Singaporean youths generally supportive of Singapore Green Plan 2030

The Singapore Green Plan 2030 was unveiled by the Government on Wednesday (Feb 10), outlining the country’s sustainability development targets over the next 10 years.  

Spearheaded by five ministries, there are five pillars under the Green Plan. These include City in Nature, Sustainable Living, Energy Reset, Green Economy and Resilient Future.

Some of the initiatives include having an additional 1,000 hectares of green spaces in Singapore by 2035, with every household being within a 10-minute walk from a nature park. 

At least 20 per cent of schools will be carbon neutral by 2030, while programmes will be introduced in school to instil a responsible and sustainability-conscious mindset and habits in students. 

We spoke to some youths to get their thoughts on the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

“I am looking forward to seeing the Government carry out this Green Plan because all of the initiatives that will end up benefiting us. This is something that should have happened a long time ago and shows that the authorities are taking note and putting in the effort to make Singapore a more environmentally sustainable nation. 

“A target which I feel will benefit me the most would be the increasing of the rail network to 360km by the early 2030s. As someone who isn’t planning to apply for a drivers’ license at all, seeing this assures me that I will be able to travel around Singapore with ease in the future. 

“Hopefully the MRT system will be more interlinked by then and travelling across the island will be a breeze.” – Nur Hazirah, 18, polytechnic student

“I think it’s good that Singapore is planning to implement these, especially when it comes to solar energy and electric cars. Singapore has many high rise buildings, with empty roofs, and the climate here will work favourably for solar. 

“For electric cars, Singapore already has BluSG, and more carparks are already getting fitted with electric chargers. Singapore is considerably smaller than other countries and there isn’t a cross state/county issue so it’ll be easy to implement electric cars. 

“Waste might be difficult to cut down because it’s also inherent in our society, for example, we tend to waste a lot so that will take quite a while. Nonetheless, as a substantial amount of carbon emissions is from cars, the conversion to electric cars would already be cutting down on a lot of emissions.” – Venkat Raghavan, 20, National Serviceman

“This Green Plan is definitely important with time ticking on the environmental clock. 

“Singaporeans are trying to become more sustainable but there are just some things that aren’t as accessible to us as compared to other countries such as local produce, cycling to work. 

“With the goals to produce more locally and allow local businesses to be more sustainable, it’ll make it easier to live green in Singapore. I’m excited about having local produce, hopefully we’ll be able to source more locally and in turn support local businesses. It’s a win-win situation for the environment and economy. 

“In addition, the approval of electric vehicles shows the government’s commitment in this initiative. Allowing people to have the ability to make that greener choice will make sure this Green Plan is as effective as they aim for it to be.” – Mak Yu Xuan, 19, intern

“This Green Plan signals to the whole country that the government is finally taking this seriously, and really churning a lot of effort into making sure Singapore continues its development on a green path. 

“I don’t really see a carbon emissions target anywhere so far. I feel like that’s very important, because if we want to declare climate change as a global emergency, we should have very clear targets for ourselves in terms of carbon emissions.

“For sustainable living, it talks about circular economy and focuses on new technology to make recycling efficient, but recycling has proven that it’s not as promising as we put it out to be. We should also balance our focus on circular economy through both recycling and reduction, without having to pump out resources and use advanced technology and energy.

“Youths should channel our youthful energy towards promoting more discussions about this, identifying what is good about the plans, asking questions and promoting more nuanced understandings about what targets are. I appreciate that the website has this part called ‘Share Your Ideas’. That platform is a productive way to channel our ideas.” – Coco Oan, 22, undergraduate

“I feel that this is an excellent initiative brought up by Singapore. After all, we are known as a Garden City and it’s only right that we have a Green Plan such as this to play our part in tackling climate change.

“By doing so, we will ensure that future generations don’t have to worry about the destructive effects of global warming. Singapore’s plan to quadruple solar energy deployment by 2025 shows that we are able to act quickly to wean ourselves from relying on natural gas and other fossil fuels.

“However, I believe that it’s also important that the global community plays its part to be green, as the world is heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

“My hope is that Singapore will be able to be sustainably green in the future so that we can be a model for others to follow.” – Julian Tay, 20, Student

Thoughts on the Singapore Green Plan 2030? Contribute your ideas here! 

Written by Phoon Jia Hui, Celeste Lim and Jeremy Na