STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT MISSION OF SINGAPORE AT THE CLUSTERED INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE WITH THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, 4 MARCH 2019

[Speaking time: 2 min]

Mr. President,

Singapore commends Mr Boyd for focusing on the right to breathe clean air for his first report to the Human Rights Council.

This is a very important subject given that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified air pollution as one of the biggest threats to global health, killing more than 7 million people a year and being responsible for an estimated one-third of deaths from heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. 

It is challenging to maintain good air quality in a dense urban city state like Singapore.

To control vehicle emissions, our government has set fuel quality and exhaust emission standards for all vehicles, such as mandating the supply of Near Sulphur-Free Diesel (NSFD) with a sulphur content of 0.001% and cleaner petrol for motor vehicles with sulphur content lower than 0.001%.

The Euro VI emissions standard is now applied to all new diesel and petrol vehicles.

Since January 2018, we have implemented a Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) which provides rebates or imposes surcharges on all new vehicles based on their environmental impact.

Stringent enforcement action is taken against smoky vehicles on the roads.

We are promoting greater public transport use by expanding our rail network, growing our public bus fleet, and building cycling infrastructure.

To further reduce diesel consumption, the government raised the excise duty for diesel by 100% (from $0.10 per litre to $0.20 per litre) this year.

We have also tightened industrial emission standards for new industrial plants since 2015.

We agree with the report’s observation that a significant portion of a state’s ambient air pollution could be transboundary and that states have an obligation under international law to cooperate in addressing environmental problems that cross national borders, including transboundary air pollution.

Mr President,

We have studied Mr Boyd’s recommendations in the report carefully. Some small states with limited land and access to alternative sources of energy may find it very challenging to implement some of the recommendations, for example, switching from fossil to renewable energy sources.

We would also like to ask Mr Boyd for his views on how best to encourage and ensure effective international cooperation between states, businesses and civil society to prevent and counter transboundary air pollution.

Thank you Mr President.

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