The Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the Republic of Singapore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a bilateral Green Economy Framework. This agreement, a first-of-its-kind for the UK, was signed during a virtual call between the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) Secretary of State, The Rt Grant Shapps MP, and Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations from the Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Mr S Iswaran, on 1 March 2023.
Building on the successful UK-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and Digital Economy Agreement, the innovative UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework combines elements of climate, economic and trade policy. This will enable both countries to achieve national decarbonisation targets in alignment with the Paris Agreement while enhancing energy security and promoting green growth through new investment, job creation and export opportunities. This collaboration will take place across three key pillars: green transport, low carbon energy technologies, and sustainable finance and carbon markets.
Expanding on the UK’s legacy of our successful COP26 Presidency, and Singapore’s COP-honed expertise facilitating the negotiations on international rules for carbon trading, the ambition of this government-to-government agreement is to facilitate more collaboration between UK and Singapore industry and academic partners. This will result in new commercial pilot projects, trade and investments, and research and innovation. The Framework will be implemented through different mechanisms, including government policy dialogues, business matchmaking, industry workshops, and research partnerships.
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.
Singapore is an important partner to the UK in working towards a sustainable and net zero future. With significant and ever-growing investments in UK’s renewable energy sector, the UK-Singapore Green Economy Framework will further strengthen our existing, long-term collaboration by creating new growth opportunities for both countries.
Find out more about the Green Economy Framework here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-economy-framework-memorandum-of-understanding)
