The global push towards decarbonisation will give rise to opportunities for carbon management services, such as carbon accounting, measurement, reporting, and verification, green finance, and carbon trading, as companies and governments seek external support to meet their net-zero goals.
This report discusses the role that Singapore can play as a provider of carbon services in the global low-carbon transition. It presents the key findings of the study jointly commissioned by the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and conducted by consultancies South Pole, Vivid Economics, and Engeco. The study assesses the carbon services that Singapore can provide and outlines considerations to develop Singapore as a go-to location for carbon services.
The study finds that Singapore – as the headquarters location of global leading companies, many of which are embarking on sustainability journeys – can leverage its strengths to support their carbon management needs. Singapore can tap on its ecosystem of carbon services, capabilities in green finance and commodity trading, and its proximity to Southeast Asia (SEA) to become a key carbon services hub for the APAC region. This would complement other hubs such as Amsterdam, London, and Shanghai. This can be achieved by strengthening regional markets and becoming a gateway for companies outside of APAC to engage with the region.
Carbon services could generate new businesses and jobs in Singapore and the region. It is estimated that economic opportunities from carbon services could create a projected gross value added (GVA) of between USD 1.8 billion to USD 5.6 billion in Singapore by 2050. However, this opportunity is dependent on global developments, including how international carbon markets would evolve. Jobs that could emerge are mostly in services, such as the financing and trading of commodities supporting decarbonisation. New job types related to governance services that ensure the integrity and tracking of decarbonisation could also be introduced to Singapore.
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