Singapore's 2035 climate target: A commitment to act now despite waning global interest

Its strategy is to tap existing technologies while investing in research on new ones

- Audrey Tan

Singapore's climate target for 2035 is not just a goal; it is a testament to the country's commitment to act now for a sustainable future, even as the climate emergency moves further down the agendas of other countries.

Singapore has pledged to reduce its emissions to between 45 million tonnes (Mt) and 50Mt by 2035, down from the 60Mt it expects to emit in 2030.

This new emissions target was submitted to the UN on Feb 10, the deadline the global body had set for new climate pledges.

Under the Paris Agreement, the world's climate pact, countries must set progressively more ambitious targets every five years.

Given that Singapore plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the 2035 target is noteworthy as it implies a linear trajectory to meeting the longer-term goal.

A linear trajectory means that the nation's emissions are expected to decline steadily over time, instead of registering a sharper downturn closer to mid-century.

For context, Singapore's total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 amounted to 58.59Mt. The Republic expects its emissions to reach a peak of 64.43Mt in 2028, before coming down to 60Mt in 2030.

Singapore is committed to tackling climate change in a few ways.

First, the linear trajectory shows its willingness to take action now to cut its emissions, instead of waiting to do more in the future, when decarbonisation technologies mature and become cheaper.

In 2021, then US climate envoy John Kerry made headlines when he said that half of the carbon reductions needed to get the world to net zero would come from technologies that have not yet been invented, and that people did not have to "give up a quality of life" to cut emissions.

His comments were criticised by climate scientists, who said there are existing technologies such as renewable energy plants or energy efficiency initiatives that would enable countries to start cutting emissions now.