SINGAPORE: When asked recently, presidential aspirant Tharman Shanmugaratnam identified climate change as the biggest challenge is climate change.
Earlier this week, in an Aug 15 article published in The Straits Times, Mr. Tharman called climate change the “biggest long-term crisis” the country faces, adding that adapting to the phenomena means infrastructural investments.
This is not the first time the former Senior Minister sounded the alarm on the looming climate crisis. In February, at the Briefing by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water at the United Nations General Assembly, as co-chair of the commission, he warned that the global water crisis, linked to climate change, is going to get even worse and added that immediate interventions are needed.
In recent years, he has been consistent on the issue, repeatedly speaking about the coming crisis.
In The Straits Times’ “Quick-fire questions with Tharman Shanmugaratnam | Presidential Election 2023”, he was asked, “If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?”
He answers, “My superpower would be for the world to go back in time to the 1950s and know in advance that climate change is coming in the 21st century.”
Nevertheless, amid the sense of urgency, he communicates, he remains optimistic that climate change is a problem that can be tackled and underlines the need for everyone to get involved.
Speaking last month at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, Mr Tharman said the effort should involve global, national, individual, and grassroots levels.
“What we need is optimism that is accompanied by constant dissatisfaction, ” giving rise to “initiatives that bring all stakeholders together.”
/TISG
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