Launch of Singapore Green Plan 2030 for sustainable development

On February 10, 2021, the Singapore government released the Singapore Green Plan 2030 (hereinafter “the Plan”) as its national agenda for achieving sustainable development. The Ministry of National Development (MND) explained that the Plan sets out ambitious and concrete goals for the country over the next 10 years, reinforcing efforts under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement to accelerate progress towards zero carbon emissions.

The Plan can be summarized as follows:

• • The plan was developed under the leadership of five ministries (Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sustainability and Environment, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Transport) with the support of the entire government.
  • Building on past efforts, the Plan aims to strengthen the nation’s resilience in terms of economy, climate, and resources, improve the living conditions of Singaporean people, and bring new business and job opportunities.
  • The Plan sets out specific targets with the below-indicated five pillars.

(The followings are edited excerpts of the Plan.)

1. City in Nature: Creating a green, liveable and sustainable home for Singaporeans.

• • To increase the number of trees planted and increase nature parks’ land area by over 50% from 2020 baseline
  • To add 1000ha of green spaces by 2035

2. Sustainable Living: Reducing carbon emissions, keep the environment clean, and make saving resources and energy a way of life in Singapore.

• • To reduce waste sent to the landfill per capita per day by 20% by 2026, with the goal of reaching 30% by 2030.
  • To reduce household water consumption to 130 liters per capita per day by 2030.
  • To reduce two-thirds of net carbon emissions from schools sector by 2030

3. Energy Reset: Using cleaner energy and increase the energy efficiency to lower carbon footprint.

• • To raise sustainability standards of building through the next edition of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan.
  • To reduce energy consumption at existing HDB towns by 15% by 2030.
  • To require all newly-registered cars to be of cleaner-energy models from 2030
  • To more than double the national EV charging point targets from 28,000 to 60,000 charging points by 2030.

4. Green Economy: Seeking green growth opportunities to create new jobs, transform our industries and harness sustainability as a competitive advantage.

• • To develop Jurong Island to be a sustainable energy and chemicals park by 2030.
  • To seek out new investments that are among the best-in-class in carbon/energy efficiency.

5. Resilient Future: Building climate resilience and enhance the national food security.

• • To complete formulation of plans for coastlines protection against rising sea levels by 2030
  • Produce 30% of the nation’s nutritional needs through locally produced food by 2030
  • Targets to be achieved for suppressing the rise of the atmosphere temperature in Singapore will be determined by students.

The details for the targets under the Plan can be viewed at:
https://www.mnd.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/annex-ac01d83c960d94cf5975d73d55479b919.pdf

Towards these targets, the Singapore government has announced that it would implement the Enterprise Sustainability Programme, to help enterprises increase their sustainability and develop capabilities. In addition, to promote the awareness and understanding of the Plan among the Singaporeans, especially the younger people, the Eco Stewardship Programme will be implemented at schools, and a public relations video has been posted on the Plan’s dedicated website (https://www.greenplan.gov.sg). Further details of the Plan will be revealed in the 2021 budget and discussions at the Committee of Supply 2021.