Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Institute Singapore’s 3rd Annual Symposium - Ms Goh Hanyan

1. A very good morning to everyone. It is a pleasure to join you again at the Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Institute (CFI) Singapore’s Annual Symposium. This is my second time here, and it has truly grown in scale, duration, and also in depth. So it is truly amazing. And now, in a short two-year time frame, the event has grown into a three-day programme, bringing together researchers, practitioners and industry partners working to strengthen Singapore’s coastal and flood resilience.

2. This year, we are also honoured to welcome international delegates from the 6th International Symposium on Water Disaster Mitigation and Water Environment Regulation, and the 2026 Asia Tsunami Workshop. Both events are being co-located with the CFI Symposium for the first time.

3. Together, these three events bring together complementary communities working on coastal protection, flood resilience, water disaster mitigation and tsunami preparedness. This and some conversations that I had before stepping in here remind us that yes, solutions must be adapted to your local situation and communities, but climate risks have truly become a shared global challenge, an extremely transboundary one. There is much we can learn from one another’s experiences and expertise.

Turning Climate Adaptation into Action

4. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Adapting Cities for Coastal and Flood Resilience”. This speaks directly to Singapore’s focus on climate adaptation, of which coastal and flood resilience is a central pillar. We have now moved from awareness and planning to action and delivery. Over the past year, this shift has taken some concrete steps, and please let me share a couple of key ones with you.

   1. In March this year, Parliament passed the Coastal Protection Bill that establishes clear responsibilities for all coastal landowners, both public and private, in terms of what they should put in place and how they should maintain coastal protection measures.

   2. In June, PUB followed up by issuing the Code of Practice on Coastal Protection and the Flood-Resilient Developments Guidebook. The Code will guide landowners in meeting their coastal protection obligations and help the construction and engineering companies implement these measures. The Guidebook, on the other hand, will provide property owners and developers with a toolkit of flood protection measures. We hope this helps to equip all stakeholders on how they should protect themselves and their properties.

   3. At the same time, at the national level, site-specific studies for the North‑west Coast are progressing, while site‑specific studies for the South‑west Coast will begin soon. These studies will help us develop tailor-made coastal protection measures for the different segments of Singapore’s coast.

   4. More broadly, some of you may have heard that Singapore is developing our first National Adaptation Plan through public consultations, with publication targeted for 2027. Now, the National Adaptation Plan will be our long-term plan, but will also be a living strategy to protect Singapore and Singaporeans from the impacts of climate change, including coastal and inland protection.
      
      In line with this effort, we have designated 2026 as the Year of Climate Adaptation to raise awareness, galvanise collective action and start conversations on how you can help yourself, how you can help others, and how each stakeholder plays a role beyond the government to strengthen Singapore’s climate adaptation.

Building Singapore’s Research Ecosystem Through CFRP

5. These steps that I just talked about provide the policy and planning framework. But infrastructure is only as effective as the knowledge that underpins it. We therefore need to develop new capabilities to support our national efforts in coastal protection.

6. This was exactly the thinking behind the inaugural Coastal Protection and Flood Management Research Programme, which we launched in 2023. Called CFRP for short, it supports research through three complementary pillars: first, the Centre of Excellence (COE), anchored by CFI Singapore; second, an Applied Research grant scheme; and third, a Living Lab to given researches and industry partners to test their solutions in the real world.

7. Since 2023, we have made steady progress. It has been quite exciting.

   1. Under the COE, 19 projects have been supported thus far, spanning coastal science, digital monitoring, innovative engineering and nature-based solutions.

   2. 14 Applied Research projects are now underway, bringing together institutes of higher learning and industry partners.

   3. 5 Living Lab projects are currently being tested along our coastlines.

   4. Across the CFRP, more than 280 researchers and students are involved in these projects, supported by 36 industry collaborators which we are very grateful for. This growing ecosystem of coastal and flood expertise will be vital as Singapore moves into implementation of our coastal protection plans.

