PAP’s Cheryl Chan says ‘we must act now’ on climate change

Singapore —  All People’s Action Party (PAP) town councils are gearing up to support the Singapore Green Plan to “transform the housing estates into better living environments for every resident”, the PAP said in a Facebook post on Saturday (May 15).

The PAP announced the Action for Green Towns initiative, a collaboration of the 15 PAP town councils. “This builds on the Party’s recent sustainability motion in Parliament, put together by the Government Parliamentary Committee for Sustainability and the Environment and Young PAP,” it said.

It aims to make every PAP-managed town zero-waste, energy-efficient and greener by 2025.

This is necessary because of climate change.

“The impact of climate change cannot be ignored and we need to take action to ensure that we are creating a better and more sustainable environment for all our residents,” said Mr Lim Biow Chuan, the coordinating chairperson for the PAP town councils

Each PAP town council will have a sustainability committee with a dedicated sustainability officer to implement the initiative.

Residents will be encouraged to get involved. “We believe our residents do not just want to be proud of the estates they live in, but also of their contributions to making Singapore a bright green spark in the world,” said Dr Wan Razil, chairperson of the Jalan Besar Tower Council, who will lead the Action for Green Towns task force.

Ms Cheryl Chan, the Sustainability Champion for East Coast Town Council, wrote on Facebook,” It is not enough to think about sustainability; we must act now.” She, and a few other PAP MPs, tabled a motion on climate change in February.

“The global climate is changing, and Singapore is not insulated from its impact,” she warns. From 1980 to 2020, the annual mean temperature has risen from 26.9 deg C to 28 deg C, and the mean sea level in the Straits of Singapore has also increased at the rate of 1.2 to 1.7 mm annually between 1975 and 2009.

“By changing our habits and making conscious choices in our daily activities, we have the power to confront the climate challenge and build a more sustainable country, and do our part as a global citizen,”  Ms Chan says, asking the residents of East Coast GRC to share their ideas and views with her.

Denise Teh is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG