Development as a carbon trading hub: Singapore has proclaimed aspirations to become a carbon trading hub for Asia, but whether the trading of carbon offsets correlates with real emission reductions is worth watching.

“Singapore can play a critical role in setting market rules for verification and accountability, and these will go a long way in ensuring that these offsets are environmentally meaningful,” said law professor Jolene Lin, who is also director of the AsiaPacific Centre for Environmental Law.

A study commissioned by the Economic Development Board projects up to US$5.6 billion in gross value-add to the nation’s economy by 2050 from providing carbon services. Climate Impact X, a Singapore-based global carbon exchange funded by DBS, Temasek, Standard Chartered, and the Singapore Exchange, will also be officially launched early next year.

Imports of low-carbon electricity: The Energy Market Authority in November launched its first request for proposal for the supply of low-carbon electricity imports into Singapore from 2027. A second invitation will go out in the second quarter of 2022. Together, Singapore aims to import up to 4 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity by 2025.

Electrifying transport: All newly registered cars are to be of cleaner energy models from 2030, which will see internal combustion engine vehicles phased out by 2040. Also, 60,000 charging points will be deployed at public car parks and private premises by 2030.