Budget To Build Necessary Infrastructure for Rising Sea Levels and Climate Change

Parliamentary Question by Mr Christopher De Souza:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance how is our national budget planned in order to build the necessary infrastructure to cope with rising sea levels and climate change.

Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister for Finance Mr Lawrence Wong: 

Climate adaptation is a long-term endeavour to ensure that Singapore remains resilient to rising sea levels and climate change.

We do not yet have good estimates of the cost of the major infrastructural investments needed. A high-level estimate is that these will cost more than $100 billion over 100 years and will add to our medium- to long-term spending needs. We plan to employ a combination of funding methods to finance various climate adaptation measures, in a way that is fiscally sustainable and equitable across generations.

The Coastal and Flood Protection Fund (CFPF), which was set up in 2020 with an initial injection of $5 billion, will allow the Government to set aside monies when fiscal conditions permit for future spending. In addition to the annual Budget and CFPF, the Government will look at the option of borrowing, for example through green bonds, to spread the cost across the generations that will benefit from these measures. Where the measures include land reclamation, the land reclamation costs can be met from Past Reserves.

As the Government develops a better understanding of the impact of climate change, and the possible options of coastal protection measures, we will be better placed to determine the funding and specific financing options needed to support these measures.