Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat had announced at Budget 2020 a $5 billion injection into a new Coastal and Flood Protection Fund that will look into protecting Singapore in the future.

Being a low-lying nation makes Singapore vulnerable to the current threat of rising sea-levels, and the Government is determined to fight climate change in order to sustain the high quality living environment for future generation. 

As an active player at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Government will be updating its commitment to the Paris Agreement. The agreement that began in 2015 sees that countries limit their gas emissions by 2030.

Close to $1 billion will be committed for research in Urban Solutions and Sustainability – focusing on, among others, renewable energy, cooling Singapore and carbon capture. 

Following the success of NEWater, the Government has plans to continue innovating initiatives such as the upcoming NEWSand that will soon be used on a field trial. Made from incineration ash, the initiative is one of the ways Singapore can reduce carbon footprint.

In further elevating Singapore’s efforts towards fighting climate change, the Government has a vision to phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines, ICE and to have vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040. Three measures were highlighted:

• Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme
  • Details to be announced next week.

• Electronic Vehicles (EV) Early Adoption Incentive
  • Rebate of up to 45% on the Additional Registration Fee, capped at $20,000 for full electric cars and taxis purchase
  • Incentive to be implemented from January 2021 for three years
  • Reduction in road tax for EVs and some hybrids

• Expand public charging infrastructure for EVs
  • Aim to provide 28,000 chargers at public carparks island wide by 2030
    • There are only 1,600 charging points currently

The Government will ensure that all Singaporeans are able to play their part in contributing to lessen the carbon emission. Incentives to help lower-income households with the cost of appliances will be introduced. This is to encourage households to use energy-efficient household appliances.

New housing developments will also be seeing more greener initiatives, with around 45% to 60% green cover, and a new HDB Green Towns Programme that will have three key focus areas:

• Reducing energy consumption
• Recycling rainwater
• Cooling our HDB towns

With climate change, food security remains a potential issue for Singapore, especially since 90% of food in Singapore is imported. To better prepare for such scenario and improving our food resilience, the ‘Grow Local’ strategy will be introduced.

Climate change is real and with these initiatives, the Government pledges to take the first step towards building a liveable and sustainable home for future generations of Singaporeans to come.