Singapore has always been a garden city, but whether it is living up to being a green city remains to be seen. Hot on the heels of rising temperatures and a record-breaking heatwave comes news of 15 young activists organising a climate action rally here. While these young people are inspired by Swedish teen climate champion Greta Thunberg, who skipped school to draw attention to climate change, their approach is typically Singaporean. They have obtained a permit for an event at Hong Lim Park next month – their Green Dot rally which aims to show “ground-up support” for environmental causes.

The activism, optimism and energy of these young people are to be applauded and encouraged as they are the generation who have to live with the consequences of climate change. Unfortunately, politicians in some countries have shown little commitment to tackling climate change. The 2015 Paris climate agreement, signed by 197 countries, aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels. Well intentioned as the agreement is, this target is not enough to keep temperature rises at bay. The United Nations has since issued reports and statements urging more drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions as temperatures are predicted to rise by 3 deg C by 2100. This is well above the target of under 2 deg C set by the agreement.