Keynote Speaker Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and Ministry of Transport, shared that as a city-state with limited critical resources such as land, water and food, sustainability has been a part of Singapore’s development journey ever since independence.

“We have sought to balance economic growth with environmental protection and social inclusion…we must continue to adapt our living environment to ensure climate, resource and economic resilience”, said Dr Khor.

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), along with its statutory boards, has taken a series of actions and initiatives in tackling water and food security as well as climate change.

To safeguard Singapore’s food security with only 1% of land for agriculture use, innovative approaches in adaptive land uses has played an important role along with technology development. According to Dr Khor, Singapore has been experimenting the conversion of car park rooftops into urban farms, and successfully transformed former Henderson Secondary School into a plot-sharing urban farm.

Tuas Nexus, as the world’s first integrated waste and water treatment facility, is another example of innovative and sustainable land use in Singapore. The integration of Tuas Water Reclamation Plant and Integrated Waste Management Facility leads to savings of 2.6 hectares of land area comparing to stand-alone facilities. It is also expected that the synergies between the two facilities will result in carbon savings of more than 200,000 tons.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change needed the effort of the whole nation, suggested Dr Khor when introducing Singapore Green Plan 2030.

To encourage greener commuting and transportation, rail network and cycling path will be expanded to 360 kilometres and 1,320 kilometres respectively, while electric vehicles charging network will be expanded to 60,000 points by 2030 to support its vision for all vehicles to run on cleaner energy by 2040.

To pave way for low carbon built environment, sustainability standards are expected to be raised while Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Mark Scheme will be reviewed to push for the 80% adoption rate of super low energy buildings island wide.

For housing estates and towns, solar capacity on public housing block rooftops is expected to be doubled to 514 megawatts by 2030. Meanwhile, centralised cooling system, smart water meters and smart LED lightings will be introduced as part of the effort of placing energy efficient infrastructures.

To further nurture sustainable development, Singapore government has also introduced plans for green bonds issuing to fund green infrastructure projects.

Concluding her keynote, Dr Khor emphasized the importance of everyone’s contribution.

“We will need everyone to play their part, businesses civil society and individuals.

“Doing good for the environment is also good for business I encourage all of you to make a conscious effort to incorporate sustainability in your respective fields of work.”

The speech was followed by a more in-depth dialogue between Dr Khor and Ong Choon Fah, ULI Singapore Chair and Chief Executive Officer of EDMUND TIE.

Noting Dr Khor’s highlight on the importance of collective actions in promoting a sustainable future, Ong further invited Khor’s opinions on the priorities that the private sector should have amid the different stakeholder interests.

For businesses to ensure their longevity, Dr Khor suggested, it is essential for companies to embrace sustainable practice, such as using renewable energy, practicing 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, reducing waste and adopting energy efficient practice.

By incorporating sustainability in their own developments, companies and organisations are not just future proofing their projects, but also delivering the signals to their stakeholders that sustainability is beneficial to both environment and business.

Addressing Ong’s subsequent question on approaches embracing adaptive reuse of old building as a form of sustainability, Dr Khor highlighted that sustainability is the key principle guiding the decisions of rejuvenation and conservation.

“Conservation of buildings is not purely about freezing that building in time, but also to ensure that the building continues its relevance in today’s context.

“Therefore, we are supportive of adaptive reuse of conserved buildings.”

Dr Khor further added that to balance against competing needs and to ensure the sustainability of Singapore’s real estate development, both redevelopment and conservation are essential.

Ong observed that the pandemic has raised awareness of social capital, mental health and wellness, and sought Dr Khor’s view about the approaches the real estate sector may adopt to make Singapore a greener and more liveable home.

Coming from real estate herself, Dr Khor suggested that apart from adopting innovative solutions in facilitating infrastructures and constructions, it is also important for developers to provide more greeneries and communal spaces to foster social relationship within communities.

Imagining 2040, by which the initiatives in Singapore Green Plan 2030 would be in place, Dr Khor expressed her hope of sustainability being part of people’s lifestyle.

Three things would be common in households and neighbourhoods, pictured by Dr Khor, including the wider adoption of renewable energy; public transportation as the preferred choice for most people; and the 3Rs and circular economy principles would be part of the norms and lifestyles for a typical Singaporean.