Committee of Supply Debate 2010: Environmental Policies under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources

Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, and Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, gave their speeches during the Committee of Supply Debate under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) yesterday. The speeches address various environmental policies, including:

• Sustainable Development – Overall Approach to Resource Efficiency and Mitigating Climate Change
• Improving Energy Efficiency
• Singapore’s Vulnerability to Climate Change
• Managing Our Water Resources
• Recycling and Waste Minimisation
• Building Up R&D and Manpower Capabilities in Clean Environment and Water Sectors
• Dengue
• Sustaining Public Cleanliness
• Licensing Elderly Tissue Paper Peddlers
• Noise
• Enhancements to Food Hygiene Regime
• ABC Waters Programme

Here are some key points that they raised: Read more

Reframing the Climate Change Narrative

March 4, 2010
12:15 pm	to	1:30 pm

Venue: Seminar Room 3-1, Level 3, Manasseh Meyer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772

Speaker: Prof Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins University

and

Um Woochong, Deputy Director General, Regional and Sustainable Development Department Asian Development Bank

Synopsis: Thus far, international negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have focused on emission reductions, the “targets and timetables” for doing so, monitoring and compliance regimes, and incentives in the form of finance and carbon markets. The failure of the recent UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009 has highlighted the limitations of this approach. Read more

ESC Sub-Committee on Energy Resilience and Sustainable Growth

The Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) Sub-Committee on Energy Resilience and Sustainable Growth has published its detailed report on its aim to:

recommend strategies to achieve our national energy objectives: economic competitiveness, energy security and environmental sustainability.

Here are the 5 strategies and 11 recommendations to help Singapore build a Smart Energy Economy:

Strategy 1: Diversifying our Energy Sources

1. Allow entry of new energy options on a market basis

2. Develop renewable energy sources

3. Study the feasibility of the nuclear energy option and develop expertise in nuclear energy technologies

Strategy 2: Enhancing Infrastructure and Systems

4. Invest in critical energy infrastructure ahead of demand

5. Develop Jurong Island as an energy-optimised industrial cluster

Strategy 3: Increasing Energy Efficiency

6. Promote energy efficiency for buildings, industry and in homes

7. Support clean and efficient technologies in transportation

Strategy 4: Strengthening the Green Economy

8. Establish energy as a key national R&D priority

9. Build capabilities for the green economy

10. Apply a green lens to government procurement

Strategy 5: Pricing Energy Right

11. Price energy to reflect its total cost

Clean Coal and Biomass Cogeneration Plant by Tuas Power: A Chronology

This is a chronology of the news and responses on Tuas Power’s clean coal and biomass cogeneration plant.

14 Mar 08 – Tuas Power sold to China Huaneng Group (Temasek successfully completes divestment of Tuas Power by Temasek Holdings)

27 Mar 08 – Tuas Power announced that it is looking at building a $2 billion coal-fired plant (Tuas Power may build $2b coal-fired plant by Business Times)

2 Apr 08 – We think it is highly possible that Tuas Power would take the coal route and expressed our concerns (Red dot goes black? by AsiaIsGreen)

26 Sep 08 – Tuas Power announced plans to build a $2 billion steam and electricity production plant to run on clean coal and biomass on Jurong Island (Tuas Power to build $2b ‘clean’ plant by Straits Times) Read more

3rd Annual Carbon Trade China 2010

April 15, 2010

to

April 16, 2010

The 3rd Annual Carbon Trade China 2010

April 15th- 16th, 2010, Beijing, China

http://www.chinacarbontrade.com.cn/

Contact: Fanny Wang

Email: marketing@jfpsgroup.com.cn

Online Registration: http://www.chinacarbontrade.com.cn/

With theme of Emitting China’s CDM Potential and Enhancing East-West Carbon Trade, The 3rd Annual Carbon Trade China 2010 will be held by JFPS Group on April 15th- 16th, 2010 in Beijing, China.

The 3rd Annual Carbon Trade China 2010 will focus on the impact on the carbon market from the COP 15 and tailor-make the conference for all the players from the value chain of carbon industry. The summit will focus on: Read more

True or False: Singapore to Reduce Carbon Emissions Growth by 16% from 2020 BAU Levels

You must have already heard of the announcement yesterday that Singapore will reduce carbon emissions growth by 16% from 2020 business-as-usual levels, provided that:

Singapore will only commit to this if there is a legally binding global deal that obliges all countries to cut emissions, and if other countries offer significant pledges, said Professor Jayakumar. – Straits Times

Read more from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs news release and from the local media.

We were wondering yesterday whether the 16% cut refers to absolute carbon emissions or carbon intensity, and whether the cut is from 1990 or 2005 levels. But having read the news over again, we realised that:

Singapore’s target means it will cut roughly 12 million tonnes of CO2 by 2020, said Dr Yaacob.

This is based on a projection that the country’s emissions would reach 75 million tonnes of CO2 by 2020 if no measures were taken. – Straits Times

Singapore’s absolute carbon emissions in 2007 is about 40 million tonnes and from the statement above, it seems that the government projected that carbon emissions will reach 75 million tonnes in 2020 on a business-as-usual scenario. If Singapore takes action to reduce its emissions by 16%, the cut is equivalent to 12 million tonnes, meaning that emissions would reach 63 million tonnes in 2020. This cut is not based on 1990 or 2005 levels, it is just based on 2020 levels, which implies that there is no peak in emissions and a drop thereafter. What we would expect is a continuous increase in absolute carbon emissions till 2020.

The graph above shows the absolute carbon emissions from 1990 (22 Mt) to 2007 (40 Mt) based on available published data by the government. If we do a projection of the emissions from 2008 to 2020 based on an estimated 5% annual growth (BAU), we would reach 75 Mt, which is the business-as-usual scenario projected by the government.

