Singapore announced plans to introduce a new carbon tax in the yearly budget proposals on February 19, 2018
Singapore announced plans to introduce a new carbon tax in the yearly budget proposals on February 19, 2018.
Minister of Finance Heng Swee Keat said a tax will be levied at $5 (Singapore dollars) on all facilities which produce 25,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gas emissions annually, which will come into effect from 2019.
The Strait Times published an estimate that between 30 and 40 companies, which contribute up to 80% of Singapore’s carbon emissions, will be impacted by the tax.
These companies are from the petroleum refining, chemicals and semiconductor sectors.
The decision followed that of China’s to launch a carbon market on companies producing more than 26,000 tonnes, though its goal is to impact the more than 7,000 companies emitting a total of 3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.
Despite being a much smaller country, Singapore ranks 32nd globally for carbon dioxide emissions per capita in data from the World Bank, which is just behind Germany.
The government is also planning to assist businesses to improve their energy efficiency, with Minister Heng announcing an Energy Efficiency Fund to prioritise finance for projects which have greater reductions in emissions.
In a press statement, Minister Heng said: “Singapore produces less carbon emissions per dollar of GDP than most countries.
“We intend to further reduce our emissions intensity to make a bigger effort to combat climate change.
“In doing so, we will take into account international climate change developments, the progress of our emissions mitigation efforts, and our economic competitiveness.”
