(15 March 2022 – Singapore) Representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Australia will sit down with their Singaporean counterparts for two days starting Wednesday to work on the Green Economy Agreement (GEA).
The GEA will build on Australia’s free trade agreement with Singapore by facilitating investment and business opportunities that promote green growth sectors, reduce barriers in the flow of environmental goods and services, and accelerate the transition to net zero emission economies. It will hopefully be finalised this year.
From 2024, businesses in Singapore will be allowed to buy international carbon credits to offset up to 5 percent of their taxable emissions. “This will moderate the impact for companies,” said Finance Minister Lawrence Wong. “It will also help to create local demand for high-quality carbon credits and catalyse the development of well-functioning and regulated carbon markets.”
If Singapore can aggregate demand, Australia can help with supply as the number of approved methods to generate Australian Carbon Credit Units increases.
“The key starting point is creating liquidity and transparency in products including nature-based voluntary credits,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s executive general manager, commodities, trade and carbon Alex Toone.