The impact of the changing climate has caught the attention of more people here, with a large majority indicating that they were willing to bear additional costs and inconvenience to safeguard the planet for future generations.
These were among the key findings of a poll on climate change perceptions among Singaporeans and permanent residents, released yesterday by the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), which is part of the Prime Minister's Office.
This climate change perception survey has been conducted by the Government once every two years since 2011.
The latest edition of the survey, conducted face to face with 1,000 Singapore residents aged 15 and above earlier this year, found that over 90 per cent were aware of climate change and its impacts, such as ecosystem destruction, as well as rising temperatures and sea levels.
And almost four in five (78.2 per cent) of those polled were prepared to play their part towards a low-carbon Singapore, even if they have to bear some additional costs and inconvenience as consumers.
NCCS' summary of key findings did not include examples of what such costs and inconvenience could entail.
But Singapore Youth for Climate Action member Swati Mandloi said it could involve paying more for electricity from a green retailer, or waiting an extra five minutes at a sheltered bus stop on a rainy day if one opts for public transport instead of driving.
Overall, while the NCCS survey reflected the global trend on climate change awareness among people here, the Singapore survey showed some were not sure what they could do to tackle the issue.
Less than half of those polled (48.3 per cent) said they knew what they could do to address climate change. Still, people here were trying to do their bit by making changes where they could, the survey showed.
More were practising environmentally friendly actions at home, compared with findings from the survey in 2017.
For instance, more said they were saving water (90.7 per cent, up from 85.8 per cent) and reducing food wastage and tracking food expiration (79.7 per cent, up from 77.6 per cent).
In terms of how such actions could translate into making a difference to global climate change, about six in 10 said they strongly believed that individual action could make a difference.
Concern about the liveability of the planet for the future generations was a key motivator for those polled, a marked change from survey findings in 2017 that had shown saving money as a key reason for taking climate action.
Ms Pui Cuifen, a member of Foodscape Collective, a community for sustainable food systems, said the survey's overall results were encouraging.
"It is interesting to see the increase in general awareness among the randomly selected individuals in the Singapore community, and to see that people are now selecting 'more liveable environment' over 'save money' as a key motivator for taking action," she said.
National University of Singapore sociologist Tan Ern Ser said the survey findings showed that most Singaporeans recognise the urgency of environmental issues.
On how this could translate into policy, Associate Professor Tan said: "The need to take action could serve as 'new norms' with which to nudge others who are not taking this seriously to join in, and help bring the figures up to close to 100 per cent."
He added that future studies should focus more on capturing behaviour, to see if people would actually do what they said they would.
