Global collaboration, political will and tech key to addressing future problems: ST forum panel

SINGAPORE - International collaboration and political will, along with technology, are key factors in whether the world will be able to successfully address problems such as new pandemics and climate change.

This was the consensus of two panellists speaking on Tuesday at the ST Asia Future Summit, organised by The Straits Times and held at Raffles City Convention Centre.

Veteran diplomat Tommy Koh said the world needs technological innovation as it can help solve many problems such as ensuring more efficient use of energy or harnessing energy in new ways from alternative sources. But at the end of the day, it is a combination of technology and humans and their policies, he added.

Professor Wang Linfa, a zoonotic diseases expert from Duke-NUS Medical School, agreed, adding that political will and the international community working together are also key, in the context of addressing any potential new pandemic.

To prevent the next pandemic, science and technology would account for 50 per cent of the work. The other half would involve political will, international transparency and collaboration as well as putting the legal frameworks in place, he added.

He said: “Technology has advanced so much. But the geopolitics (has been) going backwards… We need people to go and work with others on the international stage to really express the view and for all the politicians to realise that... we’re fighting a common enemy, which is the virus.”

Responding to a question from ST senior health correspondent Salma Khalik, who moderated the discussion, on advice in the face of these challenges, Prof Wang said to win the war against climate change is to teach the young generation that it is a life-or-death issue.

“With Covid-19, you don’t have to because people around you are dying,” he said.

Professor Koh added that people have to realise climate change is a present problem and not a future problem. For example, there are devastating floods, famines, droughts and forest fires around the world. “And if you don’t do something to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, things will get worse,” he said.

Prof Koh said in his speech that as a “prophet of hope and not of despair”, he felt it is not too late for people to learn to be good stewards of the natural environment. People should change their individual behaviour and take ownership of the problems they have created.

Governments also need to roll out good policies, to incentivise individuals and businesses to do the right thing, he said, citing Singapore’s decision to roll out a carbon tax and its goal to phase out non-electric vehicles by 2040.

He urged the Singapore Government to follow France and Japan and make it mandatory to set the thermostat at 25 deg C in offices, hotels and other public buildings.

He noted that while the world is facing problems such as high inflation, high food and energy costs, and the war in Ukraine, it should “focus instead on the health of the planet, our home”.

Prof Koh said the planet is simultaneously faced with three crises: global warming and climate change, loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, and the degradation of the oceans.

With Covid-19 taking over the world in the past two years, the risk of future pandemics remains a worry.

Prof Wang said public health challenges posed by pandemics should be treated as security issues – nationally and internationally.

To reduce the risk, he said there needs to be adequate prediction and prevention by active surveillance of animal-human interactions, and early detection and mitigation through technology in hospitals.

Responding to a question on what is the best- and worst-case scenario for the future, Prof Koh said in the best-case scenario, the leaders of the world and the peoples of the world actually get together and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The worst-case scenario is that the world continues to mess up and global temperatures continue to go up, resulting in a devastating impact on agriculture, he said.

For Prof Wang, the best-case scenario is the future generation of scientists, bankers, doctors, lawyers and other professionals look beyond their areas of narrow specialities and speak up on issues that affect society, and engage and influence the politicians who make the decisions.