SINGAPORE: The Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) will launch the Climate Action SG Grant, which helps organisations defray costs of organising programmes that support the Year of Climate Action.
"Upon application, each eligible organisation can be provided with up to S$5,000 on a reimbursement basis," Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor revealed in her Committee of Supply debate speech on Tuesday (Mar 6).
Channel NewsAsia has reached out to MEWR for more details on the grant.
This comes as companies have reached out in support of the Year of Climate Action, with over 110 firms including DBS, SembCorp, CDL and Ricoh making pledges, she said.
"These companies recognise it is possible to do good and do well at the same time," she said. "We hope more companies will voluntarily pledge and take climate action."
Moving on to non-governmental organisations (NGO), Dr Khor said NGOs and business leaders have formed the Climate Action SG Alliance to advocate climate action and raise public awareness on climate issues.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"We agreed that climate action collaboration and co-ordination across all stakeholders could be stronger," Dr Khor said.
"NGOs have always been passionate about sustainability, and many took the initiative to work together even before this year began. We will reinforce and support their ground-up efforts."
As for individuals, Dr Khor said more than 21,000 have made Climate Action pledges online. In addition, the Year of Climate Action video on MEWR's Facebook page has received over 167,000 views.
"My ministry will intensify engagement to galvanise action amongst NGOs, businesses, communities, households and individuals," she said.
COMMUNITY EFFORTS
In another green initiative, Dr Khor announced that MEWR will launch a bulb replacement programme for one- and two-room HDB households to encourage the use of energy efficient light bulbs and reduce energy use.
When it comes to implementation, she added that the agency is working with retailers, community NGOs and companies that want to engage in corporate social responsibility to finalise the details.
In addition, the National Environment Agency will organise an Energy Savings Challenge this year to raise awareness about energy efficiency and conservation.
"MEWR will support community efforts to educate the public about climate change and encourage climate action," she said. "Community engagement in climate action is a challenging long-term journey that goes beyond 2018."
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...