His Excellency, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia,

Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, do join me in congratulating Minister Luhut for receiving the Distinguished Service Order from the President of Singapore recently.

And Minister Luhut, thank you for your speech at the opening dinner last night. The thing that stood out to me first, was that the approval rating of the Indonesian Government under President Jokowi, was 82%. You gave us a very concise and succinct explanation of Indonesia’s economy and your path to net zero. There are very few countries that can attempt to explain their path to net zero as excellently as you did last night. In doing so, you have also shown the ample opportunities there are for businesses to invest in Indonesia’s journey to net zero. I’m sure there are many studying what you said last night and there will be a lot more interests from businesses for Indonesia.

So, welcome to Ecosperity Week 2023. I am happy to see many familiar faces today. Both here and online.

A Narrowing Window of Opportunity

Our annual convening of Ecosperity is driven by the urgency of climate action. We have seen how the effects of the climate crisis are becoming increasingly evident in our daily lives. We experienced increased intensity and frequency of natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and droughts. But that’s not all. Biodiversity, food security, and even human health are being significantly threatened too. The Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report warned that the window of opportunity for climate action is rapidly closing. In short, the consequences of inaction are dire. We must act with urgency.

Globally, there has been historic progress made in the right direction. One such example is the landmark UN Biodiversity Conference, or CBD COP15, which will guide worldwide action on nature through to 2030. The Global Carbon Project has also recently reported that greenhouse gas emissions have slowed from an average of 3 percent annually in the first decade of the 2000s to 0.5 percent per year over the last decade. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind have achieved critical scalability, driving costs down significantly and accelerating adoption rates. We applaud the progress, but the issue remains. We are still not on track to keep global temperatures below critical thresholds.

We need breakthroughs in our journey to Net Zero

For that reason, we have themed Ecosperity this year as “Breakthroughs for Net Zero”. Our discussions over the next few days will explore high-impact levers that can unlock deep decarbonisation, and concerted collaboration efforts to enable systems-level change.

First, we will explore levers that would help fast-track decarbonisation.  To meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, global emissions must fall by 45% by 2030. There are countless cleantech solutions out in the market, but real-world infrastructure and financing barriers threaten to upend the net zero transition we need. This is especially so in emerging and fossil fuel-based economies. Our conversations will showcase effective policies and technologies available to us today to accelerate and scale our collective decarbonisation efforts across the public and private sectors.

Second, we will look for ways to enable net zero cities. We simply cannot decarbonise without transforming our cities, not when they account for close to three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. We have seen how the Asia-Pacific region, home to numerous megacities represented here today, become increasingly vulnerable to climate-related risks. We need to rethink and revolutionise the way cities utilise energy, materials and resources, so as to curb emissions meaningfully and effectively. This ensures that they remain resilient and livable given increasing extreme weather events.

Third, we will cover the crucial issue of financing Asia’s net zero transition. The Financing Asia’s Transition, or FAST, conference will seek to address the green finance gap the region faces in order to sustain climate progress from now till 2030. Temasek is pleased to be co-organising this conference alongside the Monetary Authority of Singapore and BlackRock. We will also explore the immense economic opportunities brought about by the net zero transition, and how we can strike when the iron is hot. By investing in green technology and sustainable infrastructure, we can create jobs, drive innovation, and foster inclusive growth for a better future.

Leaving no one behind

This brings me to my final point. We must embark on a just transition towards net zero. Our journey to scale sustainable solutions must not overlook the social implications embedded within the complicated web of global supply chains. We need to tread wisely and be careful not to unintentionally cause negative repercussions for the communities reliant on traditional ways of life.

In emerging markets, existing infrastructure and ways of living may limit our ability to pivot directly to greenfield solutions overnight. So, we must be open to first transitioning from grey to brownfield. We need to leverage the foundations already in place, adapting and transforming them into sustainable alternatives. This allows us to scale our efforts practically, and to ensure we do so in a just and inclusive manner.

Conclusion

Let me conclude. The world we live in now requires more than incremental, piecemeal efforts. To keep global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond the pre-industrial average, we need immediate, ambitious, and sustained climate action across all quarters. This includes governments and businesses to academia and the non-profit sector.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 found that in the next 10 years, 6 out of the 10 top global risks are dominated by climate and environmental risks. This reinforces the importance of collective action to create a more stable, resilient world. In this regard, I particularly look forward to the sharing by Minister Grace Fu, Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, and Ms Catherine McKenna later. They will be shedding light on their respective substantive efforts.

I would also like to draw special attention to our youth. They are the architects of our future. They have the most interest in what happens in the future, like Minister Luhut’s granddaughter, and my grandchildren too. I am excited to see what ideas they have for our Sustain-a-City activation and the Youth Ecosperity Dialogue.

Ecosperity continues to serve as a pivotal platform to inspire and activate change, hosting a record number of like-minded partners, many of whom are globally oriented. I thank them all for their continued support.

It leaves me now to wish everyone fruitful discussions, and a meaningful and successful Ecosperity Week ahead. Thank you.