By 2030, Singapore will be greener, especially with new sustainability efforts to push forward transformation in the way people live, work, study and play.

Imagine a greener Singapore – with more land dedicated for nature parks; more solar power deployment; electric vehicles on the roads; schools that are carbon neutral; a built environment that is eco-friendly and can support the development of cost-effective green technologies that promote energy efficiency; sustainable energy and chemical parks and many more.

This vision was unveiled by the Government on 10 February 2021, with the release of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a whole-of-nation movement to advance the country’s national agenda on sustainable development. Mapping out ambitious and concrete targets over the next 10 years, the Green Plan not only builds upon past sustainability efforts but will further reinforce Singapore’s commitments under the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and Paris Agreement, and positions Singapore to achieve its long-term net-zero emissions aspiration as soon as viable.

The wide-ranging plan which spans across all sectors of society, from infrastructural development, research and innovation, to training and education programmes, will be spearheaded by five ministries - the Ministries of Education, National Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Trade and Industry, and Transport.

The comprehensive plan is said to “strengthen Singapore’s economic, climate and resource resilience, improve the living environment of Singaporeans, and bring new business and job opportunities, and will influence all aspects of our lives, from how we live to how we work and play, as we work together as a nation to make Singapore a greener and more liveable home.”

Under the Green Plan, sustainability efforts have been broken down into five key pillars - City in Nature; Sustainable Living; Energy Reset; Green Economy; and Resilient Future.

Here is a snapshot of the five pillars and the key targets for a greener Singapore come 2030.

City in Nature
To create a green, liveable and sustainable home for Singaporeans.

• Develop over 130 hectares of new parks, and enhance around 170 hectares of existing parks with more lush vegetation and natural landscapes by end 2026.
• Set aside 1000 hectares of green spaces by 2035, of which 20 percent will be new nature parks.
• Extend 160km of park connectors
• Enhance 30 hectares of forest, marine, and coastal habitats
• Add 80 hectares of skyrise greenery
• Have 300km of Nature Ways along roads
• Ensure every household lives within a 10-minute walk from a park.
• Plant one million more trees, across the island to provide cleaner air and more shade.
• Work with communities and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to develop programmes to allow people and wildlife to live in harmony.

Sustainable Living
To make reducing carbon emissions, keeping our environment clean, and saving resources and energy a way of life in Singapore.

Singapore is aiming to be a zero waste nation powered by a circular economy, with a high rate of recycling. It is the only country in the world to freeze the growth of vehicle population; one of the few countries to have closed its water loop by recycling used water to make NEWater; and will make a strong push towards circularity in waste materials to transform trash to treasure.

Water and Waste

• Reduce daily household water consumption to 130 litres per person by 2030.
• Cut down the daily waste sent to landfill by 30 percent per person by 2030.

Carbon-Neutral Schools

• Roll out Eco Stewardship Programme involving all schools to strengthen school curriculum and programmes on sustainability.
• Work towards a two-thirds reduction of net carbon emissions from the schools sector by 2030.
• Aim for at least 20 percent of schools to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Green Commutes

• Bring 8 in 10 households within a 10-minute walk of a train station by the 2030s.
• Increase the use of mass public transport by commuters to 75 percent by 2030.
• Expand rail network to 360km by early 2030s, from 230km in 2020.
• Triple cycling network to 1,320km by 2030, from 460km in 2020.
• Acquire only cleaner-energy public buses.

Energy Reset
To use cleaner energy and increase our energy efficiency to lower our carbon footprint.

Housing

• Reduce energy consumption in HDB towns by 15 percent, through measures such as the using smart LED lights and solar energy.

Buildings

• 80-80-80 in 2030 – Green 80 percent of Singapore’s buildings (by gross floor area) by 2030; ensure 80 percent of new buildings (by gross floor area) will be classified as super-low-energy (SLE) from 2030; and best-in-class green buildings to see an energy efficiency of 80 percent by 2030.
• Target for government-owned buildings to reach maximum emissions by 2025

Transport

• Cease new registrations of diesel cars and taxis from 2025.
• Target for all new car and taxi registrations to be of cleaner-energy models from 2030.
• Phase out internal combustion engine vehicles, and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.
• To get eight towns “EV-ready”, with electric vehicles (EV) chargers deployed at their HDB carparks by 2025.
• Target 60,000 EV charging points across the island by 2030.

Green Energy

• Increase solar energy deployment by 400 percent by 2025, which includes covering the HDB roof tops with solar panels.
• Increase solar energy deployment by 500 percent by 2030, with at least 2 gigawatt-peak, capable of powering over 350,000 households a year.
• Tap green energy sources from the ASEAN region and beyond, through electricity imports and hydrogen.
• Increase efficiency with each new generation gas-fired power plants to reduce emissions.

International Commitments
As an aviation and maritime hub, Singapore will play active and important roles in fulfilling two international aspirational goals:

• In Aviation: achieve 2 percent improvement in fuel efficiency every year until 2050, and carbon-neutral growth from 2020.
• In Maritime: reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by at least 50 percent by 2050 (compared to 2008 levels).

Green Economy
To seek green growth to create new jobs, transform our industries and harness sustainability as a competitive advantage.

• Develop Jurong Island to be a sustainable energy and chemicals park.
• Achieve National Air Quality Target for sulphur dioxide.
• Be a leading centre for Green Finance and Services in Asia and globally.
• Be a leading carbon trading and services hub in Asia.
• Singapore as a carbon services hub in Asia.
• Singapore as a leading regional centre for developing new sustainability solutions.
• Introduce an Enterprise Sustainability Programme, to help enterprises embrace sustainability and develop capabilities in this area.
• Create new and diverse job opportunities in sectors such as green finance, sustainability consultancy, verification, credits trading and risk management.
• Promote homegrown innovation under the Research and Innovation & Enterprise Plan 2025, and attract companies to anchor their R&D activities in Singapore.

Resilient Future
To build up Singapore’s climate resilience and enhance our food security.

• Set aside S$5 billion for coastal and flood protection measures.
• Develop new solutions to protect Singapore coastlines against rising sea levels.
• Put in place physical defences to protect the coastlines along East Coast, Lim Chu Kang, Sungei Kadut, and around Jurong Island by 2030.
• Moderate the rise in urban heat by increasing greenery and the use of cool paint on building facades.
• Produce 30 percent of Singapore’s nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030. This is to make Singapore’s food supply more resilient.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu, highlighted that in order to achieve a sustainable future, it will require a whole-of-nation effort, calling every government agency, individual, business, research institution, community group and civil society organisation to work in unison.

In his Facebook post on 9 February 2021, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that while Singapore may be a small country lacking in natural resources, it can still press on with technological and policy solutions for sustainable development.

“The Green Plan will build upon Singapore’s sustainability efforts in decades past, and help the country fulfil its commitments under the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda”, he added.

Spurring on Singaporeans, PM Lee said, “We will do all we can to combat climate change. We need to ensure a Singapore for our future generations. All of us have to work together, and make Singapore a bright green spark for the world.”