Call to action against climate change

NUS Vice President (University and Global Relations) Professor Andrew Wee said that with regard to tackling climate change through the 2015 Paris Agreement, even if all the country commitments are met, the global climate by the end of the century is likely to be three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“This is substantially higher than the Paris target to limit warming to less than two degrees Celsius, and would have profound impact affecting billions of people throughout the world," he added.

Noting that each nation’s approach to address climate change will differ, Prof Wee, who is President of the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS), emphasised that they “must be informed by the best available scientific evidence, monitoring and evaluation”.

On 12 March, SNAS launched a consensus statement together with 21 other Commonwealth national academies and societies, urging their leaders to take a closer look at current scientific evidence on climate change and to take quick steps to push global emissions to “net zero” this century. The statement, the first time scientists of Commonwealth nations have banded together for the cause, also said that the tens of thousands of scientists represented are ready to offer scientific advice on climate change.

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