Ok today is a MONSTROUS day for climate change discussion in parliament (I'm thrilled) but also overwhelmed. So here's a recap of some highlights: @wpsg 's Dennis Tan has called on the House to "declare a climate emergency & bring to bear the necessary tools to respond to it. 1/x

Adding to the debate on conserving forested areas, Dennis Tan has called for the gov to "track and publish changes in land use areas in Singapore on a biennial basis" & provide more protection to secondary forests under the law 2/x

MP for Sembawang, Poh Li San spoke on green buildings, calling for "our 2050 carbon emissions goal for all new buildings, infrastructure & renovations to be net zero operational carbon". She talked about how surprised she was to find out how carbon-intensive concrete is 3/x

Focusing on concrete then, she's calling for changes to be made to the BCA Green Mark scheme, the prevailing eco-accreditation scheme for buildings in SG, so that it encourages the use of recycled “green concrete”, “pre-cast concrete and low-carbon concrete." 4/x

Currently, the BCA Green Mark Scheme "allocates only 2 out of 100 points for embodied carbon accounting", allowing buildings to score highly despite being "extremely concrete-intensive". Poh says this must change via reforming the BCA point system. 5/x

The million-dollar qn, she says, is who will pay for more eco-friendly buildings? She's suggesting a review of incentives, w/ one option being 'a circular financing scheme" w/ grants awarded to developers from a central pool of carbon taxes collected from within the industry" 6/x

Next @wpsg's Louis Chua, started by pointing out how insufficient Singapore's NDCs under the Paris Agreement are. To recap, we first had a target of 36% reduction of emissions intensity from 2005 levels by 2030. Our latest target was peaking emissions at 65 MtCO2e by 2030. 7/x

Chua says 65 MtC02e = to reducing emissions intensity 36% &is in fact, "the exact same target that was set back in 2015!" He says, "To put it bluntly, the updated target does not genuinely limit emissions growth...beyond what was already committed to under our first NDC." 8/x

Chua calls for our current solar goals (at least 2 GWp by 2030) to be more ambitious, saying "Are we genuinely pushing the boundaries, or simply setting benchmarks we can easily hit?". He repeats @wpsg call for 10% of SG's energy to be from renewable resources by 2025. 9/x

Chua mentions the "elephant in the room": SG's refining& petchem industry, stating that it contributed 75% of the country's emissions in 2017. He mentioned how the industry was impt to early SG, but also recent high profile retrenchments announced by BP, Shell, Exxon 10/x

He asks if we should be "fixated on the old economy industries of the past"? Or instead, drive the shift to a green economy rooted in renewable energy and science-based climate targets. 11/x

MP for Chua Chu Kang, Don Wee has called for the carbon tax to be raised. Currently its at $5 per tonne, set to rise to $10-15 by 2030. The UN's @IPCC_CH recommends US$135/tonne. He's asking for SG to raise it to $30-55 (by 2030), $50-90 (by 2035), $75-120 (by 2040). 12/x

Dr Jamus Lim also spoke on the carbon tax, first making a case as to why he prefers it to cap&trade, including because its less likely to be "gamed" & that C&T potentially encourages "front loading" dirty tech so companies can get a higher starting cap. 13/x

MP for Ang Mo Kio, Nadia Samdin spoke on the importance of climate education & called for the gov to review MOE syllabus to include things like carbon tax and policy in A Level Syllabus, or including things like a farm-to-table canteen. 14/x

. @geraldgiam spoke on the importance of declaring a climate emergency, something the @wpsg has proposed as an amendment to the climate change motion. He also asked for the 2040 target to electrify all vehicles in Singapore to be brought forward to 2030. 15/x

Mr Giam raised an important point on workers who'd be left behind in the fossil fuel industry, for e.g. that the recent announcement by Keppel O&M to leave the oil rig business would impact 10K workers. For a just transition to a green economy, they'd need support. 16/x

Giam proposes "extending the Special Employment Credit ( https://www.sec.gov.sg/Pages/Home.aspx ) scheme to provide time-limited wage support" for Singaporean workers taking up their 1st job in the Green Economy. 17/x

Ok, I'm going to end things off with Minister for @MSEsingapore Grace Fu's response to all the speeches. It's a hefty one -- she starts off by underscoring the importance of Climate Change but goes straight into emphasising SG's limitations: lack of alt energy, etc. 18/x

She mentions the carbon tax, emphasising that SG will review the price by 2023 & raise it by 2030. We will "take into account international climate change developments...climate mitigation efforts & our economic competitiveness." An acknowledgement, but no promises. 19/x

The key announcement of this speech seems to be the launch of "The Singapore Green Plan 2030" or "The Green Plan". Under this "whole-of-nation", "agencies will set ambitious and concrete targets on a sectoral basis, building on what we have achieved." 20/x

So far, it seems that only vague descriptors like that it will "catalyse bold, balanced and collective action" are available. But more details are supposedly coming in the next few weeks, and during the Budget debate (Feb 16). 21/21