Singapore lowers emissions forecast target to 60 mln tonnes CO2 in 2030

Singapore cut its forecast for its carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 and will achieve a peak in emissions earlier before that as the city-state strives to achieve net zero by 2050, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday.

Singapore plans to reduce its carbon emissions target for 2030 to 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, Wong said at the Singapore International Energy Week conference. The country previously aimed for emissions to peak at 65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030.

"We will now aim to peak our emissions earlier, and reduce our emissions to around 60 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030," Wong said.

"This 5 million tonne improvement is significant as it is equivalent to reducing our current transport emissions by two thirds."

Wong did not specify in his speech what year Singapore's carbon emissions would peak.

A spokesperson for Singapore's National Climate Change Secretariat said that the exact peak emissions level and year would "depend on the results of our decarbonisation efforts, which are in turn dependent on technological maturity, effective international collaboration, and the contributions by all citizens and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions."