Singapore’s leaders yesterday put on the table the country’s first ever target to curb greenhouse gas emissions, throwing its political weight behind the upcoming climate change meetings in Copenhagen next week.
Senior Minister S. Jayakumar said the city-state will undertake voluntary and self-funded action to reduce its emissions growth by 16 per cent below “business as usual” levels” by 2020, even though it is not obliged to take on cuts.
This level refers to how much Singapore would emit if the economy continued to grow, but nothing is done to curb emissions.
But there is a condition, however. Singapore will only commit to this if there is a legally-binding global deal that obliges all countries to cut emissions, and if other countries offer significant pledges, said Professor Jayakumar.
“Without a global agreement by all to address climate change, our efforts alone will be meaningless,” he said. As a low-lying country vulnerable to any rise in sea-levels, Singapore has an interest in acting with others to curb global warming, he added.
“While climate change is clearly a very serious problem, we cannot ignore the impact of mitigation measures on our economy.”
Prof Jayakumar echoed the view of some other leaders that Copenhagen might likely result in an agreed political framework with key elements for a legally binding deal further negotiated in 2010.
This means Singaporeans will not feel the effects of any cuts until next year or later, and this is also dependent on the outcome of the talks, he said.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, who was also at the media interview, said the Government will use a combination of regulatory and fiscal measures to achieve this targeted cut.
Businesses, households and the Government will all have to play a part, he said. “It will require us to make conscious decisions, to change behaviour, to have different choices, to cut down on wastage at home and at workplace.”
One efficient way would be to use market price signals to “reflect the cost of these externalities due to the target that we have set”, said Mr Mah. But he gave the assurance that whatever the eventual measures, the Government will do what it can to buffer the impact for businesses and households.
Singapore’s move follows hotly behind recent pledges by countries such as the United States, China, Brazil and Indonesia to curb their carbon emissions in the run up to the Copenhagen negotiations.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who will be attending the upcoming conference in Copenhagen, had said recently Singapore was looking at what else it could do to curb emissions.
Given Singapore’s dense population and small size, Mr Mah stressed that 16 per cent was a “stretch target” but achievable. The target is derived from numbers in the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint. Launched in April, this is a national plan on how Singapore can reduce its carbon footprint. It included domestic targets such as reducing energy intensity by 35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. The new pledge to the global community now goes beyond these figures.
Mr Mah said Singapore had already done a lot in the past to support sustainable development. Because it was starting from a high base, additional cuts require tremendous effort, he said.
Some past efforts includes increasing Singapore’s green cover, transport policies to limit vehicle growth and switching energy sources from oil to natural gas.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim also underlined Singapore’s limitations in converting to alternative forms of energy, due to its small size and geographical location. For example, Singapore’s wind speed is too low to harness wind power. While solar energy has potential, it would not be sufficient for our energy needs at the current technology levels, he said.
Singapore’s target means it will roughly cut 12 million tonnes of Co2 by 2020, said Dr Yaacob.
This is based on a projection that Singapore’s emissions will reach 75 million tonnes of Co2 by 2020 if no cuts are made, calculated by taking into account several factors such as economic and population growth and rate of investments.
Industry and grassroots leaders yesterday endorsed Singapore’s latest move.
“This step is commendable, it’s time we set a target. It sends a signal that Singapore is serious about acting on climate change, rather than wait to see what everyone else does,” said Singapore Environment Council executive director Howard Shaw.
Former NMP Edwin Khew agreed, adding: “When the government makes a commitment, we know they will do it”. However, Singapore’s absolute emissions will still rise with this target, noted Mr Khew, who is also chief executive of waste recycling firm IUT Global. “Perhaps we could do better in the future.”
Other industry leaders said that Singapore’s move was something they had anticipated to happen “sooner or later” in line with international trends.
And although they are braced for the pain of making these cuts, some assistance from the Government will help in the transition to a low-carbon economy, they said.
Power generator Tuas Power chief executive Lim Kong Puay said that the firm will “embrace the drive towards energy efficiency, and look at new technologies such as use of clean coal technologies and biomass, which allows us to further reduce our emissions.”
“But it would be helpful if some form of subsidy could be given to help cushion the impact,” he said.
Singapore Business Federation (SBF) chief executive Teng Theng Dar noted that certain sectors such as industrial and manufacturing will have to begin “factoring plans to limit or cut their emissions ahead of 2020”.
He pointed out that while some sectors will feel pain, other industries such as those in clean energy and energy efficiency will clearly benefit from the business opportunities that will arise.
“But given that many clean technologies are still costly to implement, it will be good if there are more assistance and funding schemes to help firms adopt sustainable solutions,” he said.
The property developers, for one, are calling for more incentives.This could be on the demand side, with the Government encouraging owners of green homes and buildings with reduced property tax rates, suggested a GuocoLand spokesman. GuocoLand is a Singapore-listed property developer.
He said the developer will continue to attain Green Mark awards for their residential projects even if standards were raised. Group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong of local green developer City Developments agreed.
The existing incentives for developers to build green are “a step in the right direction to improve the standard of green buildings in Singapore”, said Mr Chia. But he hopes that if the standards are raised, the Government may consider making the measures even more attractive such as introducing new tax incentives for developers.
IUT Global’s Mr Khew added that the actual impact that industries will have to bear will only be made much clearer later. For now, companies need to begin looking for “low-hanging fruits” such as energy efficiency, which is easy to implement and effective in reducing carbon emissions.
The only obstacle is getting the financing to do so, he said. This is where local banks and the Government can step in, to share some of the risks of financing such projects, which are minimal, he added.
SBF’s Mr Teng noted that in learning to cut emissions, Singapore firms can also benefit by exporting their knowledge and sharing best practices in their green initiatives to the global economy.
But the trickiest part, could be gaining acceptance for the policies by all Singaporeans.
North East District Mayor Teo Ser Luck said the move was encouraging, but that Singaporeans would be concerned on how it would affect their daily lives.
“I think it will take a a while before everyone understands why we are acting on this important issue, that’s why continued efforts in education is key,” he said.
