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Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
Being a small country, there is only one level of government, i.e. the national level. The Ministry of the Environment has been set up in 1972 with the task of protecting and improving the environment. The ministry has the capacity to ensure compliance with its laws and standards. The administrative and enforcement capacity of the ministry has been strengthened over the years by integration of functions, reorganisation, redeployment of resources and adopting state-of-the art monitoring techniques.
The national sustainable development coordination mechanism is the Singapore Environment Council. Its task is to educate, inspire, and assist individuals, business organisations, and environmental groups to care for and protect the environment; to promote greater public awareness and interest in environmental issues; to seek public cooperation in protecting and improving the environment; and to involve business leaders in a pro-active process of environmental management; and to study, develop and improve measures for the promotion and protection of the environment which are suitable for adoption by private and public organisations, educational institutions, community organisations, the media and the general public in Singapore.
Bodies responsible for natural and environmental disasters are: Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Communication, Maritime and Port Authority, Port of Singapore Authority, Civil Authority of Singapore, Ministry of the Environment and various other agencies.
Decision-Making: Legislation and Regulations
Regulations and guidelines to help prevent, reduce and cope with natural and environmental disasters are encompassed in various planning, maritime and environmental laws. Codes of practice are established by the government in consultation with industry and the academia. There is an established process to review codes of practice to take into account development in technologies and international standards or law in the relevant areas.
By and large, domestic laws are reviewed with the aim to make them more consistent with new international laws and standards.
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
At the same time, global environmental issues, such as protection of the ozone layer, global warming, preservation of biodiversity and endangered species and pollution of the sea began to take on a higher prominence. Commitments under international conventions and protocols were beginning to have an impact on Singapore's businesses and industries. It was clear that a new approach was needed to keep to the path of sustainable development. A major review of policy was carried out at the end of the eighties, and the result was the Singapore Green Plan.
The Singapore Green Plan
The Singapore Green Plan (SGP) is the environmental master plan to take Singapore into the twenty-first century. It describes what the government has done and maps out the policies and strategies the government would implement to transform Singapore into a model Green City. The SGP vision is Singapore as a city with a high standard of public health and a quality environment conducive to gracious living, with a population that cares for the local as well as the global environment. Under the SGP, investment in environmental infrastructure will continue. An anticipated $3 billion will be spent on infrastructural programmes such as upgrading of sewage treatment works, a new offshore landfill facility, a new refuse incineration plant and improvements to water bodies over the years to 2000.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
Increasingly, industry has been taking a more proactive role to protect the environment in the conduct of their business in response to growing concerns with the impacts their activities could cause. Various industry committees and groupings on the environment have been formed to promote environmentally friendly practice among businesses. The publication of international environmental standards by ISO is a further impetus for industry to move in this direction. The government has also been actively encouraging industry to adopt the international standard on environmental management and has provided financial assistance schemes to help the smaller firms.
Programmes and Projects
New strategic directions in environmental education, resource conservation, promotion of clean technologies, nature conservation, noise management and promotion of environmental technologies have been mapped out in the SGP. These new directions are multi-dimensional. By October 1993, a total of 133 specific action programmes were formulated with inputs from government ministries, statutory boards and private organizations.
Implementation of the SGP action programmes by the various lead agencies began in November 1993. The lead agencies include both government and non-government bodies. An inter-ministerial Steering Committee on the SGP has been formed to oversee and guide the implementation of the action programmes. The Steering Committee is chaired by Permanent Secretary (Environment) and has representatives from the main government bodies that are involved in the implementation. The ministry has also formed six Working Committees to coordinate and track the implementation of the action programmes. The Chairmen of the Working Committees report to the Steering Committee.
Programmes that seek to prevent, reduce or cope with natural and environmental disasters are being planned and implemented to avoid a disaster if it is possible, or to minimise the risk if a potential risk cannot be eliminated totally, through planning and technical controls and then at the operational level.
Heightened awareness among the community has led to greater involvement across a wide sector of the community from primary schools to residents' associations and the general public. This has led to numerous environmental activities being held and higher expectations of a good living environment.
Depending on the issues at hand, the relevant groups are invited to participate in the formulation of policies or to provide feedback on proposed policies. Various channels have been employed and these include setting up formal committees, organising forum or specific feedback sessions and regular dialogue sessions.
Status
The protection of the environment has always been an important concern in the development of Singapore. In the early years of Singapore's development, the main tasks in environmental protection were institution building, setting up the basic infrastructure, legal framework and management system for public health and environmental protection. These were achieved by the end of the 1980s, and Singapore was able to enjoy a clean and healthy environment.
It had become evident in the late eighties that it would be difficult to maintain this environment through further investment in environmental infrastructure and tighter legislation alone. In the coming years, the pressures of a growing population with increasingly high expectations will put greater stress on limited resources.
