Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

A very warm welcome to Earthshot Week in Singapore.    

1        Thank you for joining us, from all over the world, to celebrate innovation and impact in protecting our planet.

The challenges, as we all know, are complex and immense. 

But there are also tremendous opportunities that we can unlock with catalytic capital, scientific and technological exploration, and the sheer inspiration of our collective will and collaborative action.  

2        The Earthshot Prize powerfully exemplifies this. 

This is the first time The Earthshot Prize is being held in Asia.  It is most timely and appropriate. 

Asia accounts for more than half the world’s population, more than half of global emissions. 

Temperatures are projected to rise twice as fast in Asia than the global average, with profound consequences on island and coastal communities vulnerable to climate-related natural disasters.

If natural habitats and biodiversity continue to be eroded, it is estimated that nearly half (42%) of all species in Southeast Asia could be lost by the end of this century. 

Solving for our global environmental challenge must clearly involve solving for Asia.  

There is however cause for optimism. Asia also accounts for nearly half (45%) of global GDP.  The IMF has deemed Asia a “bright spot in a lethargic global economy”. 

There is a corresponding increase in philanthropic potential, with 35% of wealth in the hands of Asian millennials by 2030. We sense a growing desire to do more, do better, be bolder, and to work together to bring about change.      

3        With this in mind, Temasek, GenZero, Conservation International and Temasek Trust are proud to be the Strategic Partners for The Earthshot Prize this year in Singapore, spotlighting Asia in our efforts to combat climate change.

4        Recognizing that these efforts cannot be one-off and need to be sustained over the longer term, Temasek Trust and The Earthshot Prize also announced yesterday that we have expanded our collaboration to Founding Partner status. This multi-year partnership is underpinned by a shared bias for action and ambition in catalysing initiatives to repair our planet.

Together, we look forward to continuing efforts that showcase and scale innovative regional solutions, harness global insights, and accelerate the momentum of positive change for a more sustainable tomorrow.   

5        There are many ways that we are drawing synergy, and I will name two:

First, The Earthshot Prize as a global platform will be able to support and draw on the convening power and regional expertise of our recently launched Philanthropy Asia Alliance - a platform of like-minded donors, partners and experts to prime Asia for good, by championing collaborative philanthropy across public, private and people sectors.  There is a shared sense of urgent optimism in tackling our most pressing environmental and social challenges.  And hope for enlightened leadership across all sectors to rise to the occasion. 

Second, we have been sharing ideas on the construction of a digital impact marketplace that connects meaningful impact projects with well-intentioned funders. We want to help unlock and potentially blend liquidity across the entire spectrum of capital to help start-ups on their way to scalable impact and financial sustainability. 

6        Such an ecosystem approach will give innovative solutions tackling our most urgent climate and environmental challenges – like those by The Earthshot Prize finalists – a fighting chance to bring their ideas to fruition.

7        Thank you for coming together at this Global Alliance Forum.  We know the saying: that if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.  We want both – to move faster, further in our actions and solutions. 

8        After all, while we may not all be in the same boat, we are all in the same storm.  We need all hands on deck, forming alliances and joining up to collaborate, whether as first-mile catalyst or in last-mile delivery. It is the only way forward to a better, brighter collective future.

I wish everyone a most fruitful Forum today and an engaging Earthshot Week.