Your Excellency, Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, President of COP-9

Your Excellency, Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the CBD

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

     It is my honour and pleasure to address this distinguished gathering and share Singapore’s perspectives on biodiversity conservation in the urban context.

2   We are witnessing unprecedented rates of urbanisation today, predicted to result in about 70% of the global population living in cities by 2050. Cities around the world are faced with the challenges of supporting economic and population growth, while minimising the impact on the living environment and conserving its natural heritage. To cope with these growing pressures of urbanisation, cities need to seek sustainable solutions to ensure the future of biodiversity.

Singapore’s Experience

3   As a small island city-state with 4.6 million people on 700 sq km, Singapore is acutely aware of these challenges. Our philosophy for the past 40 years, since we gained our independence, is guided by 3 principles: 1) plan for economic growth, 2) build the highest quality living environment, and 3) conserve our limited natural assets. We adopted a long-term and integrated approach in landuse planning and environmental protection. Land is put to optimal use, pollution is controlled, waste is managed and technologies are adopted to ensure environmental sustainability.

4   Despite being land-scarce, we have set aside close to 10% of our land for parks and nature reserves. We have conserved, in an urban setting, rich biodiversity in habitats as diverse as lowland rainforests, freshwater swamp forests, coastal forests, coral reefs, mudflats and sandy shores. Complementing our biodiversity assets is an island-wide network of parks, park connectors, streetscape and waterfront greenery, resulting in green cover over almost 50% of our island-state. In fact, we have increased our green cover by 10% over the past 20 years despite a 70% growth in population. We are now transforming Singapore into a City of Gardens and Water, where our water bodies and greenery are integrated to become havens for urban biodiversity.

5   Our experience has given us hope that even within a densely populated, highly urbanised context, we can balance economic development with the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity through careful planning and judicious land use.

6   But government effort alone is not enough. We are fortunate to have the active support and participation of the private and people sectors. Working with the private sector, academic and research institutions, and passionate members of the community, we have enabled a rich marine ecological system to thrive alongside an offshore landfill through the establishment of an in-situ coral nursery. Another success story of a conservation project that involves collaborative partnership: the Oriental Pied Hornbill is now establishing healthy populations in Singapore, after disappearing for more than 50 years.

Global Collaborations

7   Besides local partnerships, cities around the world must also collaborate in addressing challenges of biodiversity conservation. I support the Bonn Call for Action for the global partnership “Cities and Biodiversity”. Singapore is prepared to play its part in the international community. Within the Association of South East Asian Nations or ASEAN, we have initiated efforts to share experiences and expertise on urban biodiversity conservation. The first ASEAN workshop on urban biodiversity conservation was held in Singapore last month for members to share best practices in this area. Next month, Singapore will be hosting the inaugural World Cities Summit, an international conference event for Ministers, city mayors, experts and business leaders to come together to discuss the challenges of urbanisation and sustainable development. I am happy that Dr Djoghlaf will be making a presentation at a special session on urban biodiversity conservation.

8   When Dr Djoghlaf visited Singapore in January this year, we discussed the need for cities to share and pool our knowledge, and to develop new approaches, methods and tools. Singapore is willing to lend our resources and share our experience towards this end.

9   In this regard, I would like to propose that we develop a “City Biodiversity Index” under the auspices of CBD. Currently, there are no well-established indices to measure biodiversity in cities. Such a “City Biodiversity Index” can assist cities in the benchmarking of our biodiversity conservation efforts over time. It can help us to evaluate our progress in reducing the rate of biodiversity loss. Singapore has consulted Dr Djoglaf on this idea and he has given his endorsement. I would like to call upon all Parties to support the development of a “City Biodiversity Index”, and to participate in its formulation. There are many technical details that need to be worked out. Singapore will be pleased to host the first meeting of an expert panel to kick-start the development of the “City Biodiversity Index”.

10   The future of human societies is intricately linked to that of biodiversity. The collaborative efforts of cities and local authorities are critical to ensure the continued diversity of species. As decision-makers, policy formulators, and technical experts, we share a responsibility to work together to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity so that future generations can enjoy and benefit from the rich natural heritage of our planet.

11   Thank you.

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