Singapore to ‘fine-tune’ carbon emission management for F1, Mice events

SINGAPORE will “continue to fine-tune” its plans to manage carbon emissions for the Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix and the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (Mice) industry in the coming years, said Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng in Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 19).

But he did not comment when asked if his ministry would take measures to ensure that “a substantive portion of emission reductions” from F1 and other Mice events are driven by actual emission cuts and not carbon offsets.

Dr Tan was replying to Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament for Hougang Dennis Tan, who asked for an update on the sustainability audit carried out for last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.

Dr Tan, who is also Manpower Minister, noted that 2022 was the first such sustainability audit for the race. He reiterated findings that were published on Sep 8 by Singapore GP in its environmental, social and governance report: energy use made up the majority of F1 emissions at 96.1 per cent, while the remaining 3.9 per cent were Scope 3 emissions from transport, waste and water.

A similar audit will be conducted for this year’s race, with race promoter Singapore GP aiming to halve emissions by 2028, he noted.

“This will be done through reducing energy consumption, increasing the use of renewable energy and powering the on-site generators with alternative fuels that have lower carbon emissions,” he added.

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On-site generators supply more than 60 per cent of the energy used by the race, with the rest drawn from Singapore’s electricity grid. The latter is then offset by renewable energy certificates.

As for the Mice industry, the Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers are working with event organisers to begin tracking the industry’s waste and carbon emissions from this year, said Dr Tan.

WP’s Tan had also asked whether the ministry would have timelines for the Mice sector to measure Scope 3 emissions and requirements to set interim emissions targets for 2030. Dr Tan did not address these questions.