The United Kingdom Government and the Republic of Singapore Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a bilateral Green Economy Framework.
The United Kingdom Government and the Republic of Singapore Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a bilateral Green Economy Framework. This agreement, a first for the UK, was signed on 1 March 2023 during a virtual call between the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, The Rt Grant Shapps MP, and Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations from Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Mr S Iswaran.
Singapore is an essential partner for the United Kingdom in its efforts to achieve a sustainable and net-zero future. The UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework will strengthen our existing, long-term collaboration by creating new growth opportunities for both countries, with significant and growing investments in the UK’s renewable energy sector.
The innovative UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework, which builds on the successful UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Digital Economy Agreement, combines climate, economic, and trade policy elements. This will allow both countries to meet their national decarbonization targets in accordance with the Paris Agreement while also improving energy security and promoting green growth through new investment, job creation, and export opportunities. This collaboration will focus on three key areas: green transportation, low-carbon energy technologies, and sustainable finance and carbon markets.
The ambition of this government-to-government agreement is to facilitate more collaboration between UK and Singapore industry and academic partners, building on the UK’s legacy of our successful COP26 Presidency and Singapore’s COP-honed expertise facilitating negotiations on international rules for carbon trading. This will lead to new commercial pilot projects, trade, investment, and research and development. The Framework will be implemented through various mechanisms such as government policy dialogues, business matchmaking, industry workshops, and research collaborations.
Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero Grant Shapps said:
“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the vital importance of shoring up our energy security and moves towards ever-greater energy independence.
“Today’s agreement with Singapore – the first of its kind in the UK – will make the most of the expertise and innovation of both our countries. It will help us move towards greener, home-grown alternatives to fossil fuels like renewables, creating high tech jobs and businesses of the future and, ultimately, bringing down costs for consumers.”
British High Commissioner to Singapore, Kara Owen, said:
“Today marks a very significant milestone for the UK-Singapore partnership as we sign an innovative and real-world focused UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework. The framework will help both the UK and Singapore work towards their ambitious net zero targets and contribute to the development of a vibrant green economy private sector ecosystem that can have an impact beyond our two shores.
“In action, this Framework will leverage the UK and Singapore’s strengths in areas like low carbon technology, shipping and finance to deliver long-term sustainable policy, regulation and technical solutions and projects between our private sector and academic communities.”