Singapore may have to use past reserves to support infrastructure to counter climate change: Halimah

President Halimah Yacob wrote in a Facebook post that Singapore cannot talk of a future if it does not deal with the issue of climate change decisively. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

SINGAPORE - In a Facebook post on Thursday (Sept 26), President Halimah Yacob wrote that Singapore cannot talk of a future if it does not deal with the issue of climate change decisively.

She noted that some of Singapore's plans to counter the effects of climate change, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong touched on during the National Day Rally in August and again this week at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, required building infrastructure that is extensive and costly.

PM Lee previously said that it may cost Singapore about $100 billion over the long term to protect its coastline from rising sea levels and mitigate other effects of climate change.

Madam Halimah said the measures needed "may eventually be supported by our past reserves in one way or another, something which we have been discussing with the Ministry of Finance".

She added: "In the meantime, let's all do our part to mitigate the impact of climate change."

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