Reflecting the Climate in Our Bodies
Dear friend,
When was the last time you felt a physical connection to the climate? For some, climate change denial is connected to a lack of bodily changes. Temperatures rise too slowly to notice, sea levels come and go with the tide, and look! Snow still exists! As we humans are warm-blooded, our internal temperature adjustments to a hotter climate are automatic. At the same time, we lose touch with changes in the temperature of our external environment, a feeling our sensitive cold-blooded friends would like to have. We may be temperature-regulating privileged, but climate change will nonetheless continue to make itself known, showing on the sweat of our brows. In reflection of our everyday connection to the climate, how is your body connected to the environment?
This month we explored how our bodies are very much physically connected to the environment. Our first post covers the effects of warm nights, especially labourers that cannot cool at night from the heat of daytime. Our second post connects our bodies with the Earth. On 17 March, we’ll be partnering with Deep Time Walk to explore this connection. Participants will take part in a 4.6km walk that expresses the 4.6 billion years of history of the only planet we inhabit. In our human-centric world, the walk places us on a metaphorical clock, upon which we modern humans only existed at the stroke of midnight.
For a better world,
SG Climate Rally
🥵In our first post of the month, we took a look at the Third National Climate Change Study by the Centre for Climate Research Singapore (CCRS) projecting changes to Singapore’s temperature, sea level and rainfall by the end of the century. In our post, we focused on the issue of warm nights, and the effects of warm nights that will become the new normal. Beyond the uncomfortable presence that disturbs the sleep of many, warm nights also challenge the ability of our bodies to recover from daytime heat. It is an alarming issue for our blue-collar workers, such as taxi drivers, hawkers, cleaners and security guards, and especially so for migrant workers who have little protection. We call on the government to take active measures to help the vulnerable adapt to a changing climate, such as implementing cooling centres, technology and green architecture.
🌏Talking about a connection to Earth, SGCR is partnering with Deep Time Walk to organise a 4.6km walk to explore the Earth’s 4.6 billion years of history. Deep Time Walk started in 2007 as an idea to tell stories through time and space. Its predecessor, The Walk Through Time, used 95 panels of illustrations to explore 1 million years of evolution. Deep Time Walk follows the same concept and has pushed new mediums for storytelling, featuring cards, apps and audiobooks. When 1 metre represents 1 million years of history, participants will be on a journey of introspection to consider humanity’s connection to the ecosystem. The walk will take place on 17 March from 8:30am to 12:30pm and registration is open here.
Global News
❗A new study finds that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a system of ocean currents that regulates global climate, is approaching an abrupt shift which hasn't occurred in over 10,000 years. Collapse of the AMOC would see the Amazon flip between wet and dry seasons, cooling of Europe and less rainfall. The impacts would be irreversible on a human timescale.
😡Fossil fuel companies are using a corporate tribunal system called Investor-State Dispute Settlements (ISDS), allowing them to sue governments through secretive tribunals if laws undermine expected future profits. Over 1,300 ISDS cases have been filed so far, with fossil fuel companies winning 72% and over $77 billion in damages from governments. For example, one Singapore-based company, Zeph Investments, is suing the Australian government for A$300bn (S$263.2bn) because they turned down a proposed mining project. Critics term this system ‘litigation terrorism’ that creates a regulatory chill to work against climate action.
Local News
🏗️The International Energy Agency (IEA) will open its first regional office in Singapore called the IEA Regional Cooperation Centre, in the second half of the year. It will work with Southeast Asian countries and beyond to enhance energy security and accelerate clean energy transitions by focusing on scaling up renewable energy deployment, increasing cross-border power trade, and improving access to clean energy financing
📝Singapore will require all listed companies to disclose climate-related information starting from financial year 2025 (FY2025). Large non-listed companies, defined as those with annual revenue of at least S$1 billion and total assets of S$500 million, will have to make similar disclosures from FY2027. Disclosures must be based on local reporting standards aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board. These firms will need to obtain external limited assurance for scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting, while only listed firms will be required to disclose scope 3 emissions from 2026.
🏭Public Utilities Board (PUB) will construct the world’s largest facility to absorb CO2 from the ocean. The plant will cost S$27 million to help PUB decarbonise its water treatment and will be operational in 2025. By converting carbon dioxide into limestone, the plant can remove 3,650 metric tons annually, equivalent to 850 people’s annual carbon dioxide emissions.
⚛️A new multi-million dollar research building at NUS will house about 100 researchers looking at areas like small modular reactors, nuclear safety and accidents, and health impacts of radiation. The goal is to build up expertise and manpower in these areas as Singapore considers nuclear energy as part of its clean energy transition plan. Nuclear energy could potentially supply 10% of Singapore's energy needs by 2050. Recently, the Joint European Torus fusion reactor in the UK reached a new breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy generation. Fusion combines atomic nuclei to release energy and does not produce long-term radioactive waste like nuclear fission.
🪸Lovers of marine life will enjoy this CNA documentary which dives into the work of marine scientists in Singapore working on a project to conserve Singapore’s marine environments:
💰Also, on a new episode of the CNA Climate Conversations podcast, host Julie Yoo chats with GE Vernova’s Asia Decarbonization Leader Kazunari Fukui about the S$5 billion Future Energy Fund announced by the government in the recent Budget, and what types of clean energy we can expect to be the focus of this fund:
📖Two of our members have contributed to Ethos Books’ new publication, titled “We Are Not The Enemy: The Practice of Advocacy in Singapore, on behalf of the movement. It is a collection of essays and interviews that shed light on the intentions, beliefs, and strategies driving positive change across various causes. Check out the promotional video below:
You can buy a copy of the book here, which also gives you access to the book launch on 17 March 3pm at Cecil Building, 137 Cecil Street. See you there!