Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) what are the plans for operationalising the UAE Consensus from COP28 including the transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050; and (b) what is the timetable for this transition in Singapore.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment how will Singapore contribute to global efforts agreed at the global stockttake at the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) to (i) transition away from fossil fuels to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science (ii) triple renewable energy capacity globally and double energy efficiency by 2030 and (iii) phase down unabated coal power, reduce methane emissions and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Thank you. At the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28), Singapore co-facilitated negotiations on mitigation and the first global stocktake that contributed to the successful adoption of the UAE Consensus. The UAE Consensus calls on countries to transition away from fossil fuels, accelerate the phasedown of unabated coal power, phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency globally by 2030, among others.
Singapore supports the UAE Consensus. As part of our Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS), Singapore has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, despite being a small, alternative energy disadvantaged city state with many natural limitations on our climate action measures. Our LEDS is aligned with the UAE Consensus.
Over the past few years, many Members have spoken extensively about the urgent need to address climate change – in particular, during the two climate Motions that have been endorsed by this House, as well as the debate on the Carbon Pricing (Amendment) Bill. I am glad that Members, including those from the Opposition, who advocated for a carbon tax above $100 per tonne, agree that more should be done to support our net-zero goals. We have raised our carbon tax to $25 per tonne from 1 January 2024 and will progressively raise it further, to between $50 and $80 by 2030. Our carbon tax ensures that the negative externalities of carbon emissions are properly priced, and is an effective mechanism to spur economy-wide decarbonisation efforts to achieve our net-zero ambition.
At COP28, Singapore signed on to the Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency pledge, which is a collective global effort that aims to triple the world’s renewable energy generation capacity and double annual energy efficiency by 2030. Singapore has been accelerating our energy transition as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. We have doubled our solar power deployment since 2021 to over 1,000 megawatt-peak (MWp) currently. We aim to at least double this deployment again, to achieve our target of at least 2,000 MWp by 2030.
We are also partnering like-minded countries to import low-carbon electricity from the region. Last year, the Government issued Conditional Approvals for 4.2 gigawatts of imports from Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. When implemented by 2035, these projects will meet about 30% of our electricity needs. They will also support our neighbours’ development of renewable energy projects and serve as building blocks towards our shared vision of an ASEAN Power Grid.
Beyond solar power and electricity imports, we will need to leverage other energy alternatives to further expand our low-carbon energy capacity. We are working closely with the industry and academia to realise the potential of low-carbon technologies. These include research and development as well as industry projects in areas such as innovative solar power deployment, transport and utilisation of hydrogen and ammonia, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, as well as advanced geothermal energy.
The Government is progressively updating our regulations to facilitate the adoption of these low-carbon alternatives. Last year, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) announced new emissions standards for power generation units, which will require all new generation units to be at least 30% hydrogen-ready by volume, with the ability to be retrofitted to become 100% hydrogen-ready in the future.
In the area of energy efficiency, Singapore’s overall energy efficiency is already much better than the global average. According to the International Energy Agency, Singapore’s energy intensity in 2019 was almost half that of global energy intensity. This has been achieved through consistent efforts to identify and realise energy efficiency opportunities. For example, the National Environment Agency (NEA) enhanced the Energy Conservation Act in 2017 to require energy-intensive industrial facilities to conduct regular energy efficiency assessments. Another example is the Economic Development Board (EDB)’s Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions, which supports businesses in improving their energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For households, our Climate Friendly Households Programme continues to help eligible households offset the higher cost of energy-efficient appliances.
Accelerating the energy transition in Singapore will require a whole-of-nation effort. The Government, businesses, communities and individuals must all contribute to this overall goal.
Even so, no country can tackle climate change alone. Despite our natural limitations in size and natural resources, Singapore is committed to do our part as a responsible global citizen and will continue to work with like-minded countries and companies for a cleaner, greener future.
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Chua.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just two supplementary questions for the Minister. The first, following up to the previous supplementary question and in relation to my original Parliamentary Question, given that this is the goal that we have, is there any timetable or transitional plan or milestones that we will be setting along the way in order to achieve this in the next couple of decades or so.
The second supplementary question is, the Minister also mentioned at COP28 that we will not be claiming from the Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund. I just wanted to understand whether or not we will be contributing to the L&D Fund today or any time in the future.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: I think I have gone into some extent on how we are progressing on our climate action. In fact, from the Singapore Green Plan that was announced in 2021, we have been updating some of the sub-goals almost annually. Even though there are five pillars and two horizontals, there have been movements on every vertical, every pillar of work that we are doing. I would encourage the Member to watch this space, to give us suggestions as to how we can move further. And I think the Member has the assurance that all the participating Ministries are working flat out towards our net-zero 2050 goals.
