Extending Care to the Most Vulnerable 💞
Dear friend,
To practise care also means extending it to the most vulnerable among us. This month has been a harrowing one for those fighting to save the lives of the people on death row. Sadly, the State continued to execute Nagaenthran on 27 April, despite a petition with over a hundred thousand signatures, personal clemency appeals hand-delivered to the Istana, and hundreds of people gathering to protest in Hong Lim Park. In the meantime, Datchina was granted a stay, but the fight to save him continues.
We have always pushed for a just transition away from the climate crisis, because we see it as a result of multiple injustices that disproportionately harm the marginalised, that will not be simply solved by solar panels or electric cars. The death penalty is one example, and as other climate activists like NTU Divest and Speak for Climate have said, we need to actively advocate for a regenerative culture instead of treating marginalised people as disposable.
Many of us may not have thought deeply about the death penalty before, because we are often conditioned to accept the status quo. But it is never too late to start unlearning. Keep in mind Datchina’s mother’s words: “Your government wants you to be afraid, don’t be afraid. They will try to stop you. Don’t stop.”
For a better world,
SG Climate Rally
Continuing with our theme of ‘Care’ for April, we’ve published several pieces on our blog looking at how the climate crisis intersects with several facets of care. Firstly, we looked at how rising inequality exacerbates the problems that rising sea levels will pose to the most vulnerable workers among us, and how we must extend care and solidarity towards them in our fight against the climate crisis.
Next, we published a long but extremely important read on how we can structure a future around care work, but to begin with, such work (such as taking care of children or elderly) must be recognised as such in the first place. In addition, our current economic system is one that prioritises profit and efficiency in its ‘growth at all costs’ model, further marginalising such workers who are underpaid and exploited in such a model. The author, J, proposes a new system based on the ‘degrowth’ model - a post-capitalist and decolonised world breaking with the imperative of growth for the economy.
We’ve also published posts commemorating Earth Day and Labour Day on 22 April and 1 May respectively. We questioned whether ‘green finance’ is sufficient to tackle the climate crisis, and whether we should instead invest in indigenous activists who best know the land they come from. On Labour Day, we reiterated our call that the fight for climate action should be one centered around workers’ rights, and reshared some clips from the open meeting about our petition against the government’s petrol hike and calling for better rights for private hire and food delivery riders.
Lastly, our beautifully illustrated post on regenerative cultures tells us that alternative ways of relating to our natural world already exist as practised by the many indigenous peoples around the world. We should learn from them to reimagine our connections not just with the environment around us, but with the people within our communities too.
📃📈🌡The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the third and final report of its latest review of climate science. Focusing on the progress of mitigation efforts, it warned that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 to prevent global heating to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. Notably, the report made new acknowledgements of the need to find alternatives to economic growth and the role of colonialism in driving the climate crisis.
🏦🧑🔬⛓Shortly after the release of the report, the climate scientist group Scientist Rebellion held global protests with varying degrees of direct action and risked arrests to highlight the urgency of the climate scientist. In Los Angeles, scientists including NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus chained themselves to the JP Morgan Chase building in protest and were arrested.
🌊🔥📉A report by Tsinghua University produced for Temasek noted that Singapore would face “serious challenges from rising sea levels and heat stress” and may even lose up to 46 percent of GDP in a worst scenario. They proposed fostering greater awareness of climate risk analysis for businesses to mitigate the risks posed to them. During New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s first official trip to Singapore, both countries announced greater cooperation on areas such as energy transition technology, carbon markets, sustainable transport and waste management.
One of our very own SGCR members, Phoebe, recently appeared in Our Grandfather Story’s newest video about whether tackling climate change should be primarily focused on individual actions or on the government or corporations. Spoiler Alert: it’s all of us!
Do take care and see you again next month!