Singapore unveils Green Plan 2030, outlines green targets for next 10 years

SINGAPORE: On Wednesday (Feb 10), the government unveiled the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a “whole-of-nation movement” to promote the national sustainable development agenda.

The programme, led by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of National Development (MND), the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Transport (MOT), sets out the green goals of Singapore over the next ten years.

It also enhances the obligations of Singapore under the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations and the Paris Agreement, the five ministries said in a joint media release on Wednesday.

The strategy also places Singapore “as soon as feasible” to reach its long-term net-zero emissions goal.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post that while Singapore might be a small country lacking natural resources, it can still drive for sustainable development through technology and policy solutions.

“We need to ensure a Singapore for our future generations. All of us have to work together, and make Singapore a bright green spark for the world,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said in a separate Facebook post that climate change is an existential problem for Singapore. As such, he said, the country “will be making a determined effort to address this challenge head-on,”

“I hope the Green Plan will catalyse a broader national movement to take action to secure a sustainable future for Singapore. With each of us playing our part, I have every confidence that we will be able to build a more vibrant and greener home for future generations,” said Mr Heng. The proposal follows Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean’s announcement in February last year that Singapore intends to halve its 2030 peak greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with the aim of reaching ‘as soon as possible in the second half of the century’ net-zero emissions.