Climate change in APAC has made the region the most disaster-prone territory in the world. According to Statista Research, the area has increased exposure to biological and hydro-meteorological problems such as heat waves, floods, cyclones, and droughts, with the Philippines being the most vulnerable. Singapore is playing its part in global climate action by announcing funding worth USD 500 million (SGD 669 million) during the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, commonly known as COP29.

Singapore’s financial pledge was made at the COP29 event held in Baku, Azerbaijan, by Mr Ravi Menon, its Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser in the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS). He said extreme weather events are occurring and will get worse because greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have already happened and are now 40% higher than 20 years ago. Additionally, he challenged people to “prepare for a climate-impaired world.”

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Regardless of the damage already done, Mr Menon believes the world can lower its carbon and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It is possible to avert the climate-caused impacts, allow the planet to heal gradually, and make everything sustainable. Adverse climate patterns have affected Singapore immensely, creating a hostile environment for food production, harming the economy, hurting the environment and biodiversity capacity, and causing health challenges. 

Singapore’s position as a leader in sustainable development

According to Mr Menon’s remarks at COP29, Asia accounts for half of global emissions, whereas Singapore accounts for only 0.1%. The city-state has positioned itself as a leader in sustainable development, drawing on expertise, pushing for green technology (greentech) solutions, obtaining investor funding, and imposing government regulations to support and steer the ecosystem forward.

It plans to contribute to global climate action by striving for a low-carbon world and preparing for a climate-impaired world. The former involves obtaining capital for decarbonisation efforts. In contrast, the latter involves sustaining water and food supply and developing nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation.

As for the specifics of the financial pledge, Singapore will give the money concessively for the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FAST-P) strategy. It is a blended finance initiative launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to mobilise USD 5 billion to assist Asia to decarbonise. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), blended finance is the strategic use of development funds to mobilise additional money for sustainable development.

With Singapore’s USD 500 million pledge, other sources can add concessional capital to FAST-P worth up to USD 1 billion. The funds could originate from sovereign government funding, development finance institutions, philanthropic foundations or other sources.

Mr Menon said FAST-P is attracting reputable partners to commit concessional capital, making the first investments by next year’s COP event (COP30). 

FAST-P involves three programmes targeting priority areas for Asia’s transition to a low-carbon region: the Energy Transition Acceleration Finance (ETAF), the Green Investment Partnership (GIP), and the Industrial Transformation Programme (ITP).

  • The Energy Transition Acceleration Finance (ETAF): ETAF’s goal is to phase out coal plants faster through financing to substitute them with renewable energy sources. Currently, the coal plants in Asia contribute a third of the continent’s GHG emissions, with approval to run for about 30 years. Furthermore, the money will upgrade the grid infrastructure to transmit clean energy and enable battery storage systems to cope with intermittent sustainable energy supply.
  • The Green Investment Partnership (GIP): GIP will bring funding for renewable energy, storage, and innovations like electric vehicles (EVs). It will identify green energy infrastructure projects that investors are unfamiliar with and de-risk them through blended finance to attract financing.
  • The Industrial Transformation Programme (ITP): ITP will focus on areas in Asia undergoing emission-causing urbanisation and development and sectors like cement and steel. It will aim to finance technology solutions for decarbonisation, such as carbon removals, and enable the region to grow without generating emissions.

Impact of climate action in Asia and Singapore

Mr Menon’s opening remarks at COP29 highlight Asia’s significant challenges in attracting private capital for decarbonisation. The region has regulatory, technological, and foreign exchange risks, high upfront capital costs, inadequate expertise in project development, and other issues.

Singapore’s financial pledge can accelerate Asia’s climate action targets by combating carbon emissions and making the grid infrastructure sustainable. Unfortunately, these climate change initiatives rely on faithful partnerships, the state of the global economy (which affects funding), resource allocation challenges, and more.

Nevertheless, Singapore’s sustained commitment to playing a leadership role in sustainability can help address climate change in Asia and inspire other nations to participate. It will encourage companies like Zuno Carbon to innovate greentech solutions, which contribute to offsetting carbon emissions, reducing pollution that affects health, providing employment, and improving soil, biodiversity, and water quality.