Studio EB While green finance has more than tripled globally since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, investments to decarbonise the hard-to-abate industries have not kept pace. Directing finance flows to these emissions-intensive sectors, particularly in emerging markets, will be crucial for global decarbonisation efforts.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement leaves a lot of flexibility for countries to trade carbon credits but a standardised playbook is needed to guide how countries can meet their climate goals while selling carbon offsets, says a city-state official, adding that bilateral deals become "flimsy" otherwise. The republic has struggled to buy eligible credits from its two partner nations.

As declining oil output increases reliance on on foreign supply, the region’s oil import bill could exceed US$200 billion by 2050, posing major economic and energy security risks without a faster renewables shift, says the global energy authority.

Despite a 14 per cent increase in renewable energy capacity last year, progress on lowering emissions is hindered by increased fossil fuel consumption.