Committee of Supply 2024 debate, Day 4: Amy Khor on going green to be environmentally friendly and wallet-friendly

To reach net zero, everyone must pitch in. The Government will lead the way in greening the Public Service and support businesses and households to contribute. Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor made this call in Parliament on Monday (Mar 4). “Let us all embrace going green, which is not just environmentally friendly, but certainly can also be wallet-friendly,” she said. Outlining the key initiatives to confront climate change, she told the House that GreenGov.SG will release its second report later this year and will include data on waste and waste reduction efforts. As there are wide-ranging sources of Scope 3 emissions from the Government’s extensive activities, the Government is still studying the appropriate approach. The Government will continue to refine its environmental sustainability evaluation criteria for large construction and ICT tenders with minimum Estimated Procurement Value of S$50 million and S$10 million respectively. It plans to expand this initiative to include companies that tender for MICE and other events organised by the public sector from FY2025. Beyond the public sector, the Government will continue to facilitate the greening of businesses. Turning to energy-efficient equipment, Dr Khor said the energy efficiency labels and standards of the National Environment Agency (NEA) have helped companies and consumers to make informed decisions. From April 2025, NEA will implement labels and standards for two more equipment types - household water heaters and commercial storage refrigerators. Water heaters are the third-highest energy consuming household appliance and there are more energy-efficient options, such as instantaneous water heaters, which on average consume about 50 per cent less electricity than electric storage water heaters. Commercial storage refrigerators are prevalent in food and beverage establishments and can account for about one-third of hawkers’ electricity usage. Dr Khor urged businesses to purchase energy-efficient models to enjoy long-term savings, such as inverter technology refrigerators that are on average 40 per cent more energy efficient. This will result in annual energy cost savings of about S$700, with payback on capital expenditure within a year. The Government will also enhance support for households wishing to be more energy- and water-efficient, through the Climate Friendly Households Programme (CFHP). As of January 2024, more than 141,000 households have registered for their Climate Vouchers and about 54,000 vouchers have been utilised. To give households more time to utilise their current set of Climate Vouchers, the qualifying redemption period has been extended to March 20 this year. From April 15, the programme will be expanded to all 1.1 million HDB households - a more than three-fold increase in coverage. Every HDB household will receive S$300 worth of Climate Vouchers and the number of eligible product types will be expanded from three to 10, including four-tick washing machines. Dr Khor said the 10 eligible products contribute to around 60 per cent of an average household’s electricity consumption and around 90 per cent of water consumption. To make it more convenient for households to use the Climate Vouchers, more retailers will come onboard the programme, taking the total number of participating retailers to 14, with about 300 stores islandwide. Dr Khor said these enhancements aim to incentivise more households to choose resource-efficient options from the outset or when their appliances and fittings are due for replacement. The enhanced Climate Vouchers will be available from Apr 15 via the RedeemSG platform and remain valid until 31 December 2027.