Youth For Environmental Sustainability Leaders Programme (YESLP) Graduation Ceremony on 21 June 2024 - Ms Grace Fu

Welcome Address by Ms Grace Fu, Minister For Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations at the Youth for Environmental Sustainability Leaders Programme (YESLP) Graduation Ceremony on 21 June 2024

1 Good morning. I am delighted to be here today amongst our environment youth leaders and partners from our Institutes of Higher Learning.

2 It is important that we recognise the pressing issues facing our environment, spanning from climate change to pollution. These challenges are diverse and require a concerted effort from all sectors of society. Against this backdrop, I am pleased to highlight the significant role of NEA’s Youth for Environmental Sustainability, or YES, Leaders Programme, in contributing to this cause. Launched nine months ago, the programme is an integral part of NEA’s YES Movement. It offers our youth leaders a unique opportunity to channel their passion for the environment into tangible projects with meaningful impact.

3 The YES Leaders Programme brings together partners from the People, Public and Private sectors to address environmental issues through innovative solutions and collaborations. Participants gain knowledge and skills needed to address environmental challenges through a blend of education, mentorship, and hands-on experience. Youth leaders had the chance to visit NEA’s key operational installations and deepen their understanding of Singapore’s environmental policies and management approaches. The exposure provided a good foundation in Singapore’s environmental sustainability efforts, covering areas such as climate change, energy, waste, and pollution control. With the guidance from their IHL mentors and YES Advisors, they honed their skills in community engagement, when they implemented and championed projects in their campuses.

4 The YES Leaders Programme brings together partners from the People, Public and Private sectors to address environmental issues through innovative solutions and collaborations. Participants gain knowledge and skills needed to address environmental challenges through a blend of education, mentorship, and hands-on experience. Youth leaders had the chance to visit NEA’s key operational installations and deepen their understanding of Singapore’s environmental policies and management approaches. The exposure provided a good foundation in Singapore’s environmental sustainability efforts, covering areas such as climate change, energy, waste, and pollution control. With the guidance from their IHL mentors and YES Advisors, they honed their skills in community engagement, when they implemented and championed projects in their campuses.

5 One example is called “Swap and Exchange”, led by Noorhakim bin Abdul Halim from Nanyang Polytechnic. The project brought together students and staff to donate sportswear and sports equipment, promoted the reuse of items that were in good condition and reduced waste. It also served the less privileged community and fostered a greater interest in sports. Another example is the Green Doctors Programme, founded by a group of NUS graduates led by Sophia Ding. Observing that over 18 tonnes of medical blister packs were disposed of and incinerated monthly in Singapore, their team developed a proprietary green solvent technology to chemically recycle these blister packs. Today, Sophia and her team continue to work diligently towards their goal of building a circular economy by closing the loop for materials found in pharmaceutical packaging.

6 There are many more inspiring projects and stories from the YES Movement. Let’s give our YES Leaders a round of applause. Participation in CleanEnviro Summit Singapore will enrich the experience of our youth leaders as they build networks with like-minded people.

7 I would like to acknowledge several people and organisations in making YES a success. Our NEA EcoFriend Award recipients, Ms Pek Hai Lin and Mr Loo Deliang, dedicated their time to mentoring our youth leaders as YES Advisors. This year, two more outstanding individuals, Ms Samantha Thian and Mr Veerappan Swaminathan, will join them as YES Advisors. Samantha and Veera are no strangers to the environmental scene in Singapore: Veera is the founder and director of the Sustainable Living Lab, bringing over 14 years of experience in sustainability and innovation. Samantha is the founder of Seastainable, which has supported over 33 global projects in marine conservation efforts. Let us give them our fullest support in their mentorship roles. Hai Lin and Veera are here with us today, while Deliang and Samantha are unable to attend as they are overseas.

