SINGAPORE, Oct 25 (NNN-XINHUA) – Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong, announced today that, the city-state raises its national climate target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, as part of its Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy.
He said, at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2022 that, Singapore will enhance its 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions by aiming to peak its emissions earlier and reduce its emissions to around 60 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030, which is five million tonnes less than the previous commitment of peaking the emissions in 2030 at 65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
“This five million tonnes improvement is significant,” Wong added. “It is equivalent to reducing our current transport emissions by two-thirds.”
He said that, Singapore will submit the enhanced targets to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as parties to the Paris Agreement meet at COP27 next month, in line with the Glasgow Climate Pact.
To achieve net zero emissions, the Singaporean government will need to encourage businesses and individuals to be more energy efficient, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, and adopt green energy alternatives, said Wong.
He said, the government decided that, a better approach is not to reduce or hold back the carbon taxes, but to provide targeted relief to businesses and consumers, so that, it has the right price signals for the economy as a whole, and the government will extend help to those who need it.
Wong announced earlier this year that, Singapore will raise the carbon tax from the current five Singapore dollars per tonne of CO2 equivalent, to about 50-80 dollars by 2030. The carbon tax in Singapore is applied broadly, covering about 80 percent of its emissions today.
Besides, Wong said, at the SIEW that, the Singapore government will invest more in technologies to help decarbonise the economy.
The deputy prime minister also announced at the SIEW, the launch of Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which will provide a roadmap of how hydrogen can support Singapore’s decarbonisation efforts, and the steps Singapore will be taking to prepare Singapore for a hydrogen future. This is part of Singapore’s international climate commitment, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
“If technology continues to advance, we foresee that hydrogen can supply up to half of our power needs by 2050, alongside domestic renewable energy sources and electricity imports.”
He disclosed that Singaporeans may start to have access to electricity generated from low-carbon hydrogen from 2027, as the country will kickstart its hydrogen efforts by issuing an Expression of Interest for a small-scale commercial project, utilising low-carbon ammonia for power generation.
