SINGAPORE, July 13 — As part of Singapore’s efforts to build a more sustainable future, the public sector is aiming to cut the waste disposed of by each person by 30 per cent and reduce the sector’s overall energy and water use by 10 per cent by 2030.

All government cars will also be of cleaner energy models from 2023 and run on cleaner energy by 2035, five years ahead of the nationwide target to do so.

These initiatives and others — including a push by the public sector to peak its carbon emissions by around 2025 as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030 — were outlined yesterday by Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment. 

First announced in February, the plan sets targets across different sectors to help Singapore become more sustainable and reach the nation’s target of peak emissions by 2030.

A separate GreenGov.SG initiative will also see the public sector take the lead in sustainability efforts. The Government had talked about this in March before its official launch yesterday.

As part of the initiative, the public service set the 2025 peak emissions target, five years ahead of the national target. It was the first time the public service had set a carbon emissions target for itself.

Launching the initiative at the Partners for the Environment Forum, Fu said that while government agencies have made good progress in sustainability efforts over the years, they "must do more”.

"The public sector has a responsibility to set the pace in sustainability, drive innovation and create demand,” she said during the event that was streamed on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE). 

The forum kicked off the ministry’s annual Climate Action Week, which rallies the community to take collective climate action for Singapore’s sustainable future.

Laying out new targets for the public service under the GreenGov.SG initiative, Fu said that the targets were "more ambitious” than national goals.

"This will require us to use less energy, water and resources by improving the efficiency of our operations and to increase the use of cleaner energy such as solar.” 

The following are the details of the targets to be achieved.

1. Peak public sector carbon emissions around 2025