STATEMENT BY MR JASON TAN, FIRST SECRETARY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE, AT THE HIGH-LEVEL CELEBRATION OF WORLD DAY FOR GLACIERS AND WORLD WATER DAY 2025, 21 MARCH 2025

STATEMENT BY MR JASON TAN, FIRST SECRETARY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE, AT THE HIGH-LEVEL CELEBRATION OF WORLD DAY FOR GLACIERS AND WORLD WATER DAY 2025, 21 MARCH 2025

Thank you Madam Moderator, and thank you to all the panelists for your insights. 

1 I would like to convey our appreciation to Tajikistan for organizing today’s celebration of World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day. Singapore is honoured to be a co-sponsor for this event, and it is a special one, as it is the first time we jointly celebrate the World Day for Glaciers and World Water Day. It is also a timely reminder of the highly interconnected nature of climate change and water issues, as well as various other sustainable development issues too. From people living in mountainous regions to Small Island Developing States like Singapore, these issues persist as global challenges that we must tackle collectively. 

2 When glaciers recede and polar ice caps melt, we see rapid rises in sea levels, which threaten livelihoods across the world. Meanwhile, we have breached the planetary boundaries for water, and combined with extreme weather patterns, water scarcity plagues almost every corner of the Earth. It is therefore critical that we use today as an opportunity to remind ourselves of the steps that we need to take, in order to get back on track for our common goals. Let me share two such steps.

3 First, the world must stay the course on climate action. The negative impacts of climate change have become too great to ignore, and we are hard pressed with a necessity to adapt quickly and mitigate further damage. We have to focus our efforts towards transition, and build a resilient future for ourselves. Singapore is proud to be one of the first countries to submit our 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution, doubling down on our commitment to reducing emissions towards our net-zero targets. Meanwhile, we are stepping up on flood and coastal resilience, upgrading our infrastructure and leveraging technological solutions, to safeguard our already scarce land. We are staying the course not because it is easy, but because it is necessary, and we call on others to stay the course as well.

4 Second, we have to tackle the global crises systematically. For instance, to tackle the water crisis, we must recognize the water cycle as a global common good, and take concerted and collective action through multilateral mechanisms and international cooperation. Many water technologies are within reach and readily available, but we need to enhance scalability and reach, to ensure they have impact across the globe. The critical importance of demand management must also be recognized, and this was raised by the panel as well. We must price water to reflect its scarcity and ensure its efficient and equitable use by all. We must continue to spur innovation, to allow us to produce more with less, and transform challenges into opportunities. 

Colleagues,

5 It is high time for us to realise that we need to make tactical adjustments in response to the myriad of challenges we face. We are seeing nature call the shots, and nature set the timeline, whether we are ready or not. The question is not whether the transition will happen, but how prepared we are for it. The choice is not whether to start planning for transition, but whether we do it on our own terms or forced to react later. And the choice should be clear. We need to take action, and we need to take it now. 

I thank you.

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