Look Ahead 2020: Environment — Food security to take centre stage while climate change activism forges ahead

As we usher in the new year following an eventful 2019, TODAY takes a look at what to expect in several key areas affecting Singaporeans' lives: Economy, property, environment, politics and transport. In the third of five instalments, we examine what is in store for the environment landscape in Singapore.

SINGAPORE — As anxiety over climate change reached fever pitch, talk of the environment and sustainability dominated headlines for much of last year, culminating in climate rallies held in many cities including Singapore. 

That fervour is unlikely to dissipate this year as young people around the world continue to demand for more action to slow down or reverse the damage done to the earth. 

Climate change aside, Singapore grappled with other perennial environmental issues in 2019, including the one of its worst dengue outbreaks in recent history. This too, is a problem that is unlikely to go away in 2020, experts said. 

Here is a closer look at what lies ahead on the environmental front this year.

ANOTHER DENGUE OUTBREAK

2019 had Singapore’s worst dengue outbreak in over three years, with 16,000 cases — more than five times the previous year — and 20 deaths. And it does not look like the epidemic will abate this year. 

Assistant Professor Vincent Pang, the director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Research at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said there is likely to be a similar outbreak in the middle of the year.

This is especially so if many residents choose to visit countries with their own dengue epidemics during the warm and rainy season.

Mr Chew Ming Fai, the Director-General of Public Health at the National Environment Agency (NEA), attributed the spike in dengue cases last year to three factors: The high number of mosquitoes in Singapore, a warmer climate leading to the faster breeding of mosquitoes and lower herd immunity among Singapore residents.

The NEA is concerned by the rising number of dengue cases towards the end of 2019 and is “watching the numbers carefully”, he said, adding that the agency will inform the public about areas with a high mosquito population so that residents can take precautionary measures.

The NEA’s Wolbachia trials are unlikely to have a “significant impact” on the situation, he added. 

These trials involve placing Wolbachia, a naturally-occurring bacteria, in male mosquitoes and growing them in NEA’s facilities. These infected mosquitoes are then released into the public to mate with female Aedes mosquitoes. When infected with the bacteria, the eggs of female mosquitoes do not hatch.

Despite the good outcome of these trials in Yishun and Tampines, Mr Chew said that the project is still in its research phase, and the next step for the agency is to understand how and in which areas it should release the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes.  

CLIMATE CHANGE SET TO BE AN ELECTION ISSUE

Led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, young people around the world took to the streets last year to demand greater action against climate change from their governments and corporations.

The protests spilled over into Singapore, where several university students banded together to stage the Republic’s first climate rally, held at Hong Lim Park.

Climate change activism is set to continue this year, with youths here looking to bring the issue to the forefront during the upcoming General Election, which is due to be called by April 2021.

Yale-NUS undergraduate Mr Aidan Mock, who was one of the organisers of the climate rally, said that he expects climate issues to become “explicitly political” this year.

While there are no plans yet to stage another climate rally, some of the organisers, working with other environmental groups and activists, say they intend to grade political parties on their green policies and make this grading available to the public.

Mr Mock, 24, also said that he expects the focus of youth activism to expand beyond environmental issues to cover issues such as mental health, financial inequality and the treatment of migrant workers.

“There are a lot of areas in which youths are becoming engaged and these are areas we might see increased youth attention and action,” he added.

FOOD PRICES SET TO RISE

Last year, the Government announced plans to enable Singapore to produce 30 per cent of its own nutritional needs by 2030, as a way of ensuring food security against disruptions caused by external events. 

To hit this “30 by 30” target, farmers will have to grow more food locally and consumers will have to support them by buying local more frequently.

Professor Paul Teng, a food security expert, said that while the Government spent the last year laying the ground for its 30 by 30 goal, this year will be focused on putting its plans into action.

This includes embarking on research to help farms here increase their productivity and implementing technology to prevent diseases that may affect fish production.

The Government will also launch the Singapore Food Story campaign this year to encourage Singaporeans to buy and eat local produce.

This comes as experts warn that Singaporeans will have to contend with higher prices for certain food products in 2020 as a result of external factors.

Ms Isabella Huang-Loh, the chairman of the Singapore Environment Council, said that the United States-China trade war, the impact of climate change on crops and the rise of middle-income economies such as India and China could result in Singaporeans paying more for imported food.

Professor Teng, who is an adjunct senior fellow at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that African swine fever could lead to an increase in pork prices, while monsoons in the East or Southeast Asian region could affect the amount of fish caught in the wild, leading to higher fish prices.

KEEPING UP EFFORTS TO CUT WASTE

With 2019 declared the Year Towards Zero Waste, companies jumped aboard the “green” bandwagon and made greater efforts to cut down their waste.

Restaurants such as KFC and Nando’s stopped serving disposable straws, while supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice and homegrown bakery BreadTalk asked customers to pay for plastic bags at selected outlets.

Meanwhile, the blue recycling bins at housing estates across Singapore were redesigned to make it easier for the public to identify what objects they can recycle. 

This move was made in order to reduce the amount of contamination in recycling bins, which occurs when people throw items into them that cannot be recycled, such as food waste. In such cases, the whole bin ends up at the landfill instead of being recycled. 

While it is too early to gauge if these waste reduction efforts are bearing fruit, observers said that the momentum begun in 2019 will likely continue into 2020.

Ms Pek Hai Lin, the chairperson of environmental non-profit Zero Waste SG, said she has seen greater interest among businesses to reduce their waste.

“Some are more embracing and want to explore waste reduction more comprehensively, while some are at an exploratory stage where they just want to find out more. It is heartening to see more organisations approaching us to explore ideas and collaborations as well,” she said.