SINGAPORE — Shutting down elevators in ministries during non-peak hours and phasing out bottled water in government meetings are among the strategies and initiatives that government bodies are taking to address climate change.

The inaugural GreenGov.SG report published on Friday (Dec 15) by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) also detailed the levels of greenhouse gas emissions as well as energy and water usage by the public sector. 

It covered the sector’s assets in Singapore, including office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, public utilities installations, public transport infrastructure, and vehicles.

The report, the first in Southeast Asia, also highlighted the green innovations that some government agencies and buildings have taken to reduce emissions.

Singapore aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The GreenGov.SG initiative aims to have the public sector achieve this goal five years ahead of target, by around 2045. 

This means that by 2030, the public sector has to reduce its energy and water usage by 10 per cent and the waste it disposes of by 30 per cent respectively. This goal was first announced by the Government in 2021.  

Friday's report also stated that emissions are expected to peak around 2025 as the economy reopens after the Covid-19 crisis and new major public infrastructure is built. 

For financial year (FY) 2022, the public sector’s Energy Utilisation Index was 120.4 kWh/m2, a 1.3 per cent increase compared to the baseline.

This index is calculated by taking total electricity used divided by gross floor area of a building. 

The baseline for each ministry’s index was taken from the average of FY2018 to FY2020 to reflect hybrid working arrangements after the pandemic.

This index for MSE, for example, showed the highest increase of 6.6 per cent. The increase was due to a "scaling up of operations to strengthen Singapore’s water and food resilience", MSE said in response to TODAY's queries.

The public sector has set a target to improve this index by 10 per cent by 2030 from the average of FY2018 to FY2020.

Regarding Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, the report found an overall 5.3 per cent decrease compared to the baseline emissions for all agencies. 

Scope 1 emissions relate to the direct burning of non-renewable fuel on site. This entails the combustion of natural gas, town gas, petrol and diesel, among others.

Scope 2 emissions relate to purchased electricity consumed. 

The Prime Minister’s Office was found to have the highest increase of 20.1 per cent from its baseline greenhouse emissions. Baselines for emissions are calculated from FY2020.

WHY IT MATTERS

The launch of the report makes Singapore's government one of the first in the world to put out an account of public sector environmental sustainability performance.

Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, said of the latest report: “Like the private sector and the wider community, we are learning as we embark on our sustainability journey.

"We encourage everyone, individuals, businesses, NGOs and community groups to join us as we drive environmental sustainability and build a greener and more sustainable future for Singapore.

“This signifies our serious commitment for the Government to be part of our action climate agenda and deliver on our GreenGov initiatives.”

GreenGov.SG was formerly known as the Public Sector Taking the Lead in Environmental Sustainability initiative, which was introduced in 2021 as a critical enabler of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

With climate change continuing to be an existential threat to Singapore, the GreenGov.SG report aims to support the country's Green Plan 2030, a whole-of-nation movement to advance the national agenda on sustainable development.

Through GreenGov.SG, the public sector strives to attain environmental sustainability targets in carbon abatement and resource efficiency.

The Government also recognises that it is in a good position to empower and enable sustainable change within the communities around them, the report stated.  

Additionally, as a low-lying island state located in the tropics, Singapore faces significant risks from climate change. It must adopt an anticipatory, effective and adaptable approach to safeguard against the effects of climate change, the report said. 

LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT 

When calculating emissions, GreenGov.SG takes into account only Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, but not Scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions refer to indirect greenhouse gas emissions incurred by an organisation as part of its value chain, such as business travel by employees, the use of its sold products or the emissions from its purchased goods and services.

MSE told TODAY that the Government is still at an early stage of implementing its reporting framework and does not track or report the public sector’s Scope 3 emissions for now.

It said that due to the extensive nature of activities performed by the public sector, the sources of Scope 3 emissions are very wide and the material categories would vary from ministry to ministry. 

Furthermore, calculating Scope 3 emissions is challenging because the emission factor of many activities and embodied carbon of many products are unknown, it added.

