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‘Mitigation atlas’ launched at COP28 to help countries collaborate on decarbonisation

2023-12-01 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

DUBAI - A Web-based “mitigation atlas” has been launched to highlight ways for countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions both domestically or through international collaboration.

The Global Mitigation Potential Atlas (GMPA), created by an international consortium of researchers, was launched on Nov 30 at the Singapore Pavilion on the sidelines of the United Nations COP28 climate conference in Dubai.

Essentially a map-based database, it identifies various countries’ mitigation potential – their ability to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by taking certain measures and actions.

It was launched with eight South-east Asian pilot countries, and includes emissions data on the power sector and hard-to-decarbonise industries like steel and cement.

The data will be kept updated, and the GMPA will eventually evolve into an international online database on mitigation data and potential around the world.

The atlas was co-developed by non-profit organisation Climate Analytics, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and the Institute for Essential Services Reform, an Indonesian non-governmental organisation.

The researchers spent a year aggregating country-specific emissions data, the cost of renewable energy, and the cost and capability for each country to decarbonise – with data harmonised for consistency to create a centralised platform, as various countries calculate their emissions differently.

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For instance, Singapore currently relies on at least 95 per cent natural gas, with a small proportion of solar power and other energy sources. According to the GMPA, if no action is taken to decarbonise the power sector, the country’s projected greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 could go up to 37.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent a year.

Using only domestic measures such as maximising Singapore’s solar potential and developing smaller natural gas power plants, Singapore would be able to mitigate only 3.03 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year. The average mitigation cost of doing so would be around US$50 (S$66) per tonne of CO2 equivalent.

Based on its modelling, the GMPA projects that domestic measures alone will be insufficient for Singapore’s power sectors and hard-to-decarbonise industries to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

However, if Singapore were to collaborate with its neighbours, its net-zero ambitions could be met through green electricity imports such as green ammonia and solar, along with the help of battery and ammonia storage technologies.

The atlas shows how collaborations with different combinations of countries could also yield varying results.

For instance, if Singapore and Indonesia were to collaborate, an additional 61 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent can be mitigated a year at US$20 per tonne of CO2 equivalent beyond the current baseline cost.

Singapore could invest in a solar farm in Indonesia for electricity imports, which would benefit both countries in cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.