Singapore signals commitment, policies to draw green dollar

Republic highlights economic benefits of tackling climate crisis at conference

- Audrey Tan

Despite faltering climate action around the world, Singapore recognises the urgent need to tackle the crisis, and is signalling that it has the commitment and the right policies to draw in the green dollar.

This was the message to global investors during Ecosperity Week, the flagship sustainability conference organised by Singapore investment firm Temasek and held between May 5 and 8.

It was conveyed in a few ways. First, by clearly communicating that Singapore is supportive of climate action, and will not flip-flop on this stance.

On May 6, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who heads the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change, said in his keynote speech that Singapore will continue to work with partners to tackle the planetary crisis, even though it cannot be sure what other countries will or will not do.

Singapore also sought to establish that it has the right policies to promote decarbonisation.

Given the business slant of the audience, the Republic also highlighted that this push to tackle climate change is not merely a cost to be shouldered, but there are economic benefits to be reaped as well.

Ecosperity Week and its partner events were attended by business leaders, investors, philanthropists, policymakers and civil society leaders from around the world.

Singapore is spearheading efforts to promote transition credits—a new class of carbon credits which can enable the early phase-out of coal plants in the region.

Coal is the most pollutive fossil fuel, and developing South-east Asia has some of the world's youngest coal plants.

Tackling climate change would require such plants to be phased out as soon as possible, but given the long runway of coal plants in the region, this seems unlikely to happen on its own.