COP29: Singapore pledges US$500m to accelerate capital flows into green projects

Ms Fu noted that Singapore has submitted its inaugural Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) and National Inventory Report to the United Nations.

The reports detail a country’s actions on addressing climate change, with information such as its progress towards NDCs, policies and measures, financial and technological support in the area and greenhouse gas inventory.

Ms Fu called on parties to the Paris Agreement to submit their BTRs before the end of the year, as required under the UN’s Enhanced Transparency Framework.

EDB’S NEW CARBON GRANT

Also at COP29, the Economic Development Board (EDB) launched a new grant that will give Singapore-based carbon project developers greater access to funding and support.

The grant aims to address the lack of financing in the area and spur development and investment in more carbon projects.

EDB said Southeast Asia has a wealth of potentially investment-worthy projects in areas ranging from forest conservation to blue carbon removal.

The additional help will support developers in their feasibility studies, which include data collection and stakeholder engagement. The hope is that this will in turn boost the global supply of high-quality carbon credits.

The initiative is the government’s latest move to develop Singapore into a carbon trading centre.

Depending on the initial interest and developments, the EDB said it will refine the initiative down the line.

The statutory board’s executive vice president Lim Wey-Len said the grant will spur the development of more high-quality carbon credits that can be used to meet Singapore’s climate goals.

Carbon credits are one of the pathways to meet net-zero ambitions, especially for hard-to-abate sectors such as manufacturing.

“We see a lot of interest from carbon project development companies (who are) starting to set up shop in Singapore and to access the credits around this region to support this demand,” Mr Lim said.

Currently, there are over 120 carbon services companies in Singapore. EDB hopes the grant will attract even more carbon project developers to the nation.

Mr Lim added the grant could help to create more job opportunities locally in the growing green economy sector.