8 I would also like to thank the leaders of participating IHLs for facilitating the programme. With your support, let us extend a warm welcome to our second cohort of the YES Leaders Programme. This year, 40 youth participants have been nominated by IHLs. I would ask the participants the same question as I did to our first batch of youth leaders, and that is to place yourself in the year of 2050. When we talk about year 2050, it is a time where Singapore and hopefully many other parts of the world have net zero ambitions. What it means is that we may be still emitting some CO2 or greenhouse gases, but we are also sequestering CO2 from other parts of the environment and economy. That is the kind of scenario that we want. We want to see net zero in the world by 2050. Now, if that is the timeframe of 2050, how old will you be then? You will probably be in your fifties, taking a leadership role in an organisation to head the industries and businesses, and leading sustainable lifestyles in a sustainable world. If you are leaders at that time, what will you do from now to then to make that vision a reality? How can you work towards that reality where you are ready to lead an organisation, to head a ministry, to head a department, or to lead an organisation in community engagement to do voluntary work? I urge you to start building those skillsets and pave that path for yourself. Own this destiny, own this journey, and own the process. Capture the opportunities and make it happen. The YES Leaders Programme will give you the opportunities and skillsets to enable you to be at the forefront of the sustainability movement.

9 I am gratified to see some of the projects presented in the video. The video has given us a very good flavour of the kind of sustainability challenges that the YES leaders are thinking about. How can we reuse and repurpose things? Take for instance, one of our YES leaders, Daryl Goh. He had to first identify the problem. Second, he had to think about ways to design products to make them look more premium. He also had to think about the ways to introduce the products to the market. And it is because of the YES programme, NUS offered him the opportunity to do so. The YES programme gives you the opportunity of the marketplace. The IHLs are supporting you and opening spaces for you to introduce your ideas. For example, thinking about economics, how much to charge for your products, and how to build apps. With the exposure, Daryl can gain more skillsets beyond having knowledge of reusable containers. He can learn more about social behaviour dynamics such as creating attractive posters and interface to motivate people to use reusable containers. Social behaviour is also a very important part of sustainable change. Climate change or sustainability challenges are complex which involve many different types of skillsets and disciplines such as engineering, finance, and even social sciences. We need to integrate all these skillsets and disciplines into one project for it to be successful and effective. The YES programme is a fertile ground for all to try in a safe environment. You can make full use of this opportunity to network with people in other disciplines as well. I am sure the IHLs find this opportunity a well-rounded one for students to be exposed to the multifaceted skillsets and cross-disciplines across schools. This is a wonderful way to prepare our children for the challenges and the ambition of your time. Remember I talked to you about painting yourself in 2050? If you see yourself as a change leader, this is the time for you to discover the opportunity and build up your skillsets.

10 In closing, I want to make a plug for 2024 being the Year of Public Hygiene. Why is the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment making this year the Year of Public Hygiene? While we talk about sustainability, there is an underlying foundation of our well-being, which is the cleanliness of our environment such as the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the environment we live in. As we all know, sustainability and ecosystem are intertwined. If we throw litter on the ground, it gets washed into the drain, it then pollutes the water and affects the fish we receive in our food chain. In order for us to think about a clean environment and people’s well-being, hygiene is a fundamental basic we need. We hope to mobilise businesses, the community, and individuals to actively contribute to the maintenance of good public hygiene practices. If our new YES leaders have yet to decide on a project, why not consider shaping it around enhancing industry capability and leveraging technology, or rallying the community in helping to keep Singapore clean? If you have a suggestion to improve the environment or public health initiatives that benefits the wider community, I encourage you to tap on MSE’s SG Eco Fund. We can provide resources to support these projects.

11 We have just gone through three years of COVID where we suffered the impacts of this widespread epidemiological challenge. If we ignore the cries of the planet, we are going to experience these challenges more frequently and perhaps more severely. Hence, it is important for us to consider all aspects of the environment so we can make this planet a sustainable one. The YES programme offers great value for our participants as it pools our strengths and resources together where they can benefit from the mentorship of our YES Advisors who have experience in community driven capabilities, alongside support of the NEA and our partners. These are all very important parts to make us resilient because ultimately whether it is about climate change or public hygiene, it is not the direction from the government to solve the problems. It is about our daily habits, and for us to look forward to a change. And the change has to start with us, every single one of us. I am confident that our youth leaders will make a positive difference in our communities, serving as inspiration for others. Together, let us work towards our common goal of building a greener and more resilient Singapore. Thank you.