Singapore has a reputation for planning ahead. With climate change, it is planning for the worst.
While governments around the world are struggling to meet the goals of the Paris agreement — keeping the global temperature increase to about 1.5 degrees Celsius and the rise in sea levels to less than half a meter — Singapore is devising a 100 billion Singapore dollar ($72 billion) plan to safeguard the city against temperatures and floodwaters several times those levels.
Analysis by the Meteorological Service Singapore's Center for Climate Research Singapore suggests that in a worst-case scenario, floods could rise by almost 4 meters, factoring in effects like storm surges — an increase that would submerge cities from New York to Shanghai and London if repeated globally.