This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.
Singapore, 18 November 2024 – The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) has published the GreenGov.SG report FY2023, which details the public sector’s environmental sustainability performance from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
2 The latest GreenGov.SG report incorporates waste data for the first time and provides further granularity on the categorisation of different types of public sector facilities to better contextualise their resource footprints. These additions were made following feedback from MSE’s stakeholders and members of public after the publication of the inaugural report in 2023.
3 The GreenGov.SG report is released annually to provide a snapshot of the public sector’s performance on greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water use, and waste disposed. It covers the public sector’s assets in Singapore, including office buildings, healthcare facilities, schools, public utilities installations, public transport infrastructure, and vehicles. The report also sets out the public sector’s key strategies and initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability.
4 GreenGov.SG was introduced in 2021 as a key enabler of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Under GreenGov.SG, the public sector has set targets to achieve net zero emissions around 2045, five years ahead of Singapore’s national target of net zero by 2050. The public sector has also committed to reducing energy and water use by 10%, and waste disposed of by 30% respectively in 2030. Measures are in place to green buildings, reduce waste, and increase solar energy adoption to meet these targets.
5 The public sector’s emissions and resource usage comprises those from our general offices, specialised infrastructure and facilities that deliver services to the general public. As the Government expands its public services, including to meet the needs of an ageing population and growing economy, additional public infrastructure will be required and developed. As the emissions and resource usage of large infrastructure tends to be lumpy, upticks can be expected whenever new facilities are put into operations, thereby impacting the overall trajectory of the public sector’s emissions and resource usage.
Report Findings
6 FY2023 saw gradual recovery in economic activities following the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, as lives for Singaporeans returned to normalcy, demand for public sector services returned close to pre-pandemic levels.
Carbon Emissions
7 In FY2023, the public sector emitted around 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 0.2% decrease from FY2022. This was driven by an overall decrease in Scope 1 emissions from the Tuas South Waste-to-Energy Plant, offsetting the increase in diesel consumption as bus service mileage increased from improved bus frequencies and coverage.
8 Scope 2 emissions increased by 0.3% from FY2022 largely due to a full year of operation of the Stage 3 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) and newly-opened healthcare facilities such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital Integrated Care Hub and Woodlands Health. The public sector’s FY2023 emissions remain about 6.8% lower than the FY2020 baseline.
Energy Utilisation and Water Efficiency Index
9 The public sector’s total electricity use in FY2023 was 5,449 GWh, which was a 1.5% increase from FY2022 and 1.0% increase from the average FY2018-FY2020 baseline. The public sector’s electricity used per unit area, or Energy Utilisation Index (EUI), in FY2023 was 112.6 kWh/m2, which was a 1.0% increase from FY2022 due to increased electricity use across public sector premises. The EUI in FY2023 was 3.7% lower than the FY2018-FY2020 baseline, due to new facilities being designed to higher energy efficiency standards and retrofitting of older ones with more energy efficient systems.
10 The public sector’s water use in FY2023 was 33.4 billion litres, which was a 0.4% decrease from FY2022, and a 1.4% decrease from the FY2018-FY2020 baseline. The public sector’s water used per person per day, or Water Efficiency Index (WEI), in FY2023 was 60.7 litres/person/day, which was a 4.0% decrease from FY2022 and a 5.6% decrease from the FY2018-FY2020 baseline. This was due to improvements to water management at public sector premises with greater adoption of water-efficient measures and processes, which is reflected in more public buildings achieving PUB’s Water Efficient Building (Basic) certification.
Waste Data
11 The public sector’s waste disposed of in FY2023 was 218.7 million kilograms, which was a 1.3% increase from FY2022, due to increased levels of activity and higher footfall at public sector facilities post-COVID. The public sector’s waste disposed of per person per day in FY2023 was 0.380 kilograms per person per day, which was a 9.1% decrease from the FY2022 baseline. The decrease was driven by collective efforts to reduce waste across public sector premises. Key strategies highlighted in the report include minimising the use of single-use disposables, reusing old materials and finding creative ways to expand their lifespan and by recycling of various waste streams – food, plastic and e-waste.
GreenGov.SG Reporting a Continuous Work in Progress
12 The public sector is committed to continuous learning and improvement in our reporting journey. In this vein, MSE has also shared some of the challenges faced in implementing the public sector’s sustainability initiatives, as well as its experiences, which it hopes are useful to organisations and groups looking to implement sustainability strategies.
13 Government Chief Sustainability Officer, who oversees the GreenGov.SG movement, Mr Lim Tuang Liang, said, “We are appreciative of those who have provided us with feedback following the publication of our inaugural GreenGov.SG report last year. We have considered and incorporated these suggestions where possible in this year’s report. We will continue to learn from others and refine our reporting, as sustainability reporting is a continuous journey of improvement. Through the features of various sustainability initiatives in our report, we have also shared some of our learning points and hope these are useful for businesses and organisations on their sustainability journey.”
14 The full FY2023 GreenGov.SG report is available here.
15 To complement the GreenGov.SG report, Statutory Boards will publish annual environmental sustainability disclosures, starting in FY2024. These disclosures will provide detail on how Statutory Boards are doing their part to advance environmental sustainability. The list of disclosures may be accessed at here.