy efficiency is critical in our drive towards net zero. Everyone can play a part in improving our energy efficiency. Being more energy efficient will help us conserve energy, allowing us to grow our economy and population with less energy and carbon emission.
We will support households and industries in pursuing energy efficiency improvements.
For businesses, we have expanded energy efficiency grants to cover more sectors such as construction and manufacturing sectors. We have also enhanced regulatory frameworks for various sectors, such as the buildings and industry sectors.
For households, the enhanced Climate Friendly Households Programme will be expanded to benefit more households and encourage wider adoption of resource efficient household products.
The public sector is also pressing ahead with its plan to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings. SMS Khor will share more.
Ms Poh Li San asked how we intend to manage air conditioning use. Against the backdrop of a warmer planet, it is crucial that we manage our thermal comfort sustainably. Very often, our indoor spaces are so cold that we need to wear sweaters in tropical Singapore.
A major step is to keep indoor air-conditioned spaces at 25°C or higher. This will reduce energy cost and allow occupants to dress more appropriately for our tropical climate.
The public sector has adopted this where possible, and we hope to partner businesses and the public to make a broader shift towards sustainable cooling. More details will be announced later this year.

Our Resilience

Next, our resilience efforts.
Climate change poses a serious and considerable threat to Singapore.
We will launch a $25 million Weather Science Research Programme to enhance Singapore’s ability to understand and predict our tropical urban weather, including extreme weather arising from climate change.
Under this programme, the Centre for Climate Research Singapore will collaborate with local Institutes of Higher Learning and Research Institutes to incorporate the latest scientific and technological developments.
For example, researchers will use artificial intelligence to improve our ability to forecast.
Just as we have risen to past challenges, we need to work together with purpose, urgency and determination to strengthen our climate resilience. I will speak about flood, coastal and heat resilience, while SMS Khor and SMS Koh will cover water and food resilience respectively.

Flood & Coastal resilience

First, flood and coastal resilience. In our early days of independence, Singapore faced frequent and widespread flooding during the monsoon seasons. Over the years, we have reduced flood prone areas from around 3,200 hectares in the 1970s to less than 25 hectares today – which is a 99% reduction. You may recall that in January this year, Singapore experienced two monsoon surges which brought prolonged rain. Over both monsoon surges, there was just one reported flood incident. Our progress in flood resilience is significant.
However, climate change will pose new challenges. As such, we will upgrade our infrastructure to enhance Singapore’s flood resilience.
We can expect six more drainage upgrading projects this year. Later this year, upgrading works for the Sungei Serangoon Western and Eastern subsidiary drains are slated to commence, to cater for upcoming developments in the Lorong Halus area.
That said, in land-scarce Singapore, we cannot keep expanding our drainage infrastructure. We must strengthen flood resilience at the systems level, and partner building owners, developers, and the wider community.
For individual developments, PUB works closely with building owners and developers to implement, operate and maintain flood-protection measures. For underground MRT stations and buildings with basements, PUB works with them to meet requirements on minimum platform and crest levels.
PUB also engages residents and businesses in flood-prone areas and hotspots on flood risks and distributes flood protection devices to enhance flood protection for these premises.
To improve rainfall monitoring and prediction, PUB leverages and has invested in technology like X-band radars to give more localised forecasts. To update Singaporeans on potential flooding, PUB leverages the myENV mobile app, social media, radio broadcast and traditional media outlets to disseminate timely updates. There are also plans to enable the ERP 2.0 on-board units to display flood alerts by mid-2025.
As we enhance our inland flood resilience, we need to build coastal protection in tandem.
Members asked about the status of our coastal protection plans, legislation and standards. To guide our plans, we are conducting site-specific studies. The studies for Jurong Island, City-East Coast, including Long Island, as well as the northwest coast from Tuas to Woodlands are on track. More details for the Greater Southern Waterfront and Changi will be shared later this year. We will commence the studies for Sentosa and the south-west coast by 2026.
Ms Nadia also asked how we will fund our coastal protection efforts. The Government plans to use funds from our annual Budget, the Coastal and Flood Protection Fund, to which the Minister for Finance has announced a $5 billion top-up, and through borrowing. Where eligible, such as for land reclamation costs, we will also use the Past Reserves. We will continue to study how best to finance these measures in a way that is fiscally sustainable and equitable across generations.
It is more effective to build up flood resilience at a system’s level, where coastal stakeholders play their part alongside the Government. We are preparing a coastal protection legislation to set out the responsibilities of relevant stakeholders, safeguard land for coastal protection measures and ensure that coastal protection standards are met. We will consult stakeholders and table a Coastal Protection bill in the second half of 2025.
PUB is developing a Code of Practice that will provide a set of design standards, as well as operation and maintenance requirements for coastal protection measures. We will consult the industry this year, and aim to release it by the first half of 2026.
PUB will also launch a Flood-Resilient Developments guidebook to help building owners enhance the resilience of their premises. The guidebook will contain case studies and a toolkit of flood-resilient measures that owners can consider adopting for their buildings.

