Intervention by Minister Mr Desmond Lee at 2022 G20 Research and Innovation Ministers' meeting on 28 October
Oct 28, 2022
Mr Chairman
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. Thank you for inviting Singapore to this year’s G20 Research and Innovation Ministers’ Meeting.
2. Biodiversity conservation, climate action and sustainable development are closely intertwined, and are all pressing global priorities.
3. We therefore welcome and support Indonesia’s leadership of this important work to foster international collaboration of scientific research and innovation in biodiversity conservation.
Importance of Biodiversity Conservation
4. We are committed to do our part in this global effort to safeguard our natural heritage for current and future generations.
5. Singapore is a city-state, and our core nature areas and habitats are in the heart of our city. We also face intense land-use challenges as a small island.
6. So, we adopt a science and evidence-based approach, and look for innovative ways to conserve nature in our urban environment, and strike a sustainable balance between conservation and development.
7. As part of Nature Conservation Masterplan, we safeguard our core nature areas, and strengthen our island-wide ecological connectivity between these core biodiversity areas. We also actively restore our natural habitats and protect our native species.
8. Science, technology and research are important tools to support our conservation efforts.
a. For example, we use radio and satellite technologies to track the global movement of migratory shorebirds, to help us identify key sites for conservation. Through these efforts, for example, we recognised the significance of a mangrove and mudflat site as ecologically inter-dependent on a nearby wetland reserve, and a key stopover for migratory shorebirds on the East Asian Australasian Flyway. We therefore decided to safeguard it as a core habitat instead of developing it.
b. We also tap on nature-based solutions to improve our climate resilience. For example, we are piloting large-scale artificial reef units along our coast, to support marine species recovery. Aside from restoring degraded reef areas or creating new reefs, these artificial reefs can also protect shorelines by buffering them against storm surges and wave energy, which are expected to become more frequent and intense. Mr Matsuo Hiroki from Japan earlier mentioned in his statement about the work of the global coral reef monitoring network for East and South-east Asia. Singapore supports Japan’s work in this important area.
c. We are happy to share our experiences with these nature-based solutions, and also look forward to learning about your innovative solutions as well.
Collaborations for Nature Conservation
9. Biodiversity conservation is not something we can do on our own. It requires strong collaboration among countries and across sectors. We are committed to supporting international efforts on this front.
a. For example, we have built open databases about our rich local biodiversity, with the help of our Government agencies, educational institutions, and NGOs. Such databases facilitate local and cross-border research and inform policy-making.
b. We are also collaborating with the Natural History Museum in London to digitise 10,000 historically important Singapore biodiversity specimens to enable further research.
c. I look forward to discussing how we can continue building such platforms, to better share information and best practices across borders.
10. We thank Mr Chairman, Dr. Handoko and the Indonesia Presidency for leading us on this work and look forward to contributing to further discussions under India’s Presidency. Thank you!