Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and National Climate Change Secretariat have announced the government will acquire more than 2 million tonnes of nature-based carbon credits from four projects in Ghana, Peru, and Paraguay. This initiative is part of Singapore’s strategy to achieve its climate objectives.
The city-state aims to reach net zero emissions by 2050, with a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to reduce emissions to approximately 60 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030, following an earlier peak. NDCs are climate action plans submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement, requiring updates every five years with heightened ambitions.
This announcement follows an agreement reached at the COP29 UN climate conference in November 2024 on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The agreement aims to establish high integrity carbon markets, including Article 6.2, which outlines how countries will authorise carbon credit trading and manage the registries tracking this trading to enable international carbon market trading.
According to the Ministry of Trade and National Climate Change Secretariat, these new carbon removal agreements will assist Singapore in achieving its 2030 NDC. Despite efforts such as implementing a carbon tax and investing in solar energy, renewable imports, and carbon capture, Singapore’s full decarbonisation is limited due to its small size and resource constraints. The Article 6 agreement offers a complementary pathway to meet climate goals.
The Ministry and Secretariat stated: “The use of carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides a viable and effective complementary pathway for countries such as Singapore to achieve our decarbonisation targets, while pursuing all other feasible decarbonisation pathways.”
The agreements come after a request for proposals issued by Singapore in September 2024, which sought high-quality nature-based carbon credits with strong environmental integrity. These credits must ensure additionality, low leakage risk, permanence, and community benefits.
Singapore selected four projects from the RFP, procuring carbon credits representing 2.175 million tonnes of emissions reductions from 2026 to 2030, valued at approximately S$76 million (USD$60 million). The projects include Kowen Antami REDD+ and Together for Forests REDD+ in Peru, the Boomitra Grassland Restoration Project in Paraguay, and the Kwahu Landscape Restoration Project in Ghana.
The government agencies stated: “These projects aim to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation, increase carbon sequestration of soil organic carbon stock in grasslands through sustainable management practices, and remove carbon emissions through the reforestation of degraded pastureland. Carbon credits help to channel funds towards the preservation or regeneration of host countries’ natural carbon sinks and biodiversity, safeguard local communities’ access to income from sustainable land use and provide ecosystem benefits such as improving water quality.”
The Ministry of Trade and National Climate Change Secretariat announced that a second RFP for Article 6-compliant carbon credits will be launched later this year.
