TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY : CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS FOR SINGAPORE

Abstract

The rising number of international discourses on sustainable development has emphasized the importance of countries achieving a sustainable balance between economic, social and environmental growth. It also should be noted that human activities such as rapid urbanisation and intensive industrialisation have resulted in environmental deteriorations including climate change. These activities are responsible for many catastrophes including Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Russian heat waves and forest fires and many other disasters happening worldwide. Therefore, it is critical for nations to take responsible actions to achieve a sustainable balance in economic and social development with environmental protection. However, to successfully implement initiatives to strike such a balance, it is important to understand the unique environmental issues in each country and have appropriate strategies and solutions as a key objective of sustainable development is to ensure the wellbeing of future communities. This dissertation aims to identify challenges as well as prospects for Singapore to achieve environmental sustainability. A pragmatic view on various issues of Singapore’s environment, which are categorised based on geographical, economical and social point of view, will be given. Under each category, environmental policies and initiatives taken by Singapore will be discussed to identify the country’s environmental challenges as well as prospects and opportunities to overcome them. Critiques and recommendations on current initiatives will also be made.