Land mass or population size irrelevant to emissions target

I REFER to the article "Energy industry faces climate and job hurdles: Chan Chun Sing" (BT, Apr 5). It was reported that the Minister for Trade and Industy pointed out that Singapore "did not have the benefit of a large land mass or humans for us to get a big quota in terms of carbon emissions" under the 2016 Paris Agreement.

It is worth noting that the Paris Agreement calls for nationally determined contributions (NDCs) which, as the name suggests, are determined and put forward by each country itself. Singapore's NDCs can be found on the websites of the UNFCC, IEA and NCCS. Broadly speaking, Singapore has pledged to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, as well as stabilise emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030.

Mr Chan's statement is concerning for two reasons. Firstly, it implies that some emissions quota was allocated to or imposed on Singapore as a result of the Paris Agreement. This was not the case. NDCs are determined by each country, which sets its own target and puts forward its own plan to achieve those targets. There was no "quota", so to speak, required of any country.