Asia integral to solve climate crisis, should collaborate for a low-carbon future: Teo Chee Hean

CNA

06-05-2025

SINGAPORE: Asia is integral to solving the climate crisis and should collaborate regionally for a low-carbon future, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Tuesday (May 6).
Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change, was speaking at the opening of Ecosperity Week 2025 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
The annual sustainability event hosted by Temasek will run from May 5 to May 8, with its theme centred on Asia's role in the fight against climate change.
Mr Teo delivered a keynote address where he noted deepening global uncertainty.
"The international trading order has been upended. Supply chains are being redrawn. Global leadership is in flux, giving rise to a more arbitrary, protectionist, and dangerous world.
"As a result, countries are reassessing their priorities, placing renewed emphasis on economic resilience, self-sufficiency and strategic autonomy," said Mr Teo, adding that it was not surprising for climate ambitions to take a back seat in such circumstances.
Asia could see losses of up to 41 per cent of gross domestic product by 2100 under a high-emissions scenario, Mr Teo said, citing a report by the Asian Development Bank.
Southeast Asia is set to see major disruptions to food supplies and other institutions due to extreme weather, he added.
"Yet, it is also here, in Asia, that the fight against climate change could be won or lost. Our region is not just vulnerable to the crisis. We are integral to solving it."
While Asia today accounts for more than half of global carbon emissions, its emissions per capita figure is still lower than those for the US and Europe, he said.
"So, while Asia is expected to account for 90 per cent of the world's future growth in energy demand, this growth is a necessary consequence of improving people's lives, reducing poverty and ensuring that underserved communities get access to – for example – reliable electricity.
"The way in which Asia sources for energy – whether from fossil fuels or renewables – and how we decarbonise, will shape not only our own trajectory, but that of the entire world."
Mr Teo also spoke of three areas in which deeper collaboration in Southeast Asia could drive growth, resilience and climate action.
One area was in regional grids, where uptake remains "limited" due to poor grid connectivity, Mr Teo said.
He noted that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) power grid, an interconnected regional grid to facilitate electricity trading, was making progress.
Last year, electricity trade under the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project doubled from 100 megawatts to 200 megawatts, and Singapore progressed agreements to trade green electricity with neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.
With continued investment and cross-border cooperation, an ASEAN grid could lift GDP by up to 4.6 per cent and create thousands of green jobs, Mr Teo said.
Mr Teo noted that financing was also critical in the drive to decarbonise.
"Unfortunately, Southeast Asia faces a significant financial gap for green investments.
"Many governments in our region face budget pressures. The private sector has resources to deploy, but is understandably wary about the risks and returns of green investments," he said.
He noted that Singapore launched the Financing Asia's Transition Partnership (FAST-P), which aims to mobilise up to US$5 billion to finance green projects.
FAST-P is a blended finance initiative launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2023 to bring together international partners in the efforts towards decarbonisation and climate resilience in Asia.
At COP29, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu announced that Singapore had committed up to US$500 million in concessional funding to support FAST-P.
The MAS will provide an update of the initiative on Wednesday, according to Mr Teo.
Mr Teo also said that carbon credits could help drive decarbonisation and can act as a "powerful lever" to improve the "economics of coal plant phase out" in Asia. Singapore supports the effort through the MAS' Transition Credits Coalition, Mr Teo said.
"For carbon markets to work, trust in the integrity of these markets is key. And this is why Singapore is committed to working closely with governments, businesses, standards bodies and international organisations to develop global standards and frameworks that uphold quality and integrity.
"We want to see a high bar for the credits we support, and lead the way towards credible carbon markets."
In closing, Mr Teo referred to how Singapore in February submitted its 2035 nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, indicating its commitment to reducing emissions.
Singapore is among 20 nations out of nearly 200 to do so, and has committed to reducing emissions to between 45 million tonnes and 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2035.