“Is Singapore government doing enough to
address the issue of climate change?”
Title: Singapore addressing
the issue of climate change
Goldin mentioned in his TED talk (2009)
that due to the globalization, several problems have evolved; one of the many
problems that he had mentioned was global climate change. According to
definition of climate change from the dictionary, climate change is the result
of an increase in the average temperature and rise in sea levels. Climate
change could lead to changes in the rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures in
some areas and a change in biodiversity. Most countries are now suffering as a
result of this phenomenon. One of the main causes of climate change is the
increasing amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, emitted through
human activities. With globalization, countries undergo industrialization and
development, leading to an increase in fossil fuel combustion, which generates
large amount of greenhouse gases.
Singapore is a very small country, and we
are more susceptible to changes such as the changes in the weather conditions,
or even changes in biodiversity. According to the National Climate Change
Secretariat, Singapore’s temperature had increase by 0.2 degrees Celcius since
1948 and mean sea level of the Straits of Singapore has also increased since
then. Singapore’s carbon dioxide emission is less than 0.2% of the world’s
carbon emission. However, it is still important for Singapore to have measures
to lower the carbon emission to reduce the effects of climate change even
though it is not significant. This is because climate change is not a problem
that could be solved by one country; it requires all the countries to come
together to play a part in helping to address this global issue. Singapore
government has come up with several solutions to address the issue of climate
change.
One of the several solutions that
Singapore government had come up with to address the issue of climate change is
to switch from using fuel oil or coal to using natural gas as the main fuel for
electricity. Natural gas emits a lesser amount of carbon than fuel oil. The
power sector emits a larger amount of carbon dioxide in Singapore as compared
to other sectors. With the use of natural gas, there will be significant drop
in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.
However, this solution is only effective
to a certain extent. It is effective as natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel
and it generates far less carbon dioxide as compared to oil or coal. It is not
very effective in the long run though as natural gas is a non-renewable
resource, it will not be sustainable to use natural gas for a long period of
time to generate electricity.
Transportation is another factor that
causes carbon emissions in Singapore. The Singapore government has come up with
several policies for transportation sector to lower carbon emissions. Private
cars contribute the largest share of carbon emissions by the transport sector
at 35%. Thus, there’s a need to lower the number of private cars in Singapore.
The government has a vehicle quota system, which limits the number of private
cars on the road. In addition, all new potential cars owners have to bid for
the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in order to purchase a new car. I feel
that even with this policy, it is not effective. According to Png (2012), he
mentioned in his article that people are driving more when COE prices rises. When
people are driving more often, it would contribute more to the carbon emissions
in Singapore. With the increament in the COE prices, it does not help to lower
carbon emissions.
Apart from the implementation of the COE,
since 2013, Singapore has been promoting the use of green vehicles in
Singapore. These green vehicles generally emit less carbon dioxide as compared
to the normal vehicles. The Singapore government came out with Carbon
Emissions-based Vehicle (CEV) Scheme to encourage Singaporeans to purchase
green vehicles instead of the normal vehicles. CEV works by giving rebates to
users when they buy cars that emit lesser carbon dioxide while cars that emit
high amount of carbon dioxide would be charged.
However, I feel that this is also not
effective. Even though with the increase in the government’s efforts to
implement new schemes to encourage more car users to buy green vehicles, these
vehicles are still not popular in Singapore. These vehicles are generally more
expensive even with the rebates given, and Singaporeans have limited awareness
of how these green vehicles work and are doubtful about them. Thus, they would
prefer to buy the normal vehicles instead.
Transportation in Singapore includes
public trnasports like the buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), and they
contribute a lower proportion of carbon emissions in Singapore as well. I
wouuld suggest that the Singapore government lower the public transport costs
to promote private cars users to switch to taking the public transport. I feel
that this would be effective since since a lesser number of private cars on the
road would significantly decrease carbon emissions.
In conclusion, I feel that Singapore is
not doing enough to address the issue of climate change even with the different
policies and schemes that the government has. The government can improve the
current policies to further helps to lower carbon emissions in Singapore.
Reference:
Ivan Png. (2012,
August 2). People drive more when COE price rise.
The Straits Times, pA30
The Straits Times, pA30
Land Transport
Authority (LTA). (2013).
Tax Structure For Cars
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html
Tax Structure For Cars
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html
National Climate
Change Secretariat (NCCS). (2013).
Impact of Climate Change on Singapore
Retrieved March
7, 2014 from https://app.nccs.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=160&secid=157
