New Zealand exporters are likely to face potential impacts as Singaporean importers listed on the stock exchange are expected to implement mandatory reporting on greenhouse gas emissions from their supply chains starting next year.
This is part of Singapore's 'Green Plan 2030', which is itself part of a larger goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. These new regulations suggest that exporters may need to reduce their own emissions to help Singaporean importers meet the reporting requirements.
The two-way trade between New Zealand and Singapore amounted to $6.5 billion NZD in 2024.
Rebecca Sharpe, a director at Better Earth Ventures, which focuses on climate change and sustainability and supports the technological advancement and initiatives of agritech startups, recently emphasized to New Zealand agricultural business leaders that while Singapore is business-friendly and encouraging, it will not sacrifice its climate change and environmental commitments.
It is calculated that a 4°C rise in average global temperatures will cause sea-level rise that will submerge a significant portion of Singapore's land. To counter this threat, the Singaporean government has set targets for 2030, including reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills by 30% per capita per day, doubling the annual planting of trees to one million, reducing water consumption per capita per day to 130 liters, and achieving a 75% public transport modal share.
Sharpe explained that a carbon tax of $58 NZD per tonne of carbon equivalent (approximately 47,000 KRW) is expected to be implemented in 2026, and listed companies will be required to report their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by the end of this year, and Scope 3 emissions from their supply chains starting next year.
Singapore, with a population of 6 million, 200 farms, an area slightly larger than Lake Taupo, and a GDP per capita twice that of New Zealand, aims to achieve 30% nutritional self-sufficiency by 2030. A delegation of 26 New Zealand agricultural business leaders is currently on a week-long visit to Singapore. Their goal is to learn from Singapore, a major global business and trade hub, the world's fourth-largest financial center, and the world's second-busiest port operator.
Singapore relies on imports for approximately 90% of its food and its entire supply of natural gas, and uses oil to meet its electricity needs.
Explaining the government's approach to business, Sharpe used the analogy of Singapore attracting pop star Taylor Swift. The Singaporean government recently paid her approximately $4 million NZD (about 3.2 billion KRW) per night for six concerts, totaling $24 million NZD (about 19.4 billion KRW). It is estimated that the resulting influx of tourists generated approximately $650 million NZD (about 526 billion KRW) in consumer spending.
To address energy issues, the Singaporean government has allocated $6.5 billion NZD (approximately 5.26 trillion KRW) to renewable energy development in each of the last two budgets, and Sharpe stated that Singapore is open to new and innovative solutions.
She added that Singaporean companies excel at communicating and collaborating with each other to find solutions. This is supported by the government, which consistently looks ahead and plans, including setting goals that garner public support.
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