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In Brief | November 2023
The Global Stocktake Recognises the Role of Protecting Nature. At COP28, policymakers must respond.
The world is facing a planetary emergency wrought by the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Of the two, it is climate change that has taken centre stage in international discourse on the environmental woes of the planet – for good reason. Over the past year, extreme weather events bearing the fingerprints of climate change have wreaked death and destruction around the world, from heatwaves in Europe to floods in Africa.
These events come amid dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations’ (UN) climate science body, on escalating climate impact due to rising emissions. These developments will add pressure on countries gathering in Dubai in December 2023 for COP28, the UN climate change conference, to secure an ambitious outcome that will help avert catastrophic climate impact. But the world should not take its eye off the other impending crisis of biodiversity loss at COP28.
There are multiple drivers of biodiversity loss, including climate change, overexploitation, habitat loss, pollution, and invasive species. With one million species expected to face extinction in the coming decades, the planet is losing both her richness and abundance of life — with implications for climate action.
Read our brief to find out how research relates to global discussions and how science can contribute to policy decisions to address the planetary crises.
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Young Scientist Symposium
The Young Scientist Symposium saw six students who received grants from the Dalio-funded Young Scientist Award presenting their research to the community in a formal setting on stage, and in a more casual setting during the Science Happy Hour held immediately after the symposium. A science communication element was also imbued into the symposium, with three experienced scientists who are also expert communicators, sharing some tips and tricks on presenting science to a general audience. One of these experts was TMSI marine biologist Dr Neo Mei Lin, who shared advice on public speaking, and delivering scientific messages to a crowd. About 180 people signed up for the symposium.
Published November 2023 -
Outlook on Climate and Nature for Asia
Some 150 policymakers, academics, philanthropists, business representatives and government officials from Singapore and the region gathered for the closed-door symposium. 3 emerging issues at the nature-climate nexus relevant for the Asia Pacific were discussed: biodiversity credits, emerging ocean economy & compounding risks of biodiversity loss and climate change. With growing recognition of the role of nature in tackling the climate crisis, this event aimed to build regional capacity on upcoming issues of concern for Asia ahead of COP28, where discussions on the interconnected climate and biodiversity crises are set to continue. By bringing together scientists with other stakeholders involved in sustainability, this event was also geared at promoting the development of new partnerships and collaborations that could help in the development of solutions to address the twin planetary crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Published October 2023 -
heART for Nature
CNCS, the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Our Wild Neighbours (OWN) initiative, organised an art and wellness festival in October with a wild twist. Two workshops - an art jam led by local artists and a poetry workshop - were organised to promote greater awareness and appreciation of Singapore’s rich natural heritage. The two workshops were funded by Dalio Philanthropies. During the event, visitors also got the opportunity to learn more about the native animals in Singapore through educational booths set up by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Herpetological Society of Singapore, as well as the Singapore Pangolin Walking Group. Stickers, postcards and enamel pins celebrating Singapore's unique flora and fauna were also available for purchase at the booths set up by conservation-focused artists, such as The ConArtist Collective, Wild Batik and Inklotte. Children books’ featuring our local wildlife, authored by Maureen Yeo, were snapped up by many quickly too. About 40 people attended the workshops.
Published October 2023 -
Pub Trivia
NUS CNCS partnered with Wala Wala Cafe Bar in Holland Village to organize two biodiversity trivia sessions in celebration of National Day. The two sessions aimed to raise awareness of native biodiversity in a fun and interesting way. In order for us to better coexist with nature, it is important that we understand more about them. This way, we will learn to appreciate our wild neighbours that also reside in Singapore. Participants joined in groups of up to 5 and everyone got to enjoy two drinks, one of which is a themed cocktail developed by Wala Wala. For the terrestrial-themed Forest Fiesta session, the cocktail was named 'The Wild Fashioned' and for the marine-themed 'Tidal Tidbits' session, the cocktail was named 'Coastalpolitan'! Before the trivia began. expert speakers were invited to give presentations on the natural environnment and wildlife in Singapore. The trivia questions include general questions on wildlife etiquette, as well as interesting nuggets of information of the ecology and behaviour of native species. For the marine-themed session, we had popular science communicator Biogirl MJ of social media fame to host the trivia! The sessions were a huge success as everyone really had a good time challenging their knowledge and learning new things at the same time. The top three winning groups from each session walked away with a bottle of wine!
Published August 2023 -
The Greatest Shows of Earth
In celebration of Earth Hour in March, the NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions (CNCS) organised a series of four movie screenings with environmental themes at the National Library’s Victoria Street premises. Activities such as panel discussions, interactive question and answer sessions, and even a bingo session, were held after each screening, to help participants relate the key messages in the movie to Singapore. For example, after the screening of The Lorax on March 25, popular science communicator Biogirl MJ from Instagram channel @justkeepthinkingsg helped participants learn more about Singapore’s very own native wildlife through a fun bingo game. The movie had depicted a little boy’s quest to bring nature back into his built-up city. Other movies screened included Finding Nemo, The Day After Tomorrow, and Jurassic Park. Participants were provided a comfortable setting to relax on colourful bean bags during the screenings and had snacks to munch on such as our traditional kacang putih. The event aimed to use popular culture as a hook to get people more interested in our natural world and to encourage them to explore these issues further. This event was supported by Pavilion Capital and the National Library Board.
Published March 2023
