Singapore has ratified the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change action, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan during his speech at the United Nations Climate Summit on September 24.

Singapore media quoted the minister as saying at the summit that the ratification is a “further sign of Singapore's continued commitment to the multilateral system”.

The country has shown its commitment to climate change with various domestic initiatives, including encouraging building owners and companies to adopt energy efficient building designs, equipment and processes by offering incentives and grants.

Energy use is priced at market cost without any subsidy, so that households and businesses use energy judiciously, the minister added.

Singapore also plans to increase its solar deployment from around 15 megawatt-peak (MWp) today to 350MWp by 2020, which will meet 5 percent of its projected peak electricity demand.

“Through these efforts, Singapore generates relatively low levels of carbon emissions per GDP dollar in the world, ranking 96th out of 142 countries,” he said.

Singapore’s emissions grew at an average annual rate of 2 percent in the last decade, compared to 2.2 percent globally. Its GDP grew by 76 percent over the same period while emissions and energy use rose 22 percent and 34 percent, respectively.-VNA