The WiT Podcast – Episode 36: Demystifying Sustainability, Lee Cheh Hsien, Divisional Director, Planning, Sentosa Development Corporation

How to climb your “Carbon Everest”: Split it down into tiny actionable steps.

LEE Cheh Hsien, Divisional Director, Scheduling, Sentosa Improvement Company, is all about breaking down the significant matter of sustainability so that island destinations like Sentosa and companies on the island can perform their part to add in direction of a greater, collective intention.

And it does not have to prevent at the enterprise degree – offered the 20 million visitors who frequented Sentosa (pre-Covid), it can play a major role in not only elevating purchaser consciousness but also empowering person motion.

What it will come down
to is data and measurability, using little methods, applying micro-methods,
getting modest wins alongside the way so that you are encouraged to get the up coming
stage. Think of it as climbing your very own “Carbon Everest”, you can’t just pack up
and go, you have to approach, coach and maintain your eye on the spot.

Below are the vital
takeaways:

Why Singapore
and Sentosa have to have to be actively associated:

Though “being really
modest contributors in terms of complete emissions”, “we are more than
proportionately affected by the consequences of local climate modify staying island
destinations”. A .5-degree adjust in worldwide temperature will actually seriously
effects coral habitats in our tropical weather, he shared.

Sentosa’s
lighthouse influence – it has established a carbon neutral purpose by 2030

“As a top
leisure spot with shut to 20 million readers to the island pre-Covid,
we have a part to create additional recognition close to sustainability issues” and make
it useful for consumers to be capable to have an understanding of how they can adjust their use
behaviours.

“As a organization
ecosystem, we can also show what it signifies for collective solutioning
to typical objectives these types of as carbon neutralisation. And last but not least, as custodians
of the island, we imagine we can also safeguard Sentosa for long term generations by
creating the Sentosa-Brani Master System with sustainability in intellect.”

Set your possess “Carbon
Everest”

“In order to
deal with a elaborate challenge … it wants to be broken down in a way that is fewer
complicated. On Sentosa, we like to imagine about our carbon neutrality objective as a “Carbon
Everest”, and you never climb Everest, just by packing your baggage and telling
your mom, I’m likely to climb Everest future 7 days.

“You really have
to start with prolonged phrase preparing, you have to make a decision where by is your base camp,
what’s phase one particular, what is phase two, and then the summit climb. We also want to
convey that strategy to our small businesses.”

The method is
from a few commencing points – what is their problem, what are their solutions,
what are the quick wins?

Breaking down
individual businesses’ carbon footprint to enable collective action

Measuring your
carbon footprint can be performed by breaking “it down to a degree in which it’s
related for companies, no matter how huge how smaller it is, which is applicable to
your scope of pursuits … that is a important to start with step”.

“… we took the
very first stage of really acquiring a dependable methodology that is applicable
for organizations, by industries. So, irrespective of whether it’s F&B, inns, points of interest,
and then scoping it this sort of that we demystify the figures behind what it takes to
just have an understanding of, what is your footprint?”

Getting done that,
“we can begin the conversation all around collective action, this sort of as desire
aggregation, put together sourcing …”

Innovation at
each practical and experiential amount

“In the useful
aspect, we are pondering about deployment of technological know-how to aid
decarbonisation, this sort of as renewable power, solarisation, or even the use of
tidal electricity. We discuss about employing automobile-mild plan so that we minimize the
carbon footprint from transportation.

“On the other
spectrum, we also talk about experiential offerings … we have noticed a huge
curiosity considering the fact that Covid in the more purely natural areas of Sentosa with a large desire for
our intertidal walks at Tanjong Rimau, and the historical web-sites at Fort Siloso.
Now, we want to greatly enhance some of these encounters so that they fully grasp the
sustainability story guiding it.”

Furthermore, tidal
turbines, how coal “saved” the whale, how to stability the two opposing strategies of
vacation and sustainability, as well as, at the conclusion, an plan to evaluate your individual
carbon footprint.

Have a pay attention.