SINGAPORE – The year 2025 was a challenging year for the environment.
Geopolitics eroded many national commitments to tackle climate change, even as climate disasters pummelled many countries around the world, including in South-east Asia.
But despite the gloom plaguing the environment sector, some bright sparks have emerged.
The Straits Times highlights some areas to look out for in 2026, and several key developments in 2025.
Singapore has not wavered on its earlier commitment to have its
power sector reach net-zero emissions by 2050
.
Following a number of key moves on the energy front in Singapore in 2025, it is likely that there will be more developments in the sector in the year ahead.
The energy sector accounts for about 40 per cent of Singapore’s total emissions.
Singapore has not yet made a decision on nuclear energy, but is monitoring developments on this front – especially for small modular reactors (SMRs). In 2025, the Republic made some progress in this area.
For instance, in July, a nuclear research and safety institute was
launched at the National University of Singapore
to build expertise in this area. Singapore in September also appointed consultancy firm Mott MacDonald to study the safety and feasibility of advanced nuclear technologies such as SMRs.
In October, the Republic signed agreements with various institutes in the US with nuclear expertise to facilitate information exchange.
Dedicated nuclear teams
have also been created
at the Energy Market Authority and National Environment Agency (NEA) following a reorganisation exercise, The Straits Times reported.
Progress could also be made in importing clean energy from the region.
Singapore is looking to
import 6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity
by 2035 – about a third of its energy needs then – and has already awarded conditional licences and conditional approvals for 8.35GW worth of projects.
Dr Tan See Leng, Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology, had said that renewable energy imports
hold the most promise
for Singapore in the near term and that there is a possibility to increase the target beyond 6GW, depending on partnerships.
Singapore in April
appointed Singapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI)
, a newly incorporated government-linked company, to specialise in developing cross-border power infrastructure.
With SGEI’s role to invest in, develop, own and operate interconnectors, it could help to increase investor confidence and attract new funding to help accelerate the transition.
This is because there is currently low appetite among financial institutions to fund such infrastructure, largely due to the perceived high risks and large upfront costs.
But even as the country looks for cleaner energy sources, it is likely to continue to rely on natural gas, a fossil fuel that now makes up about 95 per cent of Singapore’s fuel mix.
Carbon capture solutions, which refer to technology that can take planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for storage, could help to cut emissions from power plants.
By 2026, Singapore will be launching a pilot to test the viability of carbon capture technologies at its waste-to-energy plants.
The nationwide deployment of smart electricity meters – which tell users how much power they consume and when – is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Such meters allow consumers to track their energy consumption patterns and find ways to reduce their electricity usage. They could also reap cost savings by subscribing to time-of-use plans, instead of buying electricity from utility operator group SP Group at the regulated tariff.
Such plans
offer different rates
for using electricity at different times of the day and can help users lower their bills.
As at Dec 10, SP Group said it has installed more than 1.3 million smart electricity meters for residential premises – which is at least 80 per cent of the households in Singapore.
Amid
falling domestic recycling rates
, the beverage container return scheme is slated to launch on April 1, 2026.
Consumers will pay an extra 10 cents for bottled and canned drinks ranging from 150ml to 3 litres, but will receive a full refund of the deposit when they return the empty containers at designated return points.
The scheme will run for seven years until March 31, 2033.
More than 1,000 return points will be located in supermarkets and other communal areas.
The launch of the scheme will come after several delays. NEA had said in 2020 that the return scheme for drink containers would be implemented by 2022. But, that year, NEA said the scheme’s proposed start date would be by mid-2024.
In July 2024, it was reported that the
scheme was delayed again
until April 2026 at the request of beverage producers, as they needed more time to adjust to the changes.
The Republic’s carbon tax is set to rise from the current rate of $25 per tonne of greenhouse gases emitted, to $45 per tonne in 2026. By 2030, the tax rate could be $50 to $80 per tonne.
A carbon tax puts a price on the release of planet-warming carbon dioxide, which is emitted through the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes.
By making fossil fuel use costlier, a carbon tax incentivises large emitters to switch to cleaner energy, improve efficiency or adopt low-carbon technologies.
Singapore’s carbon tax first went up from $5 per tonne of emissions between 2019 and 2023, to $25 per tonne in 2024 and 2025.
There are roughly 50 carbon tax-paying facilities in Singapore, mainly from the manufacturing, power, waste and water sectors. These emitters are responsible for about 70 per cent of total national emissions.
However, ST reported in June that tax allowances, which act like a carbon tax “discount”, given to some emitters here could
undermine the effectiveness
of a carbon tax at sending a price signal to penalise the release of carbon pollution.
In September, several environment groups in Singapore
wrote an open letter
pressing the Government for more clarity on how much the carbon tax will be raised from 2028, and for more transparency on the tax “discounts” given to some large emitters here.
A new coastal protection Bill is expected to be introduced in 2026 to spell out the responsibilities of stakeholders involved in coastal protection.