It is by no means easy, given our constraints. In fact, we are looking at some of the alternatives that have yet to come on stream, such as low-carbon hydrogen that is so important in our energy transition but which we are still in the process of developing a viable, commercial market for it. So, do not misunderstand that although there is a lot of effort, there are also many, many challenges. But we are not afraid of challenges, and we will do our very best for climate action and for Singapore’s decarbonisation.
On L&D, can I understand from the Member whether it is the Workers’ Party’s position that Singapore should contribute and, if so, what would the Member suggest that we contribute?
Mr Speaker: Mr Louis Chua.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: I thank the Minister. I think there was also a related supplementary question that was asked last year. I know that the Minister mentioned that we will be facilitating countries to claim from the L&D fund. But at the same time, in light of what was also shared by my fellow colleague, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim, about contributions to international funds and all that, I think we do have a role to play in terms of — we may not be the main contributors to this from the historical context, but I do believe that we do have a part to play in terms of using finance terms, introducing, say, seed funding, to enable people to join in the cause and to show people that, look, even though Singapore is small and resource-constrained, we are also doing our part in that regard.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: I did not get a clear question from the Member because the Workers’ Party has been asking us: are we contributing to L&D? So, I just wanted to know whether the Member is asking us to contribute to the L&D funds specifically. But it is okay. I think that our position is quite aligned, that we will do our part in finance.
Senior Minister Teo has announced an initiative called “FAST-P” to basically galvanise up to $5 billion in seed funding and also in blended finance to help in climate action. But L&D is very specific. It has a specific purpose – loss and damage. This is where I think countries that are looking to claim are looking for outright grants. So, we believe that we can play a role to facilitate, to develop capabilities, to do technological transfers, and capability and capacity-building.
That is where Singapore’s strength and role as a financial centre can come into play. So, we do not think that our current capacity or resources would be meaningful in contributing grants in L&D, but we definitely will be supporting other developing countries, particularly in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) grouping, to tap on the L&D fund because they are most badly affected. But if the Member would like to suggest a sum to the Government to contribute to L&D, I would really welcome his suggestion.
Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Mr Speaker, I have three supplementary questions and I thank the Minister for her earlier answers.
My first supplementary question is that Singapore set up the Singapore Pavilion at COP28. Could the Minister share what were the objectives behind the Pavilion and also the cost and resources that were involved in setting up the Pavilion? And how does the Government assess the gains that we have made through the Pavilion and the efforts of our delegation at COP28 in contributing to the agenda and objectives of COP28?
My second supplementary question is that moving forward, what are the Government’s shorter-term goal and emphasis in the run-up to the submission of Singapore’s first biennial transparency report in 2024 later this year and also as we submit our updated NDC at COP30?
Finally, how can Singapore play its part globally or regionally to engage and persuade, by both actions and words, the transition efforts from fossil fuels, including unabated coal power, reducing methane emissions and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies?
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: Mr Speaker, I would put through you, to ask the Member to, perhaps, file a separate Parliamentary Question on Singapore Pavilion because, by itself, it is quite a topic and it is not related directly to his question.
Secondly, it is about the biennial transparency report as well as NDC. The preparation is in progress. There is some time for us to do it, until the end of this year. So, I think we are making good progress. Unabated coal, fossil fuel subsidies, as I mentioned in my reply, our LEDS is actually aligned to the UAE Consensus. So, we do not think we need to make major adjustments because it is out of sync or out of place with what has been agreed. So, we will, basically, progress with what we have already planned under the Singapore Green Plan.
Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: Mr Speaker, just a clarification regarding my third supplementary question. I thank the Minister again for her answers earlier.
Regarding my third supplementary question, yes, I did hear the Minister in her original answer. This is regarding the transition efforts from fossil fuel, including unabated coal power, reducing methane emissions and phasing out inefficient fuel subsidies. My supplementary question pertains to us living in an area where our neighbouring countries may use a lot of coal, for example. So, I am asking how Singapore can engage our neighbours or other countries globally by action and words to persuade other countries to journey along this transition as well.
Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien: I thank the Member and would like to commend Mr Dennis Tan for his ambition to have Singapore play a regional and global role in climate action. We will try to do our best by being, I would say, an active partner in global negotiations, as well as propagating, advocating at the regional level. So, whether it is at ASEAN or other regional groupings, we will do our best.
For example, we bring our climate projections, the 3rd National Climate Change Study (V3), to many of the ASEAN fora, whether it is on agriculture, environment or water. We also bring in finance. Our Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as well as our banks are working actively to look at how we can have a taxonomy that allows transition energy and transition fuels to be financed so that, as the Member said, neighbouring countries that still have a lot of coal-fired power plants are able to benefit from finance to help them transit.
There are many, many opportunities for us to play a role. But ultimately, the decision, pace, direction and investment decisions have to be taken by the respective countries. That is why I think the UNFCCC remains such an important multilateral forum for us to have those discussions on the global basis.
Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
10 January 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3398
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 