CABINET A

Should Singapore be completely self-sufficient in water production?

CHAIRS

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THE ENVIRONMENT

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Gayathri 

Natalie

Chair

Chair

Should Singapore implement taxes on single-use packaging?

Joyleen

Head Chair

Water security is a critical issue for nations worldwide, especially due to climate change. Despite Singapore being a small nation state that lacks natural resources, Singapore has grown to be internationally recognized as a model city for integrated water management. In Singapore, there are four national taps: water from local water catchments like reservoirs, imported water from Johor, Malaysia, NEWater and Desalinated Water, that ensure citizens have sufficient water. Given that Singapore’s Water Agreements with Malaysia will expire in 2061, should Singapore then move towards ensuring self-sufficiency with regard to water production?


While complete self-sufficiency might help reduce reliance on external sources and ensure Singapore’s water security during times of crisis, possible challenges like having to divert resources from other sectors to fund the creation of more efficient desalination methods may also arise. Considering that the Water Agreement plays a part in Singapore and Malaysia political ties, and that complete self-sufficiency may result in potential economic trade-offs, representatives will discuss the importance of being completely self-sufficient in water production, and whether it is ideal to adopt self-sufficiency.

Single-use packaging are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals, and are meant to be disposed of right after use. As Singapore is a country that strives to be sustainable, addressing single-use packaging is one way to reduce the nation’s growing waste problem. Furthermore, as a small island state, Singapore has limited landfill space, with the sole existing Semakau landfill set to be completely filled by 2035. In view of the current situation, there is a pressing need to discuss whether Singapore should implement taxes on single-use packaging in order to be more environmentally friendly.


Despite recent measures such as the introduction of a fee for disposable carrier bags, many question whether it is sufficient and effective enough. In other countries such as Ireland, the implementation of taxes on single-use plastics have shown remarkable results, encouraging consumers to opt for more sustainable alternatives. However, there are still consequences to implementing taxes on single-use packaging, such as placing an additional burden on small businesses. Hence, representatives have to consider whether implementing taxes on single-use packaging is a desirable solution to reduce waste generation in Singapore.

Jolin

Chair

Image created with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Image created with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT