Singapore designing effective heat mitigation strategies

SINGAPORE: Singapore is designing effective heat mitigation strategies and scaling them up amid rising temperatures, said Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, on Tuesday. She said these strategies fall into two broad categories: measures to promote cooling in the urban environment, as well as measures to reduce heat generated from human activities.

Singapore has not faced a lot of heat crises on the same scale as other countries, but it would not be possible to avoid the rise in temperatures due to global warming. "We must continue to engage and co-create solutions with the community to enhance our resilience to climate change," said Ms Fu.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How, who answered questions from Members of Parliament, said that current strategies to promote cooling in the urban environment include increasing greenery in industrial estates. Nearly 90,000 trees have been planted in industrial estates under the OneMillionTrees movement.

The Building and Construction Authority requires buildings to be designed to limit heat gain from the exterior.

He noted that the Housing and Development Board HDB is conducting a pilot study on cool paint that can absorb less heat and reduce the ambient temperature of HDB blocks. The pilot is expected to be completed in 2024.

An islandwide network of sensors will be deployed to monitor the cooling effects of tree planting efforts, said Mr Tan. The data collected will support microclimatic research in Singapore and the National Parks Board to develop better greening strategies to cool Singapore.

In order to reduce heat generated by human activities, efforts have been made under the Singapore Green Plan to electrify the country's vehicle population and increase energy efficiency of industrial, commercial, and residential buildings, said Ms Fu.