Fighting climate change

09 Sep 2009

Themed "NUS fights climate change, what about you?", this year's Green Carnival organised by the NUS Students' Union Students Against Violation of the Earth (NUSSU SAVE) was graced by Guest-of-Honour Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and Mayor of South West District and Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive Officer of the National Environment Agency.

Delivering his speech at the opening launch on 7 September 2009, NUS President Prof Tan Chorh Chuan said: "The Green Carnival has become a major catalyst and platform which brings together many dedicated individuals, both staff and students, and many organizations to work together towards environmentally important goals."

NUSSU SAVE Acting Chairperson Chen Zhirong said: "This year's Green Carnival makes individuals think about what they can do to protect their environment." He hopes that individuals can take part in the six projects under the broad "NUS Fights Climate Change" initiative.

This include zer0waste which aims to improve the overall recycling infrastructure and promote recycling and waste minimisation efforts within NUS; 1 Degree Up which promotes energy conservation and reduction of energy consumption; Rebate2Earth which aims to control the issuance of plastic carriers and discourage the one-time use of plastic bags. There are also the Save3s projects to minimize excessive use of paper on campus and Food4Thought to cultivate a less meat diet and eco-friendly food practices.

On NUS' involvement in fighting climate change, Prof Tan said: "We have committed ourselves to reducing 23 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions against a business-as-usual scenario by 2020. This may appear a small step but we would in fact need to stretch ourselves in order to achieve or to exceed this goal." This is in the context of NUS' energy consumption increasing significantly due to research activities as well as renovation of existing buildings and construction of new ones.

The two day carnival held on 7 and 8 September 2009 will showcase a climate change exhibition with a countdown towards Deadline 2015, the "Bochup House" to learn and tackle climate change and the NUS Votes for Earth.