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SINGAPORE: While Singapore must do everything possible to address climate change, the country is ultimately dependent on a collective global effort to address the problem, Chief Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Thursday (March 4).
Singapore contributes about 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, said Teo, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security.
However, all of global emissions, including the other 99.9 percent, also affect Singapore, and “often more severe than the largest countries,” Teo said, adding that climate change poses a ” asymmetric challenge “for a small country like Singapore.
As such, Singapore is working with international actors to combat the problem.
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Mr. Teo is chair of the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change, which was established in 2007 to coordinate a nationwide response.
“Singapore has been working hard to strengthen consensus and galvanize climate action regionally and globally,” Teo said in his Supply Committee speech in Parliament.
“This has been especially critical at a time when the multilateral system is under pressure from protectionism and unilateral action, further exacerbated by the challenges of COVID-19,” he added.
Singapore has often facilitated discussions on the work and implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as it is an “informed, fair and honest broker,” said Mr. Teo.
The country’s officials have also been working on issues such as carbon market rules, stricter reporting of national emissions, climate action, and multilateral discussions on reducing emissions from international transport.
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“THE COMMITMENTS ARE REAL”
In his speech, Teo also touched on Singapore’s quest to decarbonize despite its limitations, in particular its limited alternative energy sources, land, and labor.
“Singapore is both a city and a country. Within our small land space, we need to house not only homes, parks and shopping centers, but also power plants, reservoirs, air and sea ports and industries.”
“The tradeoffs are real and the options are often tough,” he said.
Unlike the larger countries, Singapore does not have plots of land for solar farms, he said.
To overcome this problem, Singapore is harnessing as much solar energy as possible by installing solar panels in public housing blocks, and aims to deploy at least 2 gigawatt-peak of solar energy in Singapore by 2030. This is roughly the energy equivalent to approximately 350,000 household consumption levels for one year.
The country has also used its reservoirs to house solar farms, he said, referring to the Tengeh reservoir, which began construction last year. The reservoir is supposed to generate enough solar energy to meet the demands of five local water treatment plants.
On its concerns about water and food safety, Singapore has invested in desalination plants and agri-food technology, Teo said.
He pointed out the fourth desalination plant in Marina East that came into operation last year and the new Agrifood Cluster Transformation Fund. He also spoke of policymakers’ commitment to the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A * STAR) and institutes of higher education to develop efficient approaches to food and water production.
“This will help us overcome our limitations in securing our food, through careful long-term planning and policy and technology innovations, and keep costs affordable while minimizing carbon emissions,” he said.
Mr. Teo added that Singapore must continue to balance economic development and environmental conservation.
While it is among the top 20 countries in the world in terms of emissions intensity, or emissions per dollar of GDP, it will find new ways to grow the economy with carbon constraints in mind.
On the one hand, steps are being taken to establish Singapore as a hub for carbon credit trading and services, for sustainability consulting and to play a role in green finance for sustainable development in Asia, Teo said.
These, in turn, will create high-quality jobs, he added.