National water agency PUB is studying how coastlines at different parts of the country can be best protected from higher water levels.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
This comes amid other efforts to protect Singapore’s coastlines from rising sea levels. National water agency PUB is studying how coastlines at different parts of the country can be best protected from higher water levels.
For example, site-specific studies on Sentosa island and the nation’s south-west coast are
also expected to begin by 2026
. They are among eight islandwide studies Singapore is conducting on its coastlines to determine the most suitable coastal protection solutions for each segment.
The first study commenced in the city-east coast stretch of Singapore’s coastline in 2021, and
proposed solutions,
including coastal barriers and raised platforms known as bunds, for one of the lowest-lying areas were announced in August.
However, apart from governmental efforts, there are seaside businesses and private properties that will need to become the second line of defence. The new Bill will pave the way for their involvement in coastal protection.
Singapore’s sea level is
projected to rise
by up to 1.15m by 2100.
By mid-2026, PUB will also
launch a code of practice
for coastal protection to set standards for the design, construction and operation of coastal protection structures in Singapore.
Building owners and developers will be able to draw ideas from this guidebook on how to improve the flood resilience of their premises.
Singapore in November dropped its “30 by 30” local production goal and
replaced it with new targets
for fibre and protein production by 2035.
The announcement came after a year-long review of the goal for Singapore to, by 2030, locally produce 30 per cent of the country’s nutritional needs, which include fish, eggs and vegetables.
The original goal was announced in 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, which later impacted the sector with associated supply chain breakdowns, despite previously high investor confidence in innovative farming techniques.
Since then, local farms have been plagued with a series of setbacks, from production declines to farm closures – especially for high-tech greens and aquaculture farms.
With worsening climate impacts and geopolitical circumstances threatening food supply, local farms are important for Singapore – which imports more than 90 per cent of its food – to safeguard its food security.
To better support farms, the Singapore Food Agency is rolling out various initiatives, including a feasibility study on a multi-tenant facility where multiple types of farms can operate under one roof and share resources.
Singapore’s household recycling rate in 2024
dipped to a record low
of 11 per cent, down from the previous low of 12 per cent in 2023 and 2022.
The dip was mainly due to less paper and cardboard waste being recycled, according to NEA.
This decline in paper recycling was due to several factors, including the growing amounts of such waste generated, as well as weakened business incentives to recycle them due to high collection costs.
The Government is working with the paper recycling industry to better support it, given the weakening economics of the trade.
One solution being studied is the use of metal cages to collect used cardboard boxes. If implemented, these cages would mark another type of infrastructure to segregate Singapore’s recyclables, which have typically been commingled in blue recycling bins.
Singapore in 2025
secured its first tranche of carbon credits
, which it can use to meet its climate change targets under the Paris Agreement.
In September, Singapore established contracts for carbon credits generated from nature restoration and protection projects in Ghana, Paraguay and Peru. This also marks the first time the island nation is sourcing for carbon credits from nature-based solutions.
One carbon credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide that is either removed from the atmosphere, such as through restoration efforts, or prevented from being released, such as when a forest is saved from the axe.
Singapore has estimated that it would use high-quality carbon credits to offset about 2.5 million tonnes of emissions a year from 2021 to 2030.
The Republic has also inked 10 deals on sourcing for carbon credits from all over the world, with the
latest agreement with Mongolia
signed in October.
As at early December, Singapore has signed such deals – dubbed implementation agreements – with Ghana, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Bhutan, Peru, Rwanda, Paraguay, Thailand, Vietnam and Mongolia.
While buying carbon credits can help offset some firms’ planet-warming emissions to meet climate commitments, experts have said that carbon trading could also help companies save money and boost investments in climate-friendly projects in developing countries.
Singapore in February submitted to the UN new targets for its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement.
It has
pledged to reduce
its greenhouse gas emissions to between 45 million and 50 million tonnes (Mt) by 2035, down from around 60Mt in 2030.
This new climate target for 2035 puts Singapore on track to
reach net-zero emissions
by 2050, with the planned decline in emissions on a linear trajectory.
Progress has also been made on raising funds to invest in sustainable development, through blended finance initiatives. This involves using capital from public or philanthropic sources as a catalyst to spur the private sector to put in funds for climate projects.
A blended finance initiative was launched by Singapore’s central bank in 2023 to bring together public, private and philanthropic capital to help finance Asia’s green transition, with the aim of eventually raising up to US$5 billion (S$6.5 billion) from these sources.
In September, one of the three funds
secured US$510 million
from the Government’s initial contribution of about US$50 million to fund green and sustainable infrastructure in South-east and South Asia.
On adaption – which refers to actions that help reduce people’s vulnerability to climate impacts – Singapore announced in August that it will
implement coastal protection measures
such as storm surge barriers and raised platforms at the Greater Southern Waterfront and Changi.
Such structures to help preserve Singapore’s south-eastern coastline – one of its lowest-lying areas – will be built from the 2030s to protect people and infrastructure there from rising seas.
