WE refer to Nicholas Choo's letter, "Land mass or population size irrelevant to emissions target" (BT, April 12).

In Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing's speech at the launch ceremony for ExxonMobil's Singapore Butyl and Resins Plants on April 5, he pointed out that as a small country, Singapore was acutely aware of the need to control carbon emissions. In his speech, Mr Chan also highlighted Singapore's determination to work with partners such as ExxonMobil to build new technologies in order to create better, cleaner and more sustainable products. This will ensure that as we tackle the climate challenge, we are able to continue to create new jobs and cleaner industries for the benefit of Singapore and Singaporeans.

Under the Paris Agreement, parties put forward their pledges towards a common goal of mitigating climate change, while recognising countries' differing situations and national circumstances. This would include the country's geographic, climatic, population, economic/industry, buildings, agriculture/forestry, waste and transport sector profiles; as well as their energy mix, including the ability to tap alternative energy sources.

Singapore takes our climate action responsibility very seriously and has put forward a pledge to reduce our Emissions Intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and to stabilise our emissions with the aim of peaking around 2030. This is an ambitious target, given our land constraints, urban density, and geographic and climatic conditions, which pose challenges in tapping alternative energy sources such as hydro, wind and geothermal energy. Solar power is our most viable alternative energy option, which we will aim to maximise. Even then, we have to take into account competing land uses.

As outlined in our Climate Action Plan, Singapore will continue to improve energy efficiency across all sectors of the economy, develop low-carbon technologies and solutions, and increase the deployment of renewable energy where viable. We will also continue to push the envelope on our climate efforts, in close partnership with both businesses and the community.

Lim Weilin Press Secretary to the Minister for Trade and Industry

Pamela Lee Director, Policy & Planning National Climate Change Secretariat, Strategy Group Prime Minister's Office