SINGAPORE and Australia signed a bilateral Green Economy Agreement (GEA) on Tuesday (Oct 18), paving the way for closer cooperation in areas ranging from green finance to clean energy – with 17 joint projects already agreed upon – while aiming to boost job opportunities and growth in green sectors.

With the GEA being the first of its kind, the hope is that it will “be a pathfinder” for other countries, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a joint press conference in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell signed the agreement in the presence of both prime ministers, as part of the 7th Singapore-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting that Australia is hosting. Both prime ministers also agreed to include the green economy as a new sixth pillar of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, under which these annual meetings are held.

By promoting green trade and investment, the GEA will “catalyse green growth opportunities and good jobs, while promoting decarbonisation and supporting our smooth transition into a green economy”, said Gan.

The GEA sets out green economy principles and scope for cooperation in seven areas: trade and investment; standards and conformance; green and transition finance; carbon markets; clean energy, decarbonisation and technology; skills and capabilities; and business engagements and partnerships.

As laid out in a joint press release by the Ministry for Trade and Industry and the Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment, the initial 17 projects span those seven areas. In trade and investment, for instance, both countries are supporting international efforts in reducing barriers to trade for environmental goods and services by drawing up lists of 372 such goods and 155 such services.

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Another project is a digital verification platform that aims to reduce environmental costs by moving to a digital and thus paperless trade environment, which is part of both the GEA and the existing Singapore-Australia Digital Economy Agreement.

Both countries will explore bilateral and international cooperation on standards and regulations, to reduce compliance costs for exporters; and similarly cooperate on frameworks for climate-related financial disclosures and other aspects of green finance.

On the green energy front, Australia and Singapore will establish a joint working group to develop architecture for cross-border electricity trade, and enhance regional energy connectivity.

The countries will also establish partnerships for green shipping corridors; a joint working group for cooperation on sustainable aviation; and a technical working group on environmental-economic statistical measurements. The Australia-Singapore Green Skills Roundtable will be set up to bring together experts from both countries’ government agencies.

If successful, the GEA “could also be seen and used as a blueprint for other agreements for both Australia and Singapore to cooperate with other countries”, said Melissa Low, research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions.

Granted, as the GEA “clearly stems from longstanding bilateral cooperation... the extent to which it can be replicated is uncertain”, she added. However, specific elements such as those related to green finance, carbon markets, electricity connection and standards could be areas for discussion with other countries, she said.

The 17 projects include several agreements signed in line with the GEA: for research, business partnership, and eco-labelling.

Ahead of PM Lee’s visit, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research signed a Master Research Collaboration Agreement with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation on Oct 14.

This involves an initial joint grant call with funding of S$500,000 from each side, for projects in four areas: circular economy and low emissions technology; food; digital environment solutions; and the future of materials in advanced manufacturing, including lithium battery recycling.

Enterprise Singapore and its counterpart Austrade signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for green business partnership. This will promote and facilitate business-to-business engagements between both sides, aiming to expand trade and investment in areas such as renewable and clean energy; hydrogen; agribusiness and food; infrastructure; and the circular economy.

An MOU for cooperation in eco-labelling was signed between the Singapore Environment Council and Good Environmental Choice Australia. It includes promoting global best practices and standards, working towards mutual recognition of select eco-labels; and facilitating green procurement by broadening the types of products and services with eco-label certification.

Separately, during PM Lee’s visit to Australia, Singapore launched a S$16 million programme for research involving synchrotrons – a type of particle accelerator – and signed a five-year agreement with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation for preferred access to their synchrotron.

A synchrotron produces light beams that can be used to analyse materials in industries ranging from semiconductor production to life sciences. The National Synchrotron Programme was launched in Canberra by the NUS and the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF).

Singapore’s synchrotron was designed for the physical sciences such as engineering, but Australia’s produces higher-energy beams that can be used to examine organic material, in areas such as life sciences and agriculture.