Opening Remarks by Singapore's Ambassador for Climate Action at Launch of COP31 Singapore Pavilion

Practical Partnerships for Climate Action in an Uncertain World

 Opening Remarks at Launch of COP31 Singapore Pavilion

Antalya, Türkiye

10 November 2026

 --

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the launch of the Singapore Pavilion at COP31 in Antalya.

And a special welcome to Juan Miguel Cuna, Acting Secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The momentum for climate action has become more uneven.

•         Geopolitical tensions are disrupting trade, investment, and energy flows.

•         Fiscal space is shrinking, constraining governments’ ability to meet competing priorities.

•         The multilateral system is under strain, making it difficult to achieve consensus.

How can countries and businesses pursue climate action in such an uncertain world?

The answer lies in forging new and practical partnerships.

·       International cooperation need not be limited to negotiating global agreements.

·       There is much scope for countries to work together, to mobilise climate finance, to develop carbon markets, to build resilience, and to deploy clean technology.

·       Two kinds of partnership matter most:

o   coalitions of the willing, where multilateral consensus is lacking; and

o   collaborations across the public and private sectors, where government action alone is insufficient.

Practical partnerships are how Singapore pursues climate action, at home and beyond our borders.

·       And our ASEAN Chairmanship next year gives us an opportunity to deepen cooperation at the regional level.

Let me outline four areas of practical partnerships in climate action that Singapore is engaged in:

•         blended finance for decarbonisation;

•         an adaptation programme for climate resilience;

•         carbon markets for nature protection; and

•         technology solutions for the climate transition.

BLENDED FINANCE FOR DECARBONISATION: FAST-P

Let me start with blended finance: using catalytic capital to absorb first-loss risk in climate projects and crowd in multiples of commercial capital.

Singapore has put in place a blended finance platform called Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership, or FAST-P, with a target fund size of US$5 billion.

•         The Singapore Government has pledged a grant of up to US$500 million, to match dollar-for-dollar other sources of catalytic capital.

•         This US$1 billion of catalytic capital aims to crowd in another US$4 billion of commercial capital from banks, insurers, and asset managers.

The three FAST-P funds are progressing well, albeit at different speeds.

•         The Green Investments Partnership, or GIP, invests in renewable energy and storage, electric mobility, and waste-to-energy. It has US$800 million in commitments.

•         The Energy Transition Acceleration Finance partnership, or ETAF, replaces fossil-fuel power with renewables and modern grids. It has reached US$250 million.

•         The Industrial Transformation Programme, or ITP, targets industrial decarbonisation, green cement and steel, and green data centres. It is working towards a first close.

The FAST-P funds have deployed nearly US$240 million, helping to avoid over one million tonnes of emissions annually. Let me give a flavour from two projects.

•         Turning farm waste into factory steam in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and India. GIP took the longer, riskier slice of the financing, so that a commercial lender could take the rest.

•         Wind, solar and storage, in India. ETAF invested in an eight-year bond for three projects pairing wind and solar with batteries. The market would not offer eight-year money for this kind of risk.

This good work would not have been possible without our partners from Australia, Japan, and the UK, who provided catalytic capital alongside Singapore.

We will share more updates on FAST-P later this morning.

ADAPTATION PROGRAMME FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: SPIRE ASIA

Next, protecting lives and livelihoods from climate change.

Asia is the most climate-vulnerable region in the world.

•         Asia is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average.^[1]

•         Agri-food systems in Southeast Asia are at particular risk.

•         Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are already affecting agricultural production across the region. These impacts will worsen as climate change accelerates.

Relative to its needs, Asia is the most underserved by adaptation finance.

•         The Asia-Pacific requires up to US$400 billion annually for climate adaptation.

•         Actual flows in 2021-22 were US$34 billion – about one dollar for every twelve needed.^[2]

•         And the money is not following the risk.

•         Globally, agri-food systems received just 20% of adaptation finance though they account for 54% of costed adaptation needs in developing countries’ national adaptation plans.^[3]

Climate impacts on food production do not stop at national borders.

•         A poor harvest in one country affects food availability and prices across the region.

•         For Singapore, which imports more than 90% of its food, regional food resilience is part of our own food security.

This is why Singapore is launching the Scaling Projects and Investments for Resilience in Asia Programme, or SPIRE Asia.

•         As announced by Minister Grace Fu earlier, SPIRE Asia aims to build a more investible market for climate adaptation in Asia, starting with food resilience.