[Announcement] RIE2025 Centre of Excellence Tranche 3

8. Against this backdrop, I am very pleased to announce that PUB has awarded 8 new projects under CFI Singapore. These projects focus on translating research into practical and deployable solutions that strengthen the adaptability, constructability and long-term performance of coastal protection measures. They will also build on earlier research and deepen our expertise in coastal protection.

Research in Action: Modular Coastal Barrier Example

9. Now, let me illustrate what this can look like in practice.

   1. Strong winds and temporary storm surges can raise the risk of coastal flooding, creating a need for rapid protection at specific locations.

   2. NUS and two industry collaborators – Keller, a specialist contractor, and Geonamics, a home-grown geotechnical consultancy – have come together to develop a modular coastal barrier system.

   3. The system can be deployed on minimally prepared seabed and removed once the threat has passed.  This makes it faster to deploy and less costly than conventional solutions such as sheet piles.

   4. This and other such systems provide an additional layer of resilience under emergency conditions. They offer rapid protection where existing defences are damaged, or temporary cover during permanent upgrades.

[Announcement] RIE2030 Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Funding Initiative

10. Examples like this show why sustained investment in research and innovation matters. Looking ahead, strengthening coastal protection and flood resilience will be a long-term national endeavour. As Singapore works towards a continuous line of coastal defence, we need to develop more effective and cost-efficient solutions to strengthen our resilience against both inland and coastal flooding.

11. To build on the strong foundation and achievements of the RIE2025 Coastal Protection and Flood Management Research Programme (CFRP), I am glad to announce that we will invest a further S$135 million in the Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Funding Initiative under Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030, or RIE2030. This investment reflects our continued commitment to stay ahead of evolving climate risks and ensure that Singapore has the scientific capabilities, technologies and engineering solutions needed to safeguard our coastlines.

Three Priority Areas Under RIE2030

12. Under RIE2030, we will focus on practical solutions that can be built, operated and maintained more efficiently. Our research will be sharpened across three priority areas.

    1. First, we will develop better flood management solutions. Even as Singapore strengthens its coastal defences, we must also prepare for inland flooding as the climate changes. When heavy rainfall coincides with higher sea levels or storm surges, excess stormwater may not drain effectively into the sea. This can cause flooding to spread further inland. Already throughout this year, we have seen some episodes of inland fooding, and we continue to see how we can protect ourselves from it.

    2. Some major drainage outlets will therefore require wider drains, tidal gates and pumping stations to manage heavy rainfall in such conditions. Research will explore systems that are more compact, energy-efficient and easier to maintain, so they can fit within Singapore’s limited waterfront space. We will also explore how these facilities can be integrated with green spaces and public use, so that these flood-protection measures are not just a single-purpose infrastructure but ones that people can also enjoy.

    3. Second, we will improve how coastal and drainage infrastructure is built. Research will explore construction methods that require less manpower, shorten construction time, reduce the amount of land needed, and last longer. It will also look at more sustainable materials, including materials made from our recycled waste.

    4. Third, we will improve how we monitor and maintain our coastal and drainage infrastructure, such as seawalls and tidal gates.  We will make greater use of remote monitoring, connected sensors and digital tools to enable early warning, support predictive maintenance and improve the reliability of our infrastructure.

Conclusion: Turning Research into Resilience

13. Returning to this year’s theme, “Adapting Cities for Coastal and Flood Resilience”, we must remember that coastal protection is not a one-time effort. It is a continual process of learning and improving as conditions evolve and our knowledge deepens.

14. Research remains an essential pillar of our adaptation journey. The work that all of you do is extremely critical. It informs our approach and helps us optimise the lifespan and performance of our infrastructure. That, in turn, helps to meet Singapore’s long-term coastal and flood protection needs in a changing climate.

15. So, to the researchers, students and industry partners here today, the research you undertake now will help shape how we protect our coastline for future generations. I hope this symposium brings fresh ideas, and meaningful connections, and gives you every new determination to turn research into resilience. Thank you very much.