Channel NewsAsia 17 Nov 17;
SINGAPORE: Singapore will designate 2018 as the Year of Climate Action, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli announced at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23) on Thursday (Nov 16).
Speaking at the conference in Bonn, Germany, Mr Masagos said the move will complement Singapore's current efforts to build resilience against climate change, including diversifying the water supply and enhancing food security.
"As a small island city-state vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Singapore is committed to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement," Mr Masagos said.
The minister noted that the rate of warming over Singapore from 1951 to 2012 was 0.26°C per decade, more than double the global average of 0.12°C over the same period.
The country's daily mean temperature is projected to rise by up to 4.6°C towards the end of the century and its mean sea level is estimated to rise by up to about 1m by 2100, according to him.
"Since our early years of nation building, Singapore has placed considerable emphasis on sustainable development ... Even so, we want to do more to instill awareness of climate change amongst our citizens and inspire and to support the Paris Agreement," he said.
In his speech on Thursday, Mr Masagos also announced that Singapore will join the Ministerial Declaration on Carbon Markets.
The declaration, endorsed by 19 countries led by New Zealand at the Paris climate change negotiations in 2015, states that interested countries will work together to develop standards and guidelines for using market mechanisms that ensure environmental integrity and avoid any double-counting or double-claiming of emissions reduction units.
As the incoming ASEAN chair for 2018, Singapore will also work with its fellow members and dialogue partners of the regional bloc to achieve climate objectives including reducing energy intensity in the ASEAN region by 20 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020 and increasing the component of renewable energy in the ASEAN energy mix to 23 per cent by 2025, the minister said.
S’pore declares 2018 as ‘Year of Climate Action’
CYNTHIA CHOO Today Online 17 Nov 17;
SINGAPORE — Next year will be designated the “Year of Climate Action” for Singapore, the Environment and Water Resources Minister announced on Thursday (Nov 16).
Speaking at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, Mr Masagos Zulkifli stressed Singapore’s commitment to fight climate change, given that the island-state is vulnerable to the environmental impact.
He said that while Singapore has placed considerable emphasis on sustainable development its early years of nation building, “we want to do more to instil awareness of climate change among our citizens and inspire them to act in partnership”.
Singapore is committed to the Paris Agreement, a pact made in 2015 by 195 nations to combat climate change, at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.
At this year’s conference, Mr Masagos also announced that Singapore would be joining the Ministerial Declaration on Carbon Markets. The New Zealand-led declarations were first initiated at the Paris conference. Through this, interested countries will work together to develop standards and guidelines for using market mechanisms that ensure environmental integrity, and avoid any double-counting or double-claiming of emissions reduction units.
Next year will see Singapore chairing the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), and the timing is right to move ahead with plans in terms of energy use.
“We will work with fellow Asean members and our dialogue partners to advance the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2016 to 2025,” Mr Masagos said.
Singapore will try to reduce its energy intensity in the Asean region by 20 per cent come 2020, down from the levels in 2005, and increase the component of renewable energy in the Asean energy mix to 23 per cent by 2025.
On Thursday, Mr Masagos reiterated key policies that have been put in place this year.
In February, Singapore became the first country in South-east Asia to introduce a carbon tax, which is set to take effect from 2019. The tax rate is expected to be between S$10 and S$20 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, which is within the range of what other jurisdictions have put into effect.
“The scale of solar energy deployment in Singapore is limited by space constraints and issues with intermittency, but we are not easily deterred,” he said.
Last year, Singapore launched the world’s largest floating solar panel test-bed atop a hectare of waters at Tengeh Reservoir. These floating test-beds might also be deployed at other reservoirs, Mr Masagos said. “Singapore is pushing ahead to increase our solar PV (photovoltaic) deployment to 350 MWp by 2020, and further to 1GWp beyond 2020,” he added.
Next month, Singapore’s first electric car-sharing programme begins, and 1,000 electric cars and 2,000 charging points will be deployed island-wide by 2020.
As the two-week UN conference comes to an end on Nov 17, a study by The Global Carbon Project and the University of East Anglia found that 2017 is looking to be the year with the highest levels of carbon pollution on record, due to a surge in fossil fuel consumption.
A recent report by the World Resources Institute also found that the number of countries that have already peaked their greenhouse gas emissions increased from 33 in 2000 to 49 in 2010.
Their findings estimate that by 2020, the number of countries that have already peaked, or have a commitment that implies an emissions peak, would grow to 53. By 2030, this would go up to 57.
The report noted that several developing countries are taking on commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the number of countries peaking and their peak emissions levels are not enough to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals to limit global warming to well below 2˚C.
The rate of warming over Singapore from 1951 to 2012 was 0.26˚C per decade, more than double the global average over the same period. The country’s daily mean temperature is also projected to rise by up to 4.6˚C towards the end of the century.
Singapore will work with Asean neighbours on climate change issues: Masagos
Audrey Tan Straits Times 16 Nov 17;
Singapore will work with its South-east Asian neighbours on strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change when it takes on the role of Asean chairman next year, Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said on Thursday (Nov 16) at a United Nations climate change conference in Bonn, Germany.
There will be two areas of focus for this regional cooperation: reducing energy intensity, and increasing the use of renewable energy.
Mr Masagos said Singapore will work with its neighbours to advance the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2016-2025.
Among other things, the plan seeks to reduce energy intensity in the Asean region by 20 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020. It also aims to increase the component of renewable energy in the Asean energy mix to 23 per cent by 2025.
The region's commitment to tackling climate change comes against a backdrop of extreme weather events. For example, the year 2016 was the warmest year on record, and the third consecutive year that record temperatures have been set.
Multiple natural disasters also hit the world, from drought in Africa, torrential floods in South Asia, as well as hurricanes and cyclones that pounded the Caribbean, North-east Asia, the Pacific and North America.
"Our hearts go out to the families affected and we hope that these areas will return to normalcy soon. The global community needs to work together, urgently and resolutely to stem the warming trend," Mr Masagos said when delivering Singapore's national statement to the international audience.
For its part, Singapore has pledged under the 2015 Paris Agreement to reduce its emissions intensity by 36 per cent from the 2005 levels, come 2030. Emissions intensity is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted to achieve each dollar of gross domestic product.
It has also pledged to stop any increase to its greenhouse gas emissions by around 2030.
Singapore has implemented a slew of strategies to achieve these targets. This includes enhancements made this year to its Energy Conservation Act, which aims to get large polluters to be more energy efficient, and plans to implement a carbon tax from 2019, said Mr Masagos.
The Republic has also pumped money into research for innovations that can help the island state develop sustainably. It is banking on solar power to reduce its reliance on natural gas, and has invested in ways to better harness energy from the sun, by piloting floating solar systems, for example.
But Singapore wants to go one step further next year, by driving the climate change message not just among industries, but citizens too. To do this, Singapore will designate 2018 as the Year of Climate Action.
"We want to do more to instil awareness of climate change amongst our citizens and inspire them to act in partnership," said Mr Masagos.
At the Bonn conference on Thursday, 20 countries and two US states joined an international alliance to phase out coal from power generation before 2030. Since signing the Paris Agreement which aims to wean the world off fossil fuels, several countries have made national plans to phase out coal from their power supply mix.
