GreenSG COLLAB

Since it is National Day month, it is timely to take stock of the state of our environment and recap some of the recent sustainability measures and initiatives announced this year. There’s so much happening that we need to bring you a Part 2 soon ~ #Singapore #Environment #Sustainability

A very fulfilling weekend as we hosted our Volunteers and Partner Appreciation & Networking Session, together with SG Cares Volunteer Centre @ Jurong. Thank you Guest-of-Honour and our board member, Mr Shawn Huang, for gracing the event and inspiring us with his personal volunteerism journey! It was nice to be able to gather many of our old and new volunteers and partners to show our deepest appreciation for their tireless contributions and support, which has enabled us to spread greater environmental awareness and provide opportunities for youth to champion sustainability causes. At the event, we also officially launched our website - greensgcollab.org, where you can find out more about what we do, get access to a consolidated list of educational resources and donate to support our causes. After which, we went down to the Green Parade, organised by GreenSpace+, where we had the opportunity to share with many about what we do and showcased the submissions from our recent Climate Crisis Challenge finalists! Thank you to everyone who came down to the event and dropped by our booth!

On 21 June, 8 teams presented their innovative solutions to tackle one of three pressing issues of the climate crisis: Food Insecurity, Biodiversity and Heat Stress This year’s Climate Crisis Challenge was open to nationwide secondary schools and we are heartened to have received over 60 submissions! Teams with high potential ideas were given mentorship guidance from experts and seed money to further develop their solutions, before they were narrowed down to the final 8 upon deliberation with our experts. We were treated to delightful presentations from the teams on solutions such as to gamify learning and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, workshops to enhance communities’ capabilities and knowledge to self produce food, and the development of a portable and convertible fan for immediate heat relief. Congratulations to St Margaret’s School (Secondary) for emerging as the Champions! Thank you to all students and teachers for participating in this year’s challenge! Grateful to all experts and mentors for contributing your time to guide the team, as well as our partners National University of Singapore and Singapore Pools for supporting and sharing the vision to empower youth to lead positive change for a more sustainable environment. Thank you to our volunteers as well who have helped us organise this event successfully!  Join us at next year’s Climate Crisis Challenge 2025! Prof. Veera Sekaran Nelson Tan Mike Barclay Rajasekhar Balasubramanian (Bala) Kang Min Ngo Luqman Akasyah, Ph.D. Maurene Tan Joyce Lim John Yip Natalya Ann Thora Twohill Richard Chee Maxine Mowe Elliot Law Jayasri Narayanan Dr. Christiani Jeyakumar Henry, Mr Wong Kok Keong #ClimateCrisis #Youth #Environment #Leadership #Innovation

Nurturing youth leadership in sustainability is also about teamwork, adaptability and creativity in solutioning, and being able to influence others to support the cause you care about. Thank you to Halogen for co-ideating with us and facilitating this workshop on Monday!   It was also a pleasure to have Rachel Wong, Sam Peiyi and Hakim Halim to share their experiences in leading environmental initiatives and inspiring thoughts on the power of youth advocacy in influencing positive change for the environment. National Environment Agency #GGLP #Sustainability #Leadership #Youth

10 years after Sisters’ Island Marine Park was announced, a second marine park is in the plans to further advance conservation of marine life and research off our Southern coast! #Biodiversity #MarineConservation 

Who wouldn’t enjoy a hot chocolate on a rainy day or a piece of sweet chocolate dessert after a meal? But are they soon going to be a luxury? Cocoa trees in Ivory Coast, one of the world’s largest cocoa producers, are finding it hard to grow under prolonged high temperatures, causing drier conditions and leaves, which play an important role of providing shade to cocoa pods, to dry and fall off. As a result, production and farmers’ income have fallen, while global cocoa prices are reaching highs. Furthermore, with over half of the country's workforce employed in the agricultural sector, we are reminded that climate change can have a wider range of social and economic impacts beyond food supply and prices.  #Heat #Cocoa #Agriculture

Ocean temperatures are also mirroring the record rise in air temperatures, with the world currently experiencing the fourth global coral bleaching event. >> https://lnkd.in/dEKkNRaa Bleaching occurs when corals, under extreme heat stress, expels algae living within them, causing them to lose their vibrant colour and their source of nutrients. It also makes them more vulnerable to diseases and death. Higher ocean temperatures are also a threat to the survival of other fishes, marine mammals and seabirds, prompting them to migrate for cooler conditions or to search for other food sources. #CoralBleaching #Heat #Oceans 

Many countries in Southeast Asia are still suffering in scorching heat, with the extreme temperatures expected to last till late May. Young children are one of the most vulnerable groups to high heat. Beyond potential health risks, increasing temperatures are creating unfavourable learning conditions and slows down the brain’s ability to learn and process information. Many schools in developing nations do not have sufficient cooling appliances installed and are forced to cancel schools to also avoid student trekking long distances under the sun to schools. Reducing school days and compromised learning quality under conditions of increasing temperatures further challenges the goal to improve social development in many developing nations and communities. #Heat #ClimateCrisis #Education #Children https://lnkd.in/gKAFdiGa

So honoured to have been invited to a sharing session, organised by Temenggong Artists-In-Residence and WWF-Singapore, in conjunction with WWF Singapore Earth Hour Summit 2024 last weekend, where we introduced our work and experience in empowering youth to champion for environmental causes. We also had the opportunity to hear from Mr Rohit Singh, Director of Protected and Conserved Area Governance and Management at WWF, about the threats of poaching of animals for profit that is harming dwindling wildlife populations and the health of our ecosystems. A key conservation strategy involves the capacity building of local rangers to help in the policing, monitoring and surveillance of illegal activities. However, it is sad to hear that often basic living and safety needs are lacking for these protectors of nature who are risking their lives to ensure nature lives on. In a trailer of just a few minutes, the issue of poaching and the struggles of forest governance is vividly captured in POACHER, a TV drama by filmmaker Mr Richie Mehta. The conversations prompted us with many thoughts about humans and nature and as succinctly summarised by Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, Chair of WWF-SG and GreenSG COLLAB, “It’s not just about caring for nature, it’s the reverse. It’s nature caring for us.”

🎍Talking about plastic alternatives, bamboo is a popular option due to its fast growing nature and its ability to regrow from its roots after its trunk is harvested. But do you know how bamboo is turned into the many plastic and paper alternatives? 🎍 Beside showing the production cycle behind bamboo cutlery, containers and toilet paper, the video also explains some nuances of the environmental impact, the compostability of plastic alternatives and certifications that we should look out for when choosing more sustainable options. P.S. While bamboo might be a more sustainable option, prioritizing refusing, reducing and reusing is still the way to go. And as Singapore incinerates most of our waste effectively with minimal pollution, choosing bamboo for its biodegradable quality (being able to break down into organic, less toxic compounds and hence less harmful when littered in the wild) might not be significantly helpful for the environment in the local context. #Bamboo #Plastic #Paper #Sustainability #Biodegradable