Singapore and the United Kingdom on Wednesday (Mar 1) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a bilateral green economy framework.

The agreement was signed during a virtual call between the UK’s Secretary of State at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps and Singapore’s Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran.

“The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the vital importance of shoring up our energy security, and moves towards ever-greater energy independence,” said Shapps.

“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.”

Building on the UK-Singapore free trade agreement and digital economy agreement, this green economy framework combines elements of climate, economic and trade policy.

It 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.

Collaboration will take place across three key pillars – green transport, low-carbon energy technologies, and sustainable finance and carbon markets.

The framework will be implemented through different mechanisms such as government policy dialogues, business matchmaking, industry workshops, and research partnerships.

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.

British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen said: “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.”

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