Pragmatism at Work: Singapore's Approach to Addressing Climate Change (Part 1)

This two-part post will focus on how one country's endeavors to tackle its contributions to climate change can serve as a model for other countries to emulate in their progress towards climate change mitigation within their own boundaries.  Hopefully, smart policy solutions from one country will catch on and help the planet speed its progress towards carbon-neutral status.

Singapore is one of the world’s greatest national success stories of the 20^th century.  As one of the four Asian Tiger economies (the others being Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong), Singapore has achieved a remarkable level of industrialization and growth over a very short timeframe.  The country now ranks among the world’s leaders in a host of categories, including per capita income, life expectancy, and quality of life.  However, because of its vulnerabilities as a small island nation with limited resources, Singapore is also a country that is acutely aware of its needs for sustainability and efficiency in all walks of life.  These needs have propelled it to the forefront of efforts to adapt to the growing challenges posed by global climate change.  To meet these challenges, Singapore has developed a strategy that combines mitigation efforts in its infrastructure with competency building amongst its business communities and populace to create a synergistic approach towards insulating itself against the possible future effects of global climate change.

In drawing up their blueprint for attacking global warming’s consequences, the Singaporean government first assessed its vulnerabilities to climate change, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of its programs already in place.  As denizens of a low-lying island city-state, Singaporeans are keenly aware of the possible effects of rising sea levels towards their homes and businesses, in addition to the changes in wind and precipitation patterns caused by changing atmospheric conditions.  Because the country is so small, it cannot produce much of its energy needs domestically, and must import fuel from abroad to meet its consumption habits.  The size of the country also limits the availability of renewable forms of energy, such as hydroelectric or geothermal sources.  Hence, the country is reliant on fossil fuels to meet its energy demands, and thus susceptible to fluctuations in oil and coal prices.  Additionally, as Singapore’s economy is highly export-based, it is an energy-intensive economy for its size.  These factors place additional pressure on the government to make sure that every watt of energy is used to its maximum ability. 

To its credit, even before the study was commissioned, the Singaporean government had already taken steps to begin to maximize its energy efficiency.  By 2007, 79% of the country’s power was from natural gas, with plans for further conversions towards gas sources in the near future.  The country is connected by a highly efficient mass transit system, and has policies in place that encourage its use and discourage automobile ownership.  By not subsidizing its energy industry, the government encourages competition amongst energy providers to minimize costs to consumers; this competition also ensures that energy can be purchased at a reasonable price by industries that need increased amounts to function effectively. 

While the country has a solid foundation to build upon to increase its energy efficiency, the Singaporean government recognizes that there is ample room to improve on the state’s “green” standing in multiple sectors.  The main push that the government is currently undertaking is to improve the energy usage of buildings throughout the country.  The first method being implemented is the mitigation of heat stress, or, the urban heat-island effect.  The heat island is a bubble of higher temperatures in urban areas created by the absorption of light rays by building faces and concrete.  This temperature bubble results in increased air conditioner usage by building occupants, creating a need for large amounts of energy.  Easing this effect would help to lower energy usage, and subsequently, energy prices, resulting in economic and environmental benefits alike.  To do this, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has developed a program to increase the number of parks within the country limits, and the National Parks Board (NParks) has started a program known as Community in Bloom to encourage private gardening groups amongst Singaporeans.  The Community in Bloom program will provide advice on urban gardening, and the groups started will help to foster a greater sense of community, in addition to providing more plant cover to absorb light and heat energy.  NParks also has been undertaking a program to plant over sixty thousand trees within city limits to help combat the urban heat island effect.  While Singapore is already known as the “Garden City” because of its abundant greenery, these additional measures will help to ensure that the heat island effect will continue to be minimized within Singapore’s urbanized areas.

Another step that the government is taking to help maximize energy efficiency and minimize environmental impact from Singapore’s commercial and residential building infrastructure is to provide grants and incentives to upgrade existing buildings, as well as those under construction, and make them more energy-efficient.  For example, to support efforts by industry to refit machinery with energy-efficient models, the government has approved both a deduction on income from purchasing green equipment, as well as a one-year accelerated depreciation credit on qualifying equipment to ease tax burdens.  The government has also worked to provide additional incentives toward upgrading building structures by providing a $9 million grant towards subsidizing businesses that choose to renovate with green technologies.  Additionally, the Singaporean government has created a system, the Green Mark system, (which is similar to the United States’ LEED program) where energy-efficient buildings are rated and scored.  The highest rated buildings, Platinum and Gold, will be given a cash incentive of $6/m² or $3/m², respectively, as an award for meeting the higher standards.  The government is providing these incentives because it understands that, while green buildings are more profitable over the long-term, they are up to 20% more expensive to construct, and that extra start-up cost needs to be reduced so that businesses can stay competitive, and the country remains an attractive base for interested multinational companies. 

Because the main source of Singapore’s energy use comes from its industries, the government has taken extra steps to promote structural energy efficiency within this sector.  In 2002, the government introduced an audit program designed to provide industries with a comprehensive examination of their capital and recommendations for energy efficiency improvements.  While the companies are expected to bear the cost for the audits, the government has set aside money to subsidize 50 percent of the cost; as of January 2008, 87 companies had signed up for the audits.  Furthermore, the government is heavily promoting the use of the cogeneration and trigeneration energy production processes, whereby heat produced from fuel combustion, whether it is within industries, power plants or commercial buildings, can be captured and used to produce more energy.  The process of cogeneration “can increase the efficiency of power generation from 50% to more than 75% (22),” with trigeneration producing even more efficient results.  Improving these industries’ energy efficiency is not only good for the environment, but will also improve their balance sheets and competitiveness, a “win-win” situation for both parties.

Next week, I'll take a look at some of the competency-building strategies Singapore employs in its efforts to reposition itself as a greener state and a leader in the carbon-mitigation community, and take a stab at what this will all mean for the larger human community as well.  Stay tuned!  You'll find that this tiny country has a lot more to teach us than we think.