Singapore, Oct 25 (IANS): Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Tuesday that the city-state hiked its national climate target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 as part of its Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy.

He said at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) 2022 that Singapore will enhance its 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions by aiming to peak its emissions earlier and reduce its emissions to around 60 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030, which is 5 million tonnes less than the previous commitment of peaking the emissions in 2030 at 65 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

"This 5 million tonnes improvement is significant," Wong added. "It is equivalent to reducing our current transport emissions by two-thirds."

He said that Singapore will submit the enhanced targets to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as parties to the Paris Agreement meet at COP 27 next month, in line with the Glasgow Climate Pact, reports Xinhua news agency.

To achieve net zero emissions, the Singapore government will need to encourage businesses and individuals to be more energy efficient, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions and adopt green energy alternatives, said Wong.

He said that the government decided that a better approach is not to reduce or hold back the carbon taxes but to provide targeted relief to businesses and consumers so that it has the right price signals for the economy as a whole and the government will extend help to those who need it.

Wong announced earlier this year that Singapore will raise the carbon tax from the current S$5 per tonne of CO2 equivalent to about S$50-80 by 2030.

The carbon tax in Singapore is applied broadly, covering about 80 per cent of its emissions today.

Besides, Wong said at the SIEW that the Singaporean government will invest more in technologies to help decarbonise the economy.

The Deputy Prime Minister also announced at the SIEW the launch of Singapore's National Hydrogen Strategy which will provide a roadmap of how hydrogen can support Singapore's decarbonization efforts, and the steps Singapore will be taking to prepare Singapore for a hydrogen future. This is part of Singapore's international climate commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

"If technology continues to advance, we foresee that hydrogen can supply up to half of our power needs by 2050, alongside domestic renewable energy sources and electricity imports," Wong said.

He disclosed that Singaporeans may start to have access to electricity generated from low-carbon hydrogen from 2027, as the country will kickstart its hydrogen efforts by issuing an Expression of Interest for a small-scale commercial project utilizing low-carbon ammonia for power generation.