Climate Change And Energy Efficiency
Climate Change
Climate change is one of the major environmental challenges of our time. It is a global challenge that requires concerted global action by all countries. The use of energy, which is primarily produced through the burning of fossil fuels, is one of the main causes of climate change.
Climate Change: How It Affects You, is a brochure produced by the National Environment Agency to inform and educate the general public and students on the science of climate change, the long-term impacts of climate change on Singapore, the measures that the Government is taking to address climate change and the practical steps that the public can take to use energy efficiently.The brochure may be downloaded here
To supplement NEA’s outreach efforts, a video has been produced that is based on the climate change brochure. The video can be viewed here.
National Climate Change Secretariat
The National Climate Change Secretariat was set up as a dedicated agency under the Prime Minister's Office, with effect from 1 July 2010, to coordinate Singapore's domestic and international policies, plans and actions on climate change.
More details are at this website: National Climate Change Secretariat
National Climate Change Strategy
In February 2008, Singapore released its national strategy for addressing climate change. The National Climate Change Strategy sets out how Singapore will address the various aspects of climate change, by better understanding our vulnerabilities to climate change, identifying and assessing adaptation measures required for climate change, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.
More details are at this website: National Climate Change Strategy
National Communication to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
In accordance with Articles 4.1 and 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in line with the guidelines on national communications for non-Annex I Parties, Singapore submitted its initial and second National Communication (NC) to UNFCCC on 21 Aug 2000 and 12 Nov 2010 respectively.
The documents may be downloaded at: Initial NC (21 Aug 2000) , Second NC (12 Nov 2010)
Clean Development Mechanism
Singapore's commitment to climate change is consistent with our good record on environmental issues. Singapore has been a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1997 and acceded to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) of the UNFCCC on 12 Apr 2006.
The Clean Development Mechanism or CDM of the KP allows greenhouse gas emission reductions from projects implemented in non-Annex I countries, such as Singapore, to be used to offset emissions of Annex I countries, such as Japan and the EU. According to the UNFCCC Secretariat, CDM can potentially achieve worldwide emission reductions of more than one billion tonnes by the end of 2012, thus showing that it is a useful tool for sustainable development.
More information on Clean Development Mechanism
Energy Efficiency
Improving energy efficiency is our key strategy in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. NEA promotes energy efficiency through legislation, incentives, providing information and public education.
To drive energy efficiency improvement in Singapore, NEA leads an inter-agency committee Energy Efficiency Programme Office (E2PO) to develop the energy efficiency plan known as Energy Efficient Singapore to improve energy efficiency in all the energy consuming sectors - i.e. power generation, industry, buildings, transport and households.
See the E2 Singapore website for more information.
As the lead agency for the household sector under E2PO, the NEA started the 10% Energy Challenge on 2008 - aiming to raise awareness amongst Singapore residents on energy conservation and cut their consunption by 10% in five years time.
Clean Energy
In addition to promoting energy efficiency, Singapore is also actively promoting the development of clean energy. Clean energy is defined as sources of energy that are environmentally friendly and non-polluting, and includes such sources as solar power and wind power.
Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) has been tasked with developing the clean energy industry in Singapore. For further information on the promotion of clean energy, see the EDB's website.