Developed countries must show leadership in cutting their carbon emissions, but developing countries can and must contribute too, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
He was delivering Singapore’s national statement, which outlines each country’s position and demands, at the United Nations climate change conference in the South African city of Durban yesterday.
Ministers and leaders from more than 190 countries are in town to discuss the future of the Kyoto Protocol, as well as a legally binding deal for all countries.
The Kyoto Protocol, a legal pact that requires developed nations to cut their carbon dioxide emissions, as well as other measures to help developing countries cope with the impact of climate change, will run out by the end of next year.
Singapore, DPM Teo said, associates itself with the developing-country Group of 77 and China, and with the 39-member Alliance of Small Island States.
At the opening of the high-level ministerial segment on Tuesday, representatives of these developing- and vulnerable-country groups pleaded for a new legally binding agreement and for international funding mechanisms to be implemented.
DPM Teo said the measures agreed on in previous talks should be carried out. For example, under last year’s Cancun Agreements, all developed countries pledged to reduce their emissions, and developing countries undertook nationally appropriate mitigation actions.
By UN estimates, those pledges will result in 3-7 gigatonnes less carbon dioxide emissions. Global emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for energy alone, by comparison, were 30.4 gigatonnes last year - a record high.
In Cancun, governments also agreed that developing nations should get finance, technology and training to help them tackle climate change.
Those must translate into concrete measures like setting up and putting money into a Green Climate Fund previously agreed on.
Singapore suggested three guiding principles for the talks, which have two days left to go.
One, the system to combat climate change must be multilateral, meaning every country has to play by the rules.
Two, there should be transparency, meaning countries must be able to measure, report and verify that they made the emissions cuts they pledged.
And three, there should be universal participation, meaning all countries must participate according to their respective abilities.
‘What this means is that the developed countries have to show leadership in emissions reductions. But developing countries too, can and must make a contribution to the process, taking into account their national circumstances and constraints,’ he said.
Some 90 countries have already pledged to reduce their carbon emissions, he said, ‘but we need to encourage others to come forward and make their pledge’.
Singapore had pledged in 2009 at the Copenhagen conference to cut carbon emissions by between 7 and 11 per cent without a legally binding agreement and 16 per cent with one.
DPM Teo outlined some of the actions that Singapore has already taken: switching from fuel oil to natural gas, which cuts carbon emissions, and implementing vehicle quotas and usage constraints like Electronic Road Pricing.
It also has research programmes in clean technologies, such as solar energy, electric vehicles and a new centre set up with Shanghai Jiaotong University this week to study energy from waste and pollution monitoring.
And as a member of the International Maritime Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Mr Teo said, Singapore is also working towards multilateral measures to cut emissions in the international maritime and aviation sectors.
‘Through these efforts, we hope to develop effective solutions that can address the challenges faced by Singapore, and also contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change,’ he said.
