Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE; Malay: Kementerian Kemampanan dan Sekitaran; Chinese: 永续发展与环境部; Tamil: நீடித்த நிலைத்தன்மை, சுற்றுப்புற அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the environment, water and food of Singapore.

Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment

Agency overview
Formed	1972; 53 years ago (1972)
Jurisdiction	Government of Singapore
Headquarters	40 Scotts Road #24-00, Environment Building, Singapore 228231
Motto	Sustainable Singapore
Employees	4,493 (2018)[1]
Annual budget	S$2.75 billion (2019)[1]
Ministers responsible	Grace Fu, Minister Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary
Agency executives	Stanley Loh, Permanent Secretary Benjamin Koh, Deputy Secretary (Sustainability) Lim Teck Kiat, Deputy Secretary (Resilience) Lim Tuang Liang, Government Chief Sustainability Officer / Deputy Secretary (Special Duties)
Child agencies	National Environment Agency Public Utilities Board Singapore Food Agency
Website	www.mse.gov.sg
Agency ID	T08GA0021G

Environment Building on Scotts Road, headquarters of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.

History

The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) was established in 1972 as the Ministry of the Environment (ENV). It was later renamed the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) in 2004. On 25 July 2020, the Ministry was renamed to Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment.^[2]

Responsibilities

The Ministry is responsible for providing a quality living environment and a high standard of public health, protected against the spread of communicable diseases. It also has to ensure a clean and hygienic living environment, as well as managing the complete water cycle – from sourcing, collection, purification, and supply of drinking water; to the treatment of used water and recycling into NEWater; desalination; as well as storm water drainage.^{[citation needed]} Since 1 April 2019, it also handles food issues through the Singapore Food Agency.^[3][4]

Organisational structure

The Ministry oversees three statutory boards – the National Environment Agency (NEA), Public Utilities Board (PUB), and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).^[5][6][7]

Statutory Boards

• National Environment Agency
• Public Utilities Board
• Singapore Food Agency

Ministers

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore.

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Party		Cabinet
Minister for the Environment (1972–2004)
	Lim Kim San MP for Jurong GRC (1916–2006)	16 September 1972	1 June 1975		PAP	Lee K. IV
	E. W. Barker MP for Tanglin (1920–2001)	2 June 1975	31 January 1979		PAP
						Lee K. V
	Lim Kim San MP for Jurong GRC (1916–2006)	1 February 1979	6 January 1981		PAP
	Ong Pang Boon MP for Telok Ayer (born 1929)	6 January 1981	1 January 1985		PAP	Lee K. VI
	Ahmad Mattar MP for Brickworks & Brickworks GRC (from 1988) (born 1940)	2 January 1985	30 June 1993		PAP	Lee K. VII
						Lee K. VIII
						Goh I
						Goh II
	Mah Bow Tan MP for Tampines GRC (born 1948)	1 July 1993	16 April 1995		PAP
	Teo Chee Hean MP for Marine Parade GRC (born 1954) Interim until 14 January 1996	17 April 1995	24 January 1997		PAP
	Yeo Cheow Tong MP for Hong Kah GRC (born 1947)	25 January 1997	2 June 1999		PAP	Goh III
	Lee Yock Suan MP for Cheng San GRC (born 1946)	3 June 1999	30 September 2000		PAP
	Lim Swee Say MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC & Holland–Bukit Panjang GRC (from 2001) (born 1954) Interim until 22 November 2001	1 October 2000	11 August 2004		PAP
						Goh IV
Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (2004–2020)
	Yaacob Ibrahim MP for Jalan Besar GRC (born 1955)	12 August 2004	20 May 2011		PAP	Lee H. I
						Lee H. II
	Vivian Balakrishnan MP for Holland–Bukit Timah GRC (born 1961)	21 May 2011	30 September 2015		PAP	Lee H. III
	Masagos Zulkifli[8] MP for Tampines GRC (born 1963)	1 October 2015	26 July 2020		PAP	Lee H. IV
Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (from 2020)
	Grace Fu[9] MP for Yuhua SMC (born 1964)	27 July 2020	Incumbent		PAP	Lee H. V
						Wong I

See also

• Organisations of the Singapore Government
• President's Award for the Environment
• Statutory boards of the Singapore Government