SPIRE Asia is an exercise in co-creation with partners. It was built by listening.

·       Our government agencies and partners spoke with more than 60 stakeholders – development banks, investors, philanthropies, agri-businesses and technical experts – many of whom are here with us today.

·       Three gaps came up again and again.

o   A data gap. Without good data and common yardsticks, no one can spot the opportunities, price the risks, or prove the impact.

o   A project gap. Good ideas are too early-stage to meet an investor’s requirements.

o   A financing gap. Returns are uncertain, payback is long, and track records are thin.

The lesson was clear: we must address the barriers to investment, not simply increase the supply of capital.

SPIRE Asia is designed as an integrated programme with three mutually reinforcing pillars.

First, a Data Platform to connect climate, agricultural, and investment datasets and translate them into actionable insights.

•         We will not duplicate existing datasets. We will build on and connect them, translating data into insights for investors and project developers.

•         The Data Platform will also help develop common approaches to measuring resilience outcomes.

•         Enterprise Singapore will lead this pillar, partnering relevant research institutes and multilateral organisations. Its Solutions Centre for Smallholders will anchor the Platform.

Second, a Market Development Facility to develop promising agri-food adaptation opportunities into investment-ready projects.

•         The Facility will coordinate relevant solutions, technical assistance, and project preparation.

•         It will aggregate smaller projects into portfolios of sufficient scale, and connect them with investors, buyers, and implementation partners.

•         Temasek Trust will lead this pillar. Several philanthropies and multilateral organisations have expressed interest in helping to fund and develop the Facility.

Third, a Blended Finance Fund of up to US$500 million, combining catalytic capital with commercial capital, to invest in building resilience of agri-food systems.

•         The Fund will target agri-food companies and solutions that struggle to access financing on commercial terms, and help them scale climate-resilient practices.

•         The Singapore Government is prepared to contribute catalytic capital to the Fund, along with contributions from our international partners.

•         Interest from development finance institutions, multilateral banks, and commercial lenders has been encouraging.  We will share details of the capital stack early next year.

•         The Monetary Authority of Singapore will oversee this pillar.

We will judge the success of SPIRE Asia on two dimensions: how much investment we mobilise, and the resilience outcomes we deliver on the ground.

•         We will develop more specific indicators with our partners to track both dimensions.

•         We welcome more partners to join SPIRE Asia, to shape the programme further, by contributing capital, data, technical expertise or project development capabilities.

CARBON MARKETS FOR NATURE PROTECTION

The third area of partnerships for action: nature and carbon markets.

For Southeast Asia, nature offers the greatest potential to decarbonise.

·       Deforestation and poor land use practices account for more than half of the region’s carbon emissions.^[4]

·       But the region also holds vast untapped potential to remove carbon.

o   Southeast Asia has about a quarter of the world’s forest carbon capacity, over a third of its mangroves, and nearly all its tropical peatlands.^[5]

·       And protecting nature confers valuable ecological services that benefit communities.

o   A restored mangrove shields a coastline and nurtures fish stocks.

o   A conserved forest regulates water flows and shelters wildlife.

o   A protected peatland stops forest fires and clears the haze.

Yet nature is badly under-invested.

•         The region needs about US$54 billion a year for nature-based solutions. It receives only around US$8 billion.^[6]

Carbon markets can turn nature conservation and restoration into recurring revenue.

·       But they need two things to work:

o   a supply of credits that buyers can trust, and

o   demand that project developers can plan around.

Singapore has been working with multiple partners to address both the supply and demand sides of the carbon markets equation. Let me highlight four areas of our work.

First, ensuring high-integrity carbon credits.

·       We are working with the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market through its Asia Pacific Hub in Singapore, to translate integrity standards into credible projects in the region that buyers can trust and investors can finance.

·       We are working through the World Bank’s Singapore Carbon Markets Programme to help countries develop the infrastructure and capabilities needed to participate effectively in carbon markets.

We will share more details on the Singapore Carbon Markets Programme this Thursday.

Second, promoting responsible corporate demand for carbon credits.

·       The Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, which Singapore co-chairs with Kenya and the UK, has developed a Policy Playbook to guide governments in supporting responsible corporate demand for credits.

·       The Playbook offers policy options for governments to incentivise corporate purchases, build buyer confidence, and mitigate risk.

The Playbook will be launched tomorrow, here at the Singapore Pavilion.

Third, aggregating demand from carbon tax-liable companies.

