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Review of the “Climate Change” dinner debate in Singapore

31 January 2020 Events

On 9 January 2020, participants at this Singaporean dinner debate sat around a table for 2 hours to learn about, debate and discuss the most pressing issue facing our current generations: climate change.

Climate change is happening on an industrial scale. It’s so much bigger than any of us. “I don’t mind sorting my waste but that won’t change much if my neighbour doesn’t...”. Two in three people feel like they can’t take meaningful action that will make a significant difference.

It’s difficult to imagine that at the individual level we could have an impact on the major issue that is climate change. And yet awareness at the individual level influences collective, political and international decisions. 

Lay Kuan, a member of the Singaporean association Climate Conversations, facilitated this event where participants watched an informative video that served as a basis for discussions. If temperature levels rise too quickly, we will reach a point of no return. But it’s not too late. The three biggest generators of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change are: 1) Forest destruction 2) coal, oil and gas consumption and 3) intensive farming.

There are, of course, multiple solutions. At an individual level, these might for example include choosing a domestic energy supplier with more renewable energy sources in its mix, investing in or donating to reforestation programmes, or reducing meat consumption. Each attendee then got the opportunity to commit to taking at least one of these impactful measures during the year.

At the end of the evening, the alumni were each invited to think about the actions they could take, starting with becoming an ambassador of this association or hosting the same type of debate in their own home.

The Singapore club had already held an environment-themed event in January 2019, during which they helped the association Trash Hero with a beach clean-up (read the article here).

Thanks to Anne-Sophie, Dimitri, Thibaut, Nathalie, Morgane, Thuy My, Victoire, Arnaud and our ambassadors Christophe Altaie (SK 2004), Marianne Wlassewitch (SK 2007), Sophie Bailly (SK 2015) and, most especially, to our host, Gildas (SK 1993).   

 SKEMA Alumni Singapore

 

 

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