SINGAPORE : Singapore can play a leading role in Asia in helping the region halve its carbon emission by 2050, according to British climate change expert Lord Nicholas Stern.

The professor, from the London School of Economics, was sharing his views with officers from the civil service and the private sector.

He believes Singapore is doing well in improving energy efficiency and harnessing technological developments to stop the harmful effects of climate change.

The climate change expert says countries could be spending between 1% and 1.5% of their gross domestic product to tackle climate change.

He said Singapore's neighbours, like Indonesia, can greatly benefit if Singapore does even more to share technical know-how in areas such as deforestation and tackling the haze.

Lord Stern said: "Deforestation and burning for land clearance are huge problems for the world in terms of the carbon emissions. Indonesia is the third largest emitter, largely the result of deforestation and peat fires.

"Neighbours can be particularly helpful because there would be more understanding of the difficulties of controlling. I think a regional collaboration involving Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank could be a very important way that this region and Singapore could move forward."

Lord Stern is in Singapore for a joint conference organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and the London School of Economics. The conference will be opened by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on April 11. - CNA /ls