S’pore hails historic deal, which ‘strikes right balance’

SINGAPORE — Singapore today (Dec 13) hailed the Paris climate change pact, with the Republic’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan calling the accord “a historic, global agreement”.

“What all Parties have achieved is a historic, global agreement which strikes the right balance between developed and developing Parties, the right balance between mitigation and adaptation, and the right balance between means of implementation and ambition, Dr Balakrishnan wrote in a Facebook post early this morning.

“As a result, the world is placed on a better trajectory to deal with the challenges of climate change, which affects all of us,” he added.

In his post, the Foreign Minister also shared his statement at the Committee of Paris welcoming the climate change deal, which addressed criticisms that it was “not a perfect agreement”, pointing out that the Paris pact was still “a good and necessary agreement” that sets mankind “on a collective journey for climate safety”.

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He outlined how the lessons from the “fatally flawed” 1997 Kyoto Protocol, led to Singapore’s emphasis on “a comprehensive, rules-based, legally binding agreement applicable to all.”

Dr Balakrishnan noted that the key hurdle in climate talks has always been about differentiation, or how countries are divided in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as Annex One developed countries and Non-Annex One developing countries, with the former expected to take on greater responsibilities.

“Developed countries … have to be seen to be fulfilling their prior commitments and to continue to take the lead. Without this reassurance, there would have been insufficient strategic trust for the rest of the world, the developing country Parties, to raise our ambition at great cost to ourselves,” the Foreign Minister wrote.

Dr Balakrishnan added that transparency in the agreement is necessary to build mutual trust and confidence among nations, as well as ensuring accountability to each country’s citizens.

Writing on social media, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also praised the accord yesterday as “a historic deal”, and thanked Dr Balakrishnan, public service officers, groups and individuals in Singapore for “their support to this important issue”.

“Each of us must play our part, to make personal choices that protect the environment ... Let us work together to ensure the future of our planet for our children and generations to come,” Mr Lee wrote.

In a statement issued today, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean also noted how the Paris agreement showed that “goodwill, commitment and willingness to look beyond individual concerns, cooperation among all countries is possible for the global larger, long-term good”, and said that the Republic was “honoured” to have contributed to the success of the talks.

“Our ministers and officials have done well by playing the role of an honest broker, to help reach agreement on difficult issues,” said Mr Teo, who is also the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli also thanked Dr Balakrishnan for his committed role in climate change negotiations over the past several years. “We have reached a historical deal in Paris. However, this is not the end, but the beginning of this global journey,” Mr Masagos wrote on Facebook this morning.

Singapore has played an outsized role in the climate change negotiations, with Dr Balakrishnan tasked by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to coordinate informal consultations on differentiation, while the Republic’s Chief Negotiator for Climate Change Ambassador Kwok Fook Seng worked on refining a key article on transparency in the finalised pact.