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COPENHAGEN: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Saturday that he is disappointed with the outcome of the United Nations climate talks, which did not produce a unanimous agreement.
But he believes the accord reached by the United States, India, Brazil, South Africa and China serves as a useful basis for countries to take the negotiation process forward.
Speaking to the Singapore media at the end of the climate conference in Copenhagen, Mr Lee said: "I don't think it's a happy outcome. We're disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. The discussions will continue and at some stage, we'll be able to reach a more constructive agreement.
"We think it's a useful basis to take the process forward and we hope that it will not be cast aside. If it's not adopted this time, we can continue discussing, using this in order to try and reach a less imperfect arrangement."
For Singapore, it is doing its part by pledging to reduce emissions growth by 16 per cent below the level projected by 2020 – provided that there is a global agreement, and that other countries announce significant emissions reduction targets.
Even though there is no global deal now, Mr Lee said Singapore will continue to work on measures to cut its emissions growth.
He said: "Whether we get there or not depends on whether there will be an agreement. If there's no agreement, we're not obliged to hit the 16 per cent target. But we have a sustainable development blueprint which is 7 to 11 per cent target. So that part, we'll do regardless, but we must make sure that having done that, if there's subsequently a deal, we get credit for our merit.
"To reach 16 per cent, we'll have to take new measures. We have to consider what this will be and there'll be regulations. For example, energy efficiency standards may be necessary. There may be other requirements from building insulation, air-conditioning, green marks, platinum, so on and so forth, there may have to be fiscal measures.
"If you look at countries which are contemplating this problem, either they've gone for cap and trade, or they've gone for some kind of carbon tax, or at least they're thinking about that.
"We have to contemplate that and if we do, then we also have to have incentives and countervailing, balancing measures to buffer the impact so that households, companies, the economy do not bear disproportionate share of the burden."
Singapore has an interest in having a good outcome for an international climate agreement because it is a small and vulnerable city-state.
But Mr Lee conceded that reaching an agreement will be very difficult and that it is a big challenge to come up with a coherent proposal, with a single set of objectives, to move forward.
- CNA/so
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