Straits Times 2 Nov 09;
SEEKING a responsible balance between economic growth and environmental protection is a challenge every nation has to address as the issue of climate change ranks ever higher in international agendas. Singapore can cite as one example of its contributions the impressive strides it has made and is planning to make in green technology and environmental sustainability. With advanced and emerging economies facing growing pressure on reducing carbon emissions ahead of the Copenhagen climate summit next month, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said: 'We are not obligated to set targets or reduce emissions but... we will do our part.' Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong reinforced this commitment when he said that Singapore was looking at doing more than what it had set out in its national blueprint to reduce carbon emissions.
And doing its part Singapore has, since attaining Independence. As National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan recalled during the first Singapore Green Building Week last week, the Government has planned land use judiciously and enforced strict pollution control to maintain air and water quality. Not to mention a garden city with an extensive canopy, designed decades ago and continually improved upon.
Take buildings, which use 31 per cent of electricity, the second biggest consumer after industry. Since 2005, when the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) began awarding the Green Mark, it has been given to more than 250 large projects that built in or retrofitted energy- and water-saving innovations. A new Green Building Council which Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced at the international green building conference last week will help render 80 per cent of all buildings energy-efficient and environmentally friendly by 2030.
Singapore is well placed in that its urban and tropical setting makes it an ideal laboratory for green building research and development. More international recognition came in the form of an agreement the United Nations Environment Programme signed with BCA to collaborate on building best practices in Asia. The 'zero energy' building that BCA opened demonstrates it takes less than a year to equip an existing building with solar panels and other features that enable it to generate as much electricity as it uses.
As it becomes an international centre for green technology, Singapore is taking its place on the battle front against global warming. As a small place with few resources, Singapore has to optimise what it has and keep its environment clean and green as it steps up industrialisation, Mr Mah said last week. These are green imperatives more powerful than any outside impositions to manage climate change.
