SINGAPORE – The year 2025 was a challenging year for the environment.
Geopolitics eroded many national commitments to tackle climate change, even as climate disasters pummelled many countries around the world, including in South-east Asia.
But despite the gloom plaguing the environment sector, some bright sparks have emerged.
The Straits Times highlights some areas to look out for in 2026, and several key developments in 2025.
Singapore has not wavered on its earlier commitment to have its
power sector reach net-zero emissions by 2050
.
Following a number of key moves on the energy front in Singapore in 2025, it is likely that there will be more developments in the sector in the year ahead.
The energy sector accounts for about 40 per cent of Singapore’s total emissions.
Singapore has not yet made a decision on nuclear energy, but is monitoring developments on this front – especially for small modular reactors (SMRs). In 2025, the Republic made some progress in this area.
For instance, in July, a nuclear research and safety institute was
launched at the National University of Singapore
to build expertise in this area. Singapore in September also appointed consultancy firm Mott MacDonald to study the safety and feasibility of advanced nuclear technologies such as SMRs.
In October, the Republic signed agreements with various institutes in the US with nuclear expertise to facilitate information exchange.
have also been created
at the Energy Market Authority and National Environment Agency (NEA) following a reorganisation exercise, The Straits Times reported.
Progress could also be made in importing clean energy from the region.
import 6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity
by 2035 – about a third of its energy needs then – and has already awarded conditional licences and conditional approvals for 8.35GW worth of projects.
Dr Tan See Leng, Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology, had said that renewable energy imports
hold the most promise
for Singapore in the near term and that there is a possibility to increase the target beyond 6GW, depending on partnerships.
appointed Singapore Energy Interconnections (SGEI)
, a newly incorporated government-linked company, to specialise in developing cross-border power infrastructure.
With SGEI’s role to invest in, develop, own and operate interconnectors, it could help to increase investor confidence and attract new funding to help accelerate the transition.
This is because there is currently low appetite among financial institutions to fund such infrastructure, largely due to the perceived high risks and large upfront costs.
But even as the country looks for cleaner energy sources, it is likely to continue to rely on natural gas, a fossil fuel that now makes up about 95 per cent of Singapore’s fuel mix.
Carbon capture solutions, which refer to technology that can take planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for storage, could help to cut emissions from power plants.
By 2026, Singapore will be launching a pilot to test the viability of carbon capture technologies at its waste-to-energy plants.
The nationwide deployment of smart electricity meters – which tell users how much power they consume and when – is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Such meters allow consumers to track their energy consumption patterns and find ways to reduce their electricity usage. They could also reap cost savings by subscribing to time-of-use plans, instead of buying electricity from utility operator group SP Group at the regulated tariff.
offer different rates
for using electricity at different times of the day and can help users lower their bills.
As at Dec 10, SP Group said it has installed more than 1.3 million smart electricity meters for residential premises – which is at least 80 per cent of the households in Singapore.
falling domestic recycling rates
, the beverage container return scheme is slated to launch on April 1, 2026.
Consumers will pay an extra 10 cents for bottled and canned drinks ranging from 150ml to 3 litres, but will receive a full refund of the deposit when they return the empty containers at designated return points.
