Coastal Protection and Other Amendments Act 2026 to safeguard Singapore’s coastline against rising sea levels and extreme weather events largely in force

29 June 2026

The Coastal Protection and Other Amendments Act 2026 (“Act”) has largely come into force on 29 May 2026. 

The Act safeguards Singapore’s coastline against rising sea levels and extreme weather events by establishing clear responsibilities of landowners for coastal protection and ensuring compliance with coastal protection standards. These new coastal protection elements are introduced in the Sewerage and Drainage Act 1999, which has been renamed the Sewerage, Drainage and Coastal Protection Act 1999. The Act also amended the Public Utilities Act 2001. 

Coastal protection responsibilities are to be undertaken by owners of prescribed places, or “landowners”. Each landowner must ensure that there is a coastal protection measure for the prescribed place by a stipulated date. All landowners within the same region will have to complete their measures by the date to accord protection to all within the region. These owners include the Government, statutory boards, and lessees with leases longer than three years. Much of the coastal protection measures will be implemented by the Government and statutory boards as they own about 70% of the coastline. 

While coastal protection works are undertaken by individual landowners, PUB will coordinate the works around the entire island. To keep seawater out, coastal protection measures need to be connected to each other, and the connection must be watertight. Landowners are required to connect their coastal protection measures with their adjacent neighbours. PUB is empowered to require neighbours to permit entry to their premises or render assistance for the purposes of connecting the coastal protection measures. 

For more on the Act, please refer to our article titled “Coastal Protection and Other Amendments Bill to safeguard Singapore’s coastline against rising sea levels and extreme weather events passed”. 

Reference materials 

The Coastal Protection and Other Amendments Act 2026 and the commencement notification are available on the Government Gazette website www.egazette.gov.sg.