Heat resilience

Next, on heat resilience.
As we experience rising temperatures, building heat resilience is a critical part of our adaptation efforts. Ms Poh Li San asked about our heat resilience efforts.
We are progressively rolling out infrastructural interventions to enhance heat resilience.
HDB will work closely with the Town Councils to apply cool coatings to all existing HDB estates islandwide by 2030.
We are studying the effectiveness of cool coatings to other infrastructure archetypes, such as schools and hawker centres.
We will find ways to improve thermal comfort for the public, such as enhancing greenery and ventilation, and reducing heat emission.
Infrastructural interventions, however, need to be complemented with individual actions. Thermal comfort is subjective, and our bodies respond differently.
A key tenet of our heat resilience efforts is about empowering people.
The Heat Stress Advisory was launched in 2023 to guide the public on steps to protect themselves, based on the prevailing heat stress levels. Recognising that heat affects various groups of people differently, depending on the nature of their activities, the Heat Stress Advisory is supported by sector-specific guidelines, such as the Ministry of Manpower’s revised framework to protect outdoor workers.
Underpinning these guidelines is our Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature heat stress sensor network. I am happy to share that we are expanding our sensor network beyond sports stadiums to cover residential areas. This will provide more accurate information so that our advisory can be more effective.
The expanded heat stress sensor network will also provide more timely information on extreme weather events, such as heatwaves. We have developed heatwave response plans for both public and sector-specific populations.
Associate Professor Razwana asked about our collaboration with partners. We do so through platforms such as the C40 network of about 100 cities that are looking for solutions on climate change. We also partner researchers to deepen our understanding of how heat impacts our health, and to co-create innovative solutions such as developing wearables for better heat stress monitoring.
I have touched on our efforts for flood, coastal and heat resilience. These are important parts of Singapore’s national adaptation plan, which countries are encouraged to develop in line with international best practices. In the face of increasing yet uncertain climate risks, the national adaptation plan will serve as a long-term, living strategy for Singapore to continue thriving in the future. Through our ongoing and upcoming engagements, we hope to hear views from the community and stakeholders too.

Our Everyday

Lastly, our efforts to safeguard our everyday.
The journey towards a sustainable and resilient Singapore is not just about preparing for the longer-term challenges. We must not lose sight of the importance of our everyday behaviour.

Public hygiene

This was why we designated 2024 as the Year of Public Hygiene. To highlight the importance of public hygiene and more importantly, to harness the spirit of collective responsibility in adopting good public hygiene practices for the betterment of our society.
We have achieved commendable outcomes.
We saw a 36% reduction of litter between May 2024 and Dec 2024 at littering hotspots, thanks to increased public education as well as enforcement efforts.
My Ministry also recently received the Public Toilets Taskforce’s report. We have studied the taskforce’s recommendations and decided to endorse them.
SPS Baey will share more on this.

Hawker centres

Hawker centres are also an important part of our everyday.
In the early days, street hawkers were resettled into hawker centres to improve food hygiene standards and public health.
Hawker centres have remained an important source of affordable food and an integral part of our culture, serving as vibrant community dining rooms for Singaporeans and visitors from all walks of life.
Over time, as our people’s needs evolve, our hawker centres have to be revitalised and be future ready.
With climate change, an ageing population, rapid urban redevelopments, and shifting hawker profiles, patrons and hawkers have new expectations. Hawkers also require more productive and innovative solutions to meet their business aspirations and tackle operational challenges.
As demographics shift, some hawker centres in the mature estates have experienced falling demand. At the same time, new estates have emerged, and may need more affordable eating options.
The Minister for Finance has announced that we will allocate up to $1 billion to upgrade older hawker centres and build new centres. We will do these progressively over the next 20 to 30 years, to serve the changing needs of Singaporeans for generations to come.
New hawker centres will be built as needed, with modern services and sustainable spaces.
Under a new Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme 2.0, or HUP 2.0 for short, existing hawker centres will be transformed. Madam, in Mandarin.
通过小贩中心翻新计划升级版, 我们将为食客和小贩打造更舒适的用餐和工作环境。我们希望提供更具包容性的空间，以确保人人（包括长辈、体障人士）都能得到小贩中心的便利。小贩中心的基础设施也将为气候变化做好准备。
有些位于成熟组屋区的小贩中心可能会进行较大规模的重建。我们会尽可能与组屋区发展计划同步进行，与时俱进，因时、因地制宜更舒适更合民众需求的小贩中心。
SMS Koh will share more later about our plans.

Conclusion

Let me conclude.
The road ahead will not be easy. We will face challenges that will test our adaptability – climate change, geopolitical tensions, disease outbreaks and other global uncertainties. But our Singapore story has always been one of resilience – of a people who refuse to be daunted by our limitations, who turn challenges into opportunities, and who forge ahead with boldness.
MSE’s theme for today’s debate is “Our Sustainability, Our Resilience, Our Everyday”. It is not just about the policies and infrastructure, but also about our people and the everyday choices we make. It is about the businesses that embrace green investments and innovation, the households that recycle waste, the individuals who champion sustainability, and the communities that look out for one another.
Every effort, no matter how small, strengthens our resilience and secures our future. Let us build on our strong foundation and press on with boldness and confidence. Just as past generations laid the groundwork for the green and livable Singapore we enjoy today, let us do our part to ensure that future generations will look back with pride at the choices we made.
Together, we can shape a Singapore that remains not only a thriving nation, but also a home that is sustainable, resilient, and full of potential.