Singapore does not consider itself to be particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Singapore is not on any earthquake or volcanoes belt. Typhoons, hurricanes or tidal waves are rare. Singapore has taken all possible measures to avoid or minimise the risk of environmental disasters such as smoke haze and oil spill. To address the vulnerability, the activities include are mainly in prevention, monitoring and taking mitigating measures to minimise the effects and damages. These are being done on our own and in co-operation with the region and the international community. Public exercises are conducted regularly to raise and maintain awareness.
| National Decision-Making Structure |
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YES |
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YES |
Singapore Green Plan |
YES |
| 4. Local/Regional Agenda(s) 21: | YES |
| 5. Environmental Impact Assessment Law: | YES |
| 6. Major Groups involved in Sustainable Development Decision-Making: | YES |
| National Instruments and Programmes |
| 1. Sustainable Development or environmental education incorporated into school curricula: | YES |
| 2. Sustainable Development Indicators Program: | YES |
| 3. Ecolabel Regulations: | YES |
| 4. Recycle/Reuse Programs: | YES |
| 5. Green Accounting Program: | YES |
| 6. Access to Internet: | YES |
| 7. Access to World Wide Web: | YES |
| 8. National World Wide Web Site for Sustainable Development or State of the Environment: | YES |
| Policies, Programmes and Legislation |
| 1. Combatting poverty: | YES |
| 2. Changing consumption and production patterns: | YES |
| 3. Atmosphere: | YES |
| 4. Land Use Planning: | YES |
| 5. Forest and Deforestation: | YES |
| 6. Desertification and Drought: | YES |
| 7. Sustainable Mountain Development: | NA |
| 8. Sustainable Agriculture: | NA |
| 9. Biological Diversity: | YES |
| 10. Biotechnology: | YES |
| 11. Oceans and Coastal Areas: | YES |
| 12. Freshwater Management: | YES |
| 13. Toxic Chemicals: | YES |
| 14. Hazardous Wastes: | YES |
| 15. Solid Wastes: | YES |
| 16. Radioactive Wastes: | YES |
| 17. Energy: | YES |
| 18. Transport: | YES |
| 19. Sustainable Tourism: | YES |
Research and Technologies
The decisions related to the choice of technologies are made are mainly based on how well the needs can be met, the capital and operating costs, the reliability of the technology and the impacts of using the technology.
Information
You will find more information on sustainable development in Singapore and the Singapore Green Plan from the Ministry of the Environment. http://www.gov.sg/env/
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This information is based on Singapore's submission to the 5th and 7th Sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development. Last update: January 1999.
To link to the Singapore Ministry of the Environment,
click here: || For the Singapore Green Plan, click
here:
For information on Environmental Law around the
World, click here:
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WOMEN
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For information on national
plans of action in the follow-up to the Beijing Conference, click here:
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CHILDREN AND YOUTH
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
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NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
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LOCAL AUTHORITIES
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WORKERS AND UNIONS
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BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
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SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITY
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FARMERS
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Decision-Making: Coordinating Bodies
The National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) promotes both Science and Technology under the Ministry of Trade and Industry is responsible for science issues.
Among the major activities is the establishment of a research institute, the Environmental Technology Institute (ETI) to work with both public and private institutions on R&D related to environmental technologies. Organisation responsible for overseeing ETI is NSTB
There are grant schemes for companies doing research and development in various technologies, of which EFT is one. Organisation responsible for administrating the grant scheme is NSTB.
Decision-Making: Strategies, Policies and Plans
There is a National Policy promoting Science and Technology in Singapore. The National Policy, called the National Science and Technology Plan 2000, covers many technological areas of which ESTs is one.
Decision-Making: Major Groups involvement
Business and Industry are encouraged to do research and development in ESTs through NSTB’s grant schemes.
Scientific and Technology Community: research and development in ETSs are also partially supported by NSTB. For example, NSTB has provided seed funding for the Environmental Technology Enterprise at the National University of Singapore and the Water Resources Centre at the Nanyang Technological University as well as full funding for the Environmental Technology Institute. NSTB has also provided monetary support for environmental technology projects at the Productivity and Standards Board.
Women, children and youth: NSTB actively encourages our young to develop an interest in science and technology which encompasses environmental technology.
Technology centres at NUS, NTU and ETI are all easily accessible to public and private institutions.
Status
Singapore has a very vibrant scientific community. There are more than 11,000 research scientists and engineers (RSE) in Singapore. The number of RSE per 10,000 workforce stands at 60.2. There are two world class universities in Singapore providing undergraduate and postgraduate training. The universities together with the ETI conduct R&D in ESTs.
Challenges
One of the main constraints is to get companies and the general public interested in issues of sustainable development.
Capacity-building, Education, Training and Awareness-raising
ETI regularly conducts seminars on ESTs for industries. Examples of such seminars included:
The Productivity and Standards Board also actively promotes the adoption of ISO 14000 by industry.
Information
Click here to access the Environmental Technology Institute
Cooperation
NSTB is an active participant on environmental technology projects under the APEC umbrella.
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This information is based on Singapore's submission to and 7th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. Last update: January 1999.
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