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S
ustainability
P
olicies
, P
rogrammes
and
their
E
conomic
I
mpact
among the top three in the world
3
with 71 per cent of journeys
completed in less than an hour.
Urban environment
• Measures are in place to ensure that noise levels remain acceptable
in a densely built-up city like Singapore. Noise limits are enforced
to control noise emissions from construction sites, while stipulating
a minimum distance between roads and buildings reduces the
impact of traffic noise. In order to preserve greenery, land has been
set aside for parks which are linked to our nature areas by park
connectors. Unique areas of biodiversity and selected nature areas
have been placed under conservation. Ten per cent of Singapore’s
land is committed as green spaces, half of which are nature reserves.
If we add this to our extensive roadside greenery and island-wide
park connector network, almost half of Singapore is covered by
greenery. Our city is home to 2,900 species of plants, 360 species of
birds and 250 species of hard corals.
Sustainable Singapore Blueprint
• To further address the challenges of sustainable development, the
Inter-Ministerial Committee on Sustainable Development released the
Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB) in April 2009. The SSB sets out
our 2030 targets for sustainable development and four strategies to
help us achieve these. In 2009, Singapore also pledged to undertake
mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per
cent below business-as-usual level, contingent on a legally binding
global agreement. The four strategies are detailed below.
Boosting resource efficiency
• Singapore’s small land area, geographical location and other
physical attributes make it energy poor. It depends on fossil
fuel imports and has limited access to alternative
energy sources. We therefore aim to achieve a
35 per cent improvement in energy efficiency
from 2005 levels by 2030, as well as optimizing
land use and attaining a recycling rate of 70
per cent. We also aim to reduce domestic water
consumption to 140 litres per person per day
(PPPD) by 2030, down from 156 litres PPPD in
2008.
• Several measures are being taken to achieve these
goals, including pricing energy to reflect the
environmental impact of production and providing
more information to help raise people’s awareness
and management of their energy consumption.
Financial incentives, new standards and new
legislation like the Energy Conservation Act
are helping to promote energy-efficient designs,
processes and technologies in industry. Solar
technology test-bedding projects will prepare
Singapore for larger-scale use when the cost of solar
energy falls closer to that of conventional energy.
We are promoting resource-efficient buildings with
a requirement that they meet minimum Green
Mark certification standards. Recycling facilities in
housing areas will be increased and we will pilot
usage-based pricing for household waste disposal
fees, as well as promoting recycling for large sources
of waste such as plastic and food waste.
• We continue to expand local water catchments,
increase water recycling rates and extend the
coverage of the Mandatory Water Efficiency
Centralized recycling bins are provided for public and private housing estates
Ten per cent of Singapore’s land is set aside as green space, half of
this as nature reserves
Image: MEWR Singapore
Image: MEWR Singapore