Emission factor refers to the rate at which a given activity releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, while embodied carbon refers to carbon emissions released during the lifecycle of building materials, including extraction, manufacturing, transport, construction and disposal. 

"Nevertheless, we are prepared to refine our framework over time, as we strive to reduce our emissions and develop greater capability within the public service for tracking and reporting," MSE said.

Apart from tracking emissions, the report stated that the data excluded performance data for waste. This was because more time is needed to improve the public sector’s data collection processes for waste, since waste disposal is not metered, unlike electricity and water use.

Waste tends to be co-mingled at bin centres, the report added. This makes it more challenging to attribute the waste disposal to an agency.

REDUCING ENERGY USAGE

In FY2022, the public sector emitted 3.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which comprises Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. 

Even though there was an increase in Scope 2 emissions of 2.3 million tonnes in FY2022 from the baseline of 2.18 million tonnes, a reduction of Scope 1 emissions of 1.38 million tonnes in FY2022 from the baseline of 1.73 million tonnes resulted in a 5.3 per cent decrease in total emissions. 

The drop in Scope 1 emissions was due to the decommissioning of the Tuas incineration plant, while the rise in Scope 2 emissions was due to the normalisation of public sector operations after the Covid-19 crisis.

The report said that emissions are expected to increase in the near future and peak around 2025, but national policies are in place to improve building efficiency standards and reduce waste. 

On top of that, technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage will also be used to reduce emissions when they are mature enough for adoption. 

Since 2021, all new and existing public sector buildings that undergo major retrofitting are required to achieve the Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy standards. 

As of FY2022, 39 buildings have met or exceeded the standard with at least 60 per cent energy savings when compared to 2005 levels. 

For example, the Ministry of Manpower has deployed a passive displacement ventilation air-conditioning system at the multi-purpose hall and customer service area of its Services Centre. 

The system uses natural convection processes to channel cooled air directly to the floor level, avoiding the need to cool the upper regions of the hall. 

This system is about 10 per cent to 15 per cent more energy-efficient compared to conventional top-throw systems, without any compromise on thermal comfort, the report said.

REDUCING CARBON EMISSIONS 

To reduce carbon emissions, government agencies are exploring ways to power operations using alternative low-carbon energy sources.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be switching to a cleaner energy bus fleet by 2040. By 2030, electric buses are expected to make up half of the public bus fleet here. 

To harness solar energy and support the national target to deploy at least 2 gigawatt peak (GWp) of solar energy by 2030, government agencies are working to achieve at least 1.5 GWp by then.

As of FY2022, about 3,300 public housing blocks under the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and 161 public sector buildings have been installed with solar panels.

Energy generated from the solar panels on HDB blocks is used to power common services such as lifts, lights and water pumps during the day, with excess energy channelled to the grid.

Hospitals require hot water for sanitation, decontamination, sterilisation, food services and showering. 

Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital have installed a solar-powered device that converts natural sunlight into a heat source to produce hot water more efficiently.

To date, these two hospitals have achieved more than 900,000 kWh of energy savings a year. This energy is enough to power the electricity needs of 220 four-room HDB flats for an entire year.

REDUCING WATER CONSUMPTION 

In FY2022, the public sector’s Water Efficiency Index — or the water used by a person a day — was 63.9 litres, a 0.8 per cent increase compared to the baseline. 

Similar to the approach taken for the Energy Utilisation Index, the baseline has been established as the average of FY2018 to FY2020.

The increase was largely due to a rise in the number of occupants and visitors to public sector premises in FY2022, along with the gradual reopening of the economy and increased activities, which resulted in greater water usage across the sector.

The Ministry of Home Affairs reported the highest change in this index from its baseline, with a 25.8 per cent increase. 

Agencies are also exploring more ways to enhance their water efficiency.

One approach is to replace potable water with non-potable water, such as for irrigation, general washing and cooling.

Smart sensors have been installed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for instance, and rainwater is collected in special tanks. 

In the absence of rain, the irrigation systems will be turned on and the collected rainwater will be used to water the plants and trees around the ministry's compound.