If we do a projection of the emissions from 2008 to 2020 based on an estimated 3.6% annual growth (pledge), we would reach 63 Mt, which is the 16% cut committed or the we-will-take-action scenario projected by the government.

From 1990 to 2007, the average annual emissions growth is about 3.6%. We would expect a projection for business-as-usual scenarios for the future to use this number but the government uses a higher business-as-usual growth of 5%.

What we find funny is that when the government commits to the 16% cut by 2020, it is reducing the average annual growth in emissions from 2008 to 2020 from 5% to 3.6%, which is the same annual growth as what we have been doing over the past 17 years. In other words, if we continue business-as-usual from 2008 to 2020 without the 16% cut, we would still reach the projected 63 million tonnes in 2020 or the we-will-take-action scenario.

So, are we really reducing carbon emissions by 16% from 2020 BAU levels or are we just assuming a higher BAU level in 2020 and then committing to 16% cuts, which results in a level we would reached anyway if we don’t take any measures to reduce emissions?

Or are we just plainly wrong, make wrong assumptions and mistakes? Or did we get the maths wrong? Or maybe we are just talking rubbish and don’t know what we are talking about? Let us know what you think.

Excerpts from a Technology Roadmap for Energy Security and Environment Sustainability

December 7, 2009
10:30 am	to	12:00 pm

Speaker: Dr Michael Quah Cheng-Guan

Venue: Seminar Room II, ISEAS

When Dr Quah was a Visiting Principal Fellow at ESI, he presented an interim report on a work in progress in December, last year, at ISEAS. He has since completed his report and will discuss excerpts of the Technology Roadmap, which provides signposts and guardrails for a transition from the current dependence on fossil fuels to a far future when fossil fuels are prohibitively expensive to extract and process and thus, we will face a back-to-the-future scenario to the “Age of Renewables.”

Along this long road to the far future, near-term strategies for the next 10 years and mid-term scenarios for 10 to 50 years are discussed. Energy conservation and energy efficiency programs are paramount in the near-term because fossil fuels will continue to play a major role but carbon constraints will reveal the necessity for such programs. The need for high energy density fuels calls for a future where bio-fuels are needed with the requisite balancing act of land (and water areas) for food and fuel.

Against a backdrop of the Singapore International Energy Week (just completed in 17 – 20 November), the Copenhagen Conference (7-18 December 2009), the possible depletion of world oil resources faster than expected (Straits Times, 11 November 2009) and extreme weather events (typhoons) impacting upon Southeast Asia, this seminar is most timely and will show the “middle way.” This talk provides further elaborations on Dr. Quah’s presentations at the Shell-ESI Dialogue and the Plug-In Singapore session at the recent Singapore International Energy Week.

Details and registration at the ISEAS website.

Climate Change – An Emerging Security Threat

November 23, 2009
12:40 pm	to	1:30 pm

Speaker: Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, Climate and Energy Security Envoy, British Government

Venue: Seminar Room 3-1, Level 3, Manasseh Meyer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772

Synopsis: Internationally, there is growing interest in non-traditional threats to security. Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti is the British Government’s envoy for climate and energy security. He will examine how climate change can act as a ‘threat multiplier’ that exacerbates existing tensions and has consequences for national and international security. He will outline how countries need to ensure that their security strategies address the impact of climate change on stability. He will also emphasise the urgency of the global transition to a low carbon economy, which will limit the threat and explore possible solutions such as areas where militaries can collaborate. The session will also consider how these factors may come into play in South East Asia.

Details and registration at the LKYSPP website.

REDD, REDD+, or REDD++: Multiple Perspectives on Climate Change Mitigation in the Forestry Sector

November 17, 2009
2:30 pm	to	4:00 pm

Speaker: Dr David Neidel, Asia Training Program Coordinator for the Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI), Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Venue: ISEAS Seminar Room II

About the Seminar:

Deforestation and forest degradation contribute approximately 20% of the annual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is now widely recognized as the major driving force behind global climate change. To help address this problem, afforestation/reforestation projects, which sequester carbon from the atmosphere, were included within the Clean Development Mechanism. Concerns about a complementary and potentially more effective approach, known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), however, have kept it relegated to the Voluntary Carbon Market. While REDD now appears poised for inclusion in both international and national regulatory markets, debates continue to swirl around a number of issues including the exact scope of the approach (RED, REDD, REDD +, or REALU), the nature of the financing mechanism, and a series of methodological issues including additionality, permanence, and leakage.

This seminar is intended to provide an overview of the opportunities and obstacles that exist to using forestry for global warming mitigation, as a way to understand these on-going debates.

Details at the ISEAS website.

Combating Climate Change: Solutions for Today and Tomorrow

November 18, 2009
2:30 pm	to	3:45 pm

Venue: Seminar Room 3-1, Level 3, Manasseh Meyer, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772

Speaker: Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland

Synopsis: Our generation of politicians, investors and entrepreneurs will be judged by future history according to the performance in the issues related to climate change and energy policies. Climate change knows no boundaries and consequences of climate change are terrifying. It leaves no other option but to act. In past years an intensive debate has been going on whether the best method to curb green house emissions is to agree on restrictions or to invest in new technologies. Today the picture is changing. The momentum for global arrangements to curb emissions is growing. Also the importance of creating incentives to engage the private sector in technology cooperation needs to be highlighted. R&D must be substantially scaled up, global technology objectives established and safe and sustainable technologies diffused. The objective of the Cleantech Finland brand is to develop clean technologies as the cornerstone of Finnish industries and to make Finland the leading country in the environmental business by 2012.

Details from the LKYSPP website.

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