Singapore’s public sector emissions down 1.9% in FY2024: report
The total of 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted also represents a 9.5% drop from the FY2020 baseline
[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s public sector emitted a total of 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent across its 2024 fiscal year ending Mar 31, 2025. This represents an emissions decline of 1.9 per cent from the previous FY, and a 9.5 per cent drop from its FY2020 baseline, according to the third public sector sustainability report released on Monday (Oct 6).
The figure covers both the government’s operational and power consumption-based emissions, otherwise known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Scope 3 emissions, which cover emissions arising from an entity’s supply chain, have not yet been included in the government’s annual sustainability report since its inaugural release in end 2023.
According to the report, the public sector’s Scope 1 emissions went down 8.4 per cent in FY2024 from the year before. This was because the operation and maintenance schedule of Singapore’s remaining waste-to-energy plant at Tuas South resulted in reduced waste processing capacity as well as variations in the composition of waste incinerated.
These reductions in the utilities sector offset the slight increase in emissions from the mobility sector, which saw higher diesel consumption as more bus services were rolled out and as the frequency of trips increased. Compared to the baseline level of emissions, the Republic’s public sector Scope 1 emissions was down by 27.9 per cent mainly due to the decommissioning of another waste-to-energy plant in Tuas in 2022.
“The significant drop is temporary. We expect our overall Scope 1 emissions to rise again when our new waste-to-energy plant, the Integrated Waste Management Facility, becomes operational from 2027 onwards. We will increase the rate of electrification of our public buses to mitigate the increase in Scope 1 emissions from bus services,” read the sustainability report.
The public sector’s Scope 2 emissions increase by 2 per cent from the previous year and 5 per cent from the baseline year. This was mainly due to the expansion of public infrastructure in the transport and healthcare sectors. This included the opening of seven more new train stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line, which added 10.8 kilometres to the rail network. New hospital facilities, such as the Woodlands Health Campus and Tan Tock Seng Integrated Care Hub, were also opened over the course of the financial year.
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The government had previously announced that it would publish its own sustainability report annually to track the public sector’s efforts, progress and plans in rolling out its sustainability agenda.
The sustainability report includes the emissions profile of all 16 ministries, including the statutory boards under them, as well as the Judiciary, Parliament, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Auditor-General’s Office. Statutory boards are required to make their own annual sustainability disclosures from FY2024. The report, however, does not cover the emissions of the entire country.
Under Singapore’s decarbonisation plan, the government is aiming to peak its own emissions around 2025, and achieve its net-zero target around 2045.
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Electricity usage
As for its electricity use, the public sector used 5,623 gigwatt-hour of electricity in FY2024, which was a 2 per cent increase from the previous year, and a 1.1 per cent increase from the baseline.
The energy usage included purchased cooling from district cooling systems. Similar to its carbon emissions, the increase in electricity use from FY2023 can be attributed to the expansion of public infrastructure.
Nonetheless, the energy utilisation rate improved. The Energy Utitlisation Index fell 0.4 per cent to 112.5 kilowatt-hour for each square metre, which also reflects a 3 per cent drop from the baseline. This was due to improvements in the energy efficiency of the public sector’s facilities. Besides retrofitting existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency, its new buildings were built to meet the Green Mark standards by the Building and Construction Authority.
Water
The public sector used around 32.9 billion litres of water in FY 2024, a decrease of 3.3 per cent from the previous year, and a decline of 3.7 per cent from the baseline. This decrease was largely driven by lower water usage across its public sector operations and educational institutions.
Water efficiency also rose with an index of 55.9 litres per person per day in FY2024, which was 8.1 per cent lower than FY2023 and a 13.5 per cent drop from the baseline year.
The number of public sector buildings that have achieved the water efficient certification from the national water agency PUB increased to 1,114 in FY 2024.
Waste
In FY2024, the public sector disposed round 210.1 million kg of waste, a 2.2 per cent decrease from the previous year, and a 2.6 per cent decrease from the baseline. This was driven by reduced waste disposal in the public sector operations and education sectors.
The government has set a target to reduce its waste disposal index by 30 per cent by 2030, compared against the baseline. The index came in at 0.349 kg per person per day in FY2024, which was 4.8 per cent lower than FY2023, and 13.1 per cent lower than the baseline.
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