Carbon scorecard: informing consumers so that they learn to do their bit

THE Budget announcement that Singapore's carbon price will increase from the current S$5 to S$50-S$80 per tonne of emissions by 2030 is a welcome move. Such bold leadership contrasts with many countries that have been slow to realise that we need to stop treating our precious atmosphere as a "free" dumping ground.

The Singapore government has shown leadership in tackling challenges in the past. Realising that access to roads was not free, Singapore pioneered road pricing in the 1970s. In 2020, Singapore's regulators were again first to allow the sale of meat grown in bioreactors, a step the United States seems likely to follow this year.

To put the carbon price in perspective, S$80 per tonne would amount to S$400 for an average Singaporean whose consumption results in five tonnes of carbon a year emitted in 2030 - assuming of course broad incidence across all manner of goods and services, which is not the case.