Singapore and Japan have a agreed a wide-ranging accord on energy sustainability and climate change.

The Singaporean Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the  Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Change Cooperation Framework.

Under this framework, MTI and METI will enhance collaboration in areas such as cross-border electricity imports, low-carbon hydrogen/ammonia, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), civil nuclear energy, liquefied natural gas (LNG), advanced grid system enablers and offshore wind.

The two countries said these collaborations may take the form of policy exchanges, business facilitation, facilitation of financial cooperation, and harmonisation and mutual recognition of standards, regulations and certification.

Singapore and Japan will also work together to encourage industry players and financial institutions to collaborate and invest in low-carbon energy projects and support the technological and supply chain development of low-carbon energy pathways.

On a joint statement they added: “Singapore and Japan have been close partners in the areas of energy transition, decarbonisation, sustainability and climate change. Building on this close partnership, these efforts under the framework will help Singapore and Japan work towards our net-zero goals and reduce emissions in the hard-to-abate industries and power sector.”

At the signing ceremony Singapore’s minister-in-charge of energy and science & technology Tan See Leng said: “We have very good and significant diplomatic ties, and thank you for co-organising the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum (IPEM), which could not have happened at a better time. We are very heartened and reassured by the leadership shown by your Government, and also working with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the G7, in releasing the stockpile reserves.

“Earlier this morning at the Ministerial dialogue, where Ministers have come up to talk about reassuring, particularly the Indo-Pacific, in terms of the supply of gas and fuel – it is very reassuring for small economies like us. Both Singapore and Japan have extensive economic relationships.”

He continued: “In 2024, both Japan and Singapore were each other’s fourth largest source of foreign direct investments. Singapore hosts over 5,300 Japanese companies, many of which use Singapore as the Asia Pacific headquarters, as well as a base for innovation, talent, and leadership development.

“Singapore companies remain very upbeat and optimistic about the Japanese market. For example, GIC has recently announced that it intends to grow its staff here in Japan by nearly 50% over the next three years”

Tan concluded: “I hope that we can bring our partnership to the next level, where we can look at closer ties in energy collaboration and cooperation in supply chain reinforcement, particularly in these difficult times, together with economic resilience, as well as space.”