The report includes transparency into a wide array of assets such as schools, office buildings, public utilities, and much more.

The GreenGov initiative plays a crucial role in supporting national environmental efforts and is a key enabler of the Singapore Green Plan. It outlines the progress in the public sector’s efforts in carbon abatement and resource efficiency at organisational levels.

The GreenGov is meant to catalyse environmental efforts across Singapore, to inspire Ministries, Businesses, NGOs and communities.

For the full report, click here.

GreenGov Report: Emission Highlights (FY2023)

In the GreenGov.SG report, public sector emissions are projected to increase in the short term, with a target for “Net zero emissions around 2045, after peaking emissions around 2025” - five years earlier than the national target.

This reduction was primarily driven by a 0.9% decrease in Scope 1 emissions, particularly from the Tuas South Waste-to-Energy Plant.

However, Scope 2 emissions, mainly from electricity usage, rose by 0.3%. These increases were expected due to the completion of infrastructural projects delayed during the pandemic, including new healthcare facilities and expansions to the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).

While a concrete strategy is still being developed, the government is working to evaluate and reduce emissions throughout its supply chain.

While the Singapore public sector has made some progress, it is arguably slow given the urgency of the climate crisis, there are key challenges that raise questions about the pace and effectiveness of emissions reduction efforts.

It is inevitable that emissions continue to rise for us as urban development plans are underway and energy demands grow. But, the government seems confident that after-peaking, we are on track to the net-zero pathways.

Let us next look at how they expect to do so.

Singapore’s Emissions: Are We On Track?

As a small country, Singapore accounts for 0.1% of global carbon emissions, amounting to 58.59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2022. Here's a look at Singapore's emission targets:

• 2020: 
  The SG Green Plan announced a target to peak emissions at 65 MtCO2e by 2030.

• 2022: 
  The target was revised to peak emissions at 60 MtCO2e by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.

• 2024:
  It was revealed that Singapore expects to peak emissions at 64.43 MtCO2e by 2028 before bringing them down.

• 2025:
  The updated target at present is to reduce emissions to 45–50 MtCO2e by 2035.

National Emissions are expected to rise in the short term and to peak by 2030.

Meanwhile, economic and social activities continue developing, as Singapore continues to build capacities for bringing emissions down after 2030.

While the government's commitment to transforming Singapore into a City in Nature boosts biodiversity and builds communities, increasing green spaces alone won't offset emissions as land clearing for development continues.

Despite the strong commitment of the public sector, the challenge remains to make accessible the tried-and-tested solutions, to ensure they’re scalable and to continue spurring on the private sectors to do the same. 

Emissions After Peaking: The Road Ahead

While the public sector is taking a lead in reducing its emissions and transitioning, it is not enough to reach our climate targets.

Singapore is still a growth-driven nation that continues to upgrade and develop itself and will unlikely adopt a reduction in activities or demands for growth. 

Evidently in the latest GreenGov.SG report, demand for public sector services has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Sustainability starts today:

That said, there will and needs to be an emphasis on improving efficiency and to have concerted efforts across our industry, economy and society.

Inevitably, with a slower short-term low-carbon transition, the use of carbon credits, albeit contestable, is still necessary in allowing us to reach our climate targets at the marks of 2030, 2035 and 2050.  

At the same time however, we are working on projected figures and technology that has yet to be fully developed and/or are currently in the research and development phase. 

The government has put forth a long-term low emissions development strategy (LEDS) that aspires to halve emissions from its peak to 33 MtCO2e by 2050, with a view to achieving net-zero emissions as soon as viable in the second half of the century.  

While innovation and seeking out these opportunities are big driving forces for the transition, it’s undeniably going to be costly and is debatably, a long shot in terms of viability, feasibility and successful capabilities of these up and coming technologies. 

We complement the insights into Singapore’s emissions from the GreenGov.SG by cross-referencing with Singapore’s latest NDC 2035 submitted on 10 February 2025. 

We applaud the public sector for setting bold and ambitious climate targets and applaud her strong commitment to safeguarding the environment not just for herself, but for others and future generations.

The 3% Leadership: Supporting SMEs in climate-proofing their business.

The 3% Leadership is inspired by the 3% Year-on-Year global emission reduction goal to reach net-carbon by 2050. 

We’ve developed a program tailored to SMEs that can supplement their existing initiatives and or to develop new capabilities in a 3-step approach: Measure - Analyse - Implement, to climate-proof their business. Reach out to us to learn more.

Register for our taster session on how to Climate-Proof your business:

Learn how to future-proof your business against climate and compliance risks, to explore solutions that can help you sustainably embed sustainability in your business.

Who is it for?

• Eco-curious business owners

• Mid-level key decision makers in your organisation

• Sustainability champions

Key takeaways:

• Climate-proofing our planet: what happens if we don't

• What Climate-risks look like for your business

• Climate-Proofing approaches for SMEs

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