Climate change is exerting profound and multifaceted impacts on the Global South,
especially the Asia-Pacific region — exacerbating existing vulnerabilities
and posing unprecedented challenges including rising temperatures, altered
precipitation patterns, and more frequent and intense extreme-weather events.
Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise — which threatens
densely populated cities and low-lying island nations.
Despite the growing, climate-related issues impacting the region, Singapore
remains a global hub of innovation, commerce and trade. A regional leader in
tech and entrepreneurship for decades, the island nation has recently gained a
new brand image for its considerable efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate
change. It has fostered local and international cooperation to adopt
sustainable-development practices and innovative solutions to address this
region's complex and interconnected challenges.
The Singapore Economic Development Board
The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) is
one institution that has supported exemplary work in climate-tech innovation. As
a government agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the EDB is
responsible for strategies that enhance Singapore’s position as a global center
for business, innovation and talent. Its mission is to create sustainable
economic growth while creating vibrant business and job opportunities within
Singapore.
The EDB is also playing an active role in helping Singapore achieve its
net-zero by
2050
goals by collecting a carbon tax from companies to fund decarbonization
initiatives. The organization expects its carbon-tax revenue to reach $1
billion Singaporean dollars (~$US744K) within 5 years, and is using it to
provide financial assistance and funding to the following programs focusing on
decarbonization:
In 2021, through EDB, Singapore’s government also announced that it would
transform Jurong
Island
into a Sustainable Energy and Chemicals
Park
that operates sustainably and aims to export sustainable products for the global
market — as part of the Economy pillar of the Singapore Green Plan for
2030.
The EDB has also supported the growth of climate tech startups through:
-
EcoLabs Centre of Innovation for Energy: Focuses on
collaborations that can help energy technology developers explore commercial
opportunities, and has established an international network of accessible
test beds in companies around the world.
-
GenZero: Investment platform company that aims to
accelerate decarbonization for future generations toward a net-zero world
through impactful and scalable solution with the ability to drive positive
impact for our planet and people, while generating sustainable returns
Sustainable Brands® spoke with Damian
Chan, EVP of the Singapore EDB, to
learn more about its focus on sustainability and the energy transition.
How is Singapore so driven to lead the global movement on sustainable business practice, entrepreneurship and innovation? What role does the EDB intend to play in this?
Damian Chan: The global shift towards a lower-carbon economy requires all
sectors, especially the energy and chemicals sector, to transform and innovate.
Singapore intends to support our climate goals by decarbonizing existing
industries while growing opportunities in the green economy. EDB is working with
companies to improve existing plants' energy efficiency and ensure that new
plants are best-in-class. We are in active conversations with energy and
chemical companies on energy-transition projects and opportunities, and we value
them as partners in our energy-transition journey. Many of them have
long-standing relationships with Singapore and possess the capabilities needed
to innovate solutions for a more sustainable world in areas such as developing
emerging low-carbon technologies, carbon capture, utilization, storage, and
low-carbon hydrogen.
Singapore’s capabilities make us an ideal test bed for research in these areas,
and many of these initiatives are in pilot stages with potential to scale up in
future. For example, the Singapore Energy Centre — co-founded by NUS,
NTU and ExxonMobil — focuses on developing and scaling new technologies
in energy, as well as carbon capture and
storage.
Singapore’s LCER
FI
further reinforces our commitment toward innovation as an enabler for a more
sustainable industry. S$55million from this fund has already been awarded to 12
hydrogen, CCUS projects; and an additional S$129 million have been earmarked
for its second phase.
A transformed and more sustainable energy and chemicals sector will continue to
remain an attractive growth sector for Singapore. Driven by a growing middle
class, Southeast Asia is expected to consume 49 percent of the additions to
petrochemical production capacity in the world by 2026. Demand for fuels is
expected to continue rising in developing markets such as Southeast Asia till
2050. Chemicals are also essential to a low-carbon economic system, as they are
needed to create lighter and more advanced plastics — which are used in solar
panels, wind-turbine blades, thermal insulation for buildings, and electric
vehicle parts.
EDB will continue to partner with like-minded companies in driving investments
and innovation in the energy transition, and assess economic opportunities
arising from green growth and recovery to invest in new growth areas. These
collective efforts will enable us to pursue growth for the industry in a
competitive and sustainable manner, while supporting our overall transition to a
low-carbon economy.
How does the EDB support this vision and what is its primary objective in combating climate change?
DC: In 2021, EDB outlined plans to transform Jurong Island into a
Sustainable Energy and Chemicals
Park
that operates sustainably and exports sustainable products globally. As the
cornerstone of Singapore’s energy and chemicals sector, Jurong Island must pivot
to remain competitive and lead the sector’s transition to capture green growth
opportunities. We aim for the sector to increase its output of sustainable
products by four times from 2019 levels and achieve more than six million tonnes
of carbon abatement per annum from low-carbon solutions by 2050.
With the shift in focus towards a Sustainable Jurong Island, we expect Singapore
to become a more attractive location for sustainable investments as they strive
to meet the demand of consumers who opt for more sustainable alternatives. We
have continued to see a healthy flow of investments from energy and chemicals
companies that are keen to expand their global presence, grow new capabilities
to capture growth opportunities in the region and transform their business to be
environmentally sustainable. For example, Neste has recently expanded its
biorefinery
in Singapore that will produce sustainable aviation
fuel;
Cariflex is investing in a polyisoprene latex
plant;
and Arkema’s
bio-factory
will be built on Jurong Island to produce high-performance polymers made from
sustainable materials.
With climate risks rising globally, what do you envision Singapore’s role to be in the carbon-services market?
DC: As an aspiring carbon-services and trading hub, Singapore is well-placed
to seize new growth opportunities in this space and help companies build
capabilities and partnerships in carbon accounting and carbon markets. Based on
a
study
commissioned by EDB and Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Singapore can
leverage its position as an established professional services, trading and
financial hub; as well as its proximity to Southeast Asia to develop as a
carbon-services and trading hub. The study estimates that this could create a
projected gross value add of US$1.8-5.6 billion, depending on international
climate-change developments. There has been a steady growth in Singapore’s
carbon services ecosystem to date. EDB and ESG supported the growth and addition
of at least 13 carbon-services firms in 2022, which brings the total number to
over 100. This expands Singapore’s offerings in carbon management such as in
carbon project development, advisory and trading.
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Corporate Sustainability Specialist & Consultant
As a corporate sustainability professional, Fatima Fasih is optimistic about a future where businesses are transparent about their impact and motivated to do more good for profit, people and our planet. A graduate of the esteemed MSs Sustainability Management program of the University of Toronto and a GRI-certified professional, Fatima has experience working with several businesses worldwide and guiding them on their sustainability journey. She started her sustainability career working in off-grid Pakistan and assessing the impact of solar technology on rural communities; recently, she founded her own sustainability consulting business, Enviro6. When she's not working, Fatima enjoys painting, traveling, and exploring the Philippines with her husband and 3-year-old.
Published Feb 19, 2024 8am EST / 5am PST / 1pm GMT / 2pm CET