•         Singapore’s carbon tax framework allows eligible companies to use international carbon credits to offset up to 5% of their taxable emissions.

•         But companies face real hurdles in sourcing and procuring these credits:

o   fragmented buyer demand

o   limited in-house procurement capability

o   uncertainty over the supply of eligible credits.

•         Supported by the Economic Development Board, Climate Impact X, a Singapore-based carbon market platform, has developed a new initiative to support these companies.

o   Buyers can pool their demand, draw on sourcing and due diligence capabilities, and send project developers a stronger demand signal.

o   Several carbon tax-liable companies have already expressed interest.

Climate X will share more details on Thursday, here at the Pavilion.

Fourth, supporting demand in voluntary carbon markets.

•         Launched by Enterprise Singapore, the ARC Coalition brings together international corporates to procure carbon credits and meet their climate targets.

•         The Coalition aims to procure at least 10 million tonnes of high-integrity voluntary credits by 2030.

The Coalition will announce details on its inaugural Request for Proposal this Thursday.

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR CLIMATE TRANSITION

The fourth and final area for partnership is technology.

·       The gap between a promising laboratory result and a bankable commercial project is where many climate technologies stall.

·       Closing it requires deeper collaboration across governments, businesses, researchers and investors.

·       Singapore is working on two fronts.

First, deploying new decarbonisation technologies.

·       Singapore has launched an S$800 million Decarbonisation Grand Challenge.  

·       Its SPEED programme will bridge the “valley of death” between promising low-carbon technology and commercial deployment in the power and industry sectors.

o   SPEED’s pipeline includes low-concentration carbon capture, converting carbon dioxide into construction materials, and hydrogen storage and transport.

•         The Grand Challenge is a great example of partnerships – partnerships among large emitters and power companies, infrastructure owners, universities and research institutes, and venture capital and private equity investors.

This Friday, we will bring together partners to explore how to advance emerging decarbonisation technologies.

Second, developing cooling solutions for cities as the world heats up.

•         Singapore has been active in advancing international cooperation on heat resilience and sustainable cooling.

•         In September this year, we hosted the inaugural Global Cooling Pledge Assembly, to exchange ideas and accelerate implementation.

Next week, on 17 November, we will convene international partners to chart the way forward for the Global Cooling Pledge.

CONCLUSION

Let me wrap up.

Political priorities may shift. Economic cycles may turn.  But nature’s laws do not change.  Climate change is already here and will only get worse.

The fact that international climate cooperation has become more difficult only strengthens the case for practical partnerships, new ways of working together.

That is why Singapore is doing FAST-P, SPIRE Asia, the Coalition to Grow Carbon Markets, the ARC Coalition, the Decarbonisation Grand Challenge, the Global Cooling Pledge Assembly.

Let’s get down to it at the Singapore Pavilion.

Thank you.

^[1]World Meteorological Organization. (2025, June 23). State of the Climate in Asia 2024. https://wmo.int/publication-series/state-of-climate-asia-2024 (opens in new tab)

^[2]Climate Policy Initiative. (2025, September). Bridging the adaptation finance gap in Asia: Practical recommendations to address the barriers to adaptation finance in Asia. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Policy-Brief_Bridging-The-Gaps-in-Adaptation-Finance-in-Asia.pdf (opens in new tab)

^[3]Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and United Nations Development Programme. (2025, November 18). COP30: Landmark report finds countries’ climate agrifood ambitions undermined by funding gaps (analysis: Agrifood Systems in National Adaptation Plans). https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/cop30--landmark-report-finds-countries--climate-agrifood-ambitions-undermined-by-funding-gaps/ (opens in new tab).

^[4]Project Drawdown. (2025, October 28). New report provides roadmap for reducing emissions in the food, agriculture, and land use sector across Southeast Asia. https://drawdown.org/news/new-report-provides-roadmap-for-reducing-emissions-in-the-food-agriculture-and-land-use-sector (opens in new tab)

^[5]Southeast Asia Climate and Nature-based Solutions Coalition. (2024). Southeast Asia climate and nature-based solutions coalition [Presentation]. NBF Asia Investment Forum 2024. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/%5BSCENE%5D%20NBF%20Asia%20Investment%20Forum%202024_SCeNe%20Coalition.pdf (opens in new tab)

^[6]United Nations Environment Programme. (2026). State of Finance for Nature. https://www.unep.org/resources/state-finance-nature (opens in new tab)