Impact of Recent Fires in Australia on Singapore’s Environment and Food Security

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources how have the recent fires in Australia affected Singapore’s environment and food security.

Mr Speaker, Singapore’s air quality was not affected by the recent fires in Australia as winds over Singapore were not blown from the Australian region. From November 2019 to January 2020, when the fires took place, air quality in Singapore was mostly in the "Good" and "Moderate" range. This level of air quality is comparable to the same period in previous years.

Similarly, Singapore’s food security has not been affected by the fires in Australia. Australia is an important source of commonly consumed food items for Singapore, such as meat, milk and sugar. While many parts of Australia experienced the fires, our food supply from Australia remained steady between November 2019 and January 2020.

Nevertheless, we are mindful that disruptions in food imports, including those linked to the climate, remain a possibility. Hence, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has been working with food importers to diversify sources across different countries and to adopt plans to mitigate against supply disruptions. Apart from this, we are encouraging Singapore companies to build food production linkages with other countries under our "Grow Overseas" strategy. We are also intensifying efforts to boost domestic food production under our "30 by 30" vision, to locally produce 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030.

I thank the Minister for his answer. Just two short supplementary questions. First, we hope that it does not happen in Australia, the bushfires, but if it continues to occur in future, is it conceivable that this could come to Singapore – meaning that the winds change direction – and is it conceivable for fires in Australia to reach Singapore, and in such an instance, what preparations do we need to make?

My second supplementary question concerns food security. Again, I hear our vision of "30 by 30". My question is: given what is happening around the world, how are we on track to achieve it, and is there a need for this "30 by 30" vision to be, in fact, accelerated?

We have never had a situation where the fires in Australia would actually affect Singapore. We know where the fires, when they burn, affect us almost annually. So, thankfully, I do not think we have to worry yet unless something in the weather patterns change or the intensity of the fire goes beyond this year and last year.

On food security: indeed, this is going to be one of the main topics of our Ministry's Committee of Supply (COS). To get Singaporeans to understand that beyond diversifying our food supplies, we really have to be serious about looking at growing the food ourselves. Because when we have a situation 20, 30, 40 years down the line, when everywhere in the world, food growing will be a challenge, we probably have to be prepared to know how to grow food now, to grow in ways that we do not normally or conventionally do. Because in Singapore, we are very constrained by water, by land, even by energy. So, these are the constraints that Singapore has to overcome but I am very confident that with technology and perseverance, we will get to the target of "30 by 30" that we set ourselves to achieve.