For a moment, I thought the jet lag may have been making me loopy. “2026 is the year of climate adaptation,” the radio ad blasted as I sat in a ride share vehicle. “Take action to protect you and your community.”
In the U.S., government leaders have seemingly abandoned forward thinking messaging on climate change. Traveling to Singapore for Ecosperity, the closest thing the country has to a climate week, felt like going back in time. Business and finance leaders spoke vocally about their investments in emissions reduction, government officials touted climate policy efforts, and scientists urged action to prevent the worst effects of rising global temperatures.
But it also felt like a glimpse into a possible future. Nascent financing models, including carbon markets, are being scaled to fund the transition, helping unleash on-the-ground investment in clean technologies. And new methods of adaptation are eagerly being adopted as the effects of climate change are already affecting lives and livelihoods. Critically, the moralizing over climate change is gone. Instead, the conversation here sounds much more pragmatic.
The war in the Gulf “makes the case for renewable energy even stronger, not just as a climate solution, but as a pathway to greater energy security, resilience, and long-term strategic competitiveness,” Dilhan Pillay, the CEO of Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state-owned investment firm, told Ecosperity attendees.
Singapore—and the broader region—have in some ways been forced into this more proactive position. Climate effects, namely heat and sea level rise, are hitting Southeast Asia hard, as is the energy crisis prompted by war in Iran that has led to fuel shortages in the region. But Singapore’s approach is also strategic. The country developed into the economic powerhouse that it is today with strategic investment and planning. While the rest of the world waffles…
