ravi menon : a vibrant carbon market for a low carbon future opening remarks by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the climate impact x announcement event, singapore, 20 may 2021. * * * minister for national development mr desmond lee, ladies and gentleman, good afternoon. let me start with the big picture. to limit global warming to 1. 5°c, global annual greenhouse gas emissions need to be halved by 2030 and reduced to net - zero by 2050. yet, the trajectory of carbon emissions is still on a steady uptrend. just on energy needs alone, demand in asia is projected to double in 2030. economic development will drive demand for fossil fuels, which is still the cheapest way to generate electricity in many parts of asia. the switch to cleaner energy sources cannot be made in one leap. coal accounts for about half of asia ’ s total energy supply today. we need to shift the energy mix progressively, first to relatively less emissions - intensive fuels like natural gas, and then to renewables. this shift will require fundamental infrastructure changes : refurbishing power plants to generate cleaner fuels ; and upgrading the power grids to manage different energy sources and to minimise the intermittency of renewables. to make this progressive shift to a low - carbon future, asia will need a lot more transition financing than is available today. to spur more green finance for transition, we need to have two things in place : a price on carbon, and a market for trading carbon credits. carbon prices and carbon markets climate change is the result of probably the biggest market failure in history. for the longest time, the world did not put a price on the carbon emissions that have steadily degraded our environment and now pose serious climate risks. a meaningful price on carbon is critical to create the right incentives to reduce emissions. the challenge is to arrive at the right price, one that does not unduly impede economic development and yet is sufficient to drive decarbonisation efforts that will enable the world to meet its climate targets. carbon pricing is gaining momentum. globally, there are 61 carbon pricing initiatives in place, half of them carbon taxes and the other half emissions trading systems. 1 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches singapore introduced in 2019 a carbon tax of $ 5 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions, to establish the principle of a price on emissions. the original intention was to gradually raise the tax from 2023 onwards to between

be a key focus of cix. cix will draw on technologies such as satellite monitoring, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to distill key data on emission reduction and removal projects to verify the quality of the credits that they generate. singapore as a carbon services and trading hub singapore is a good place for cix to realise its vision to be a global carbon exchange and marketplace. we have a sound infrastructure, good governance, and a premium on trust – critical ingredients for a marketplace. singapore is located at the heart of southeast asia which is fertile ground to harness the potential of nature - based solutions. southeast asia holds more than one - third of the world ’ s mangroves. it has about 120 million hectares of land suitable for re - forestation. if we are able to harness the potential of nature - based solutions in southeast asia, we can move the needle on carbon sequestration efforts. proximity to southeast asia will enable cix and its ecosystem partners to work closely with project developers to procure a supply of high quality carbon credits. singapore is well - positioned to be a carbon services and trading hub. we are strengthening the carbon credit value - chain. this includes growing capabilities to develop projects, conduct certification and validation of project design, and monitor and verify project outcomes. we are also a trusted international centre for financial services, professional services, and commodities trading. as a country, singapore is committed to sustainable development and our aspirations are reflected in the singapore green plan 2030. singapore is attracting companies to anchor their r & d activities here to develop new sustainability solutions, including technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage. mas ’ green finance action plan has a focus on building strong capabilities in green finance. this includes initiatives to anchor in singapore providers of sustainability rating and verification services, centres of excellence to undertake asia - centric green finance research, and funding support for green fintech projects. i believe singapore has what it takes to anchor a thriving carbon marketplace at the heart of a vibrant carbon services hub, supporting asia ’ s transition towards greater sustainability. 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches conclusion let me thank all our industry partners for making cix possible. together, let us work towards a low carbon future. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches