CaliToday (29/10/2025): As Southeast Asia's climate leader, the city-state faces pressure to reveal "closed-door concessions," with activists warning the policy lacks the data to prove it even works.
Singapore, a nation that prides itself on being Southeast Asia's green-finance hub and the only country in the region with a carbon tax, is facing mounting pressure from conservation groups. The reason: a growing outcry over secret, "closed-door" tax concessions granted to the very oil and gas giants the policy was designed to regulate.
Environmentalists fear these discounts, shrouded in corporate confidentiality, may undermine the tax's core incentive pressuring polluters to shift to cleaner energy. Now, local climate groups are demanding transparency, warning that without data, it's impossible to know if the nation's flagship climate policy is actually working.
The "Leader" Sets a Secretive Precedent
Singapore's climate policy is being watched closely. While it accounts for only 0.1% of global carbon emissions, its per-capita emissions are the 27th highest out of 142 countries, according to the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a local think tank.
As neighboring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand prepare to implement their own carbon taxes next year, the standard Singapore sets is critical.
"Singapore is being watched and is being seen as a leader," said Vinod Thomas, a senior fellow at the institute. "If one country alone reduces emissions, that's great. But the atmosphere only cares about the total, so it is critical the rest of Southeast Asia also plays its part."
The problem, activists say, lies in the "allowances" Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) has awarded to certain high-emitting, trade-exposed companies.
A "Black Box" of Data
The Singaporean government has balked at providing details, arguing the tax breaks are "not a free pass" but a necessary measure to prevent "carbon leakage" the risk of companies moving to countries with less stringent climate regulations.
The NCCS stated the deals are private because corporations "raised valid concerns about how information on allowances could be used to compromise their business strategies and operations."
But this secrecy has created a "black box" that has left environmental watchdogs and the public completely in the dark. The NCSS has not disclosed the exact amount of emissions reductions achieved by the tax, stating it is “difficult to isolate” the data.
“We can’t even come to a conclusion about whether the carbon tax is effective because we don’t have the data,” said Rachel Cheang, co-founder of Energy CoLab, a youth-led local climate group. “Any conversation with the government is just not on equal ground.”
In a joint letter sent in September, local climate groups contended that “transparency is not incompatible with competitiveness.”
The Rising Tax and the Corporate Silence
This fight for data comes as the tax, first implemented in 2019, is set to become far more expensive.
2019: Started at a low $5 Singapore dollars ($3.70) per ton.
2024: Increased sharply to $25 SGD ($19) per metric ton.
2026: Scheduled to rise again to $45 SGD ($34.70).
2030: Expected to reach $50-$80 SGD ($40-$60) per metric ton.
This rising financial burden falls most heavily on the global energy companies that dominate Singapore's industrial landscape. ExxonMobil operates the country's largest refining facility, Shell runs its oldest refinery, and Chevron has a 50% interest in the Singapore Refining Co.
When asked for comment on the tax concessions, their response was uniform: ExxonMobil and Chevron did not respond. A spokesperson for Shell said, “We won’t be commenting.”
The Public Stake and a Global Headwind
This is not just a corporate dispute. The tax burden may ultimately be passed on to ordinary Singaporeans in the form of higher utility rates.
Local environmental group LepakInSG calculates a $50 SGD tax would increase the household utility bill for a typical 4-room apartment by about $8 SGD ($6.20) a month. While activists say this is likely tolerable for most, they are calling on the government "to ensure protection for the more vulnerable groups."
But more importantly, says Ho Xiang Tian, co-founder of LepakInSG, public data on corporate emissions “would help the public hold them accountable for their emissions.”
This local push for transparency is colliding with a global headwind. The momentum for carbon taxes is facing new obstacles, particularly from the U.S., where President Donald Trump has derailed international efforts to set up a global tax on shipping emissions.
As long as the U.S. "stays committed to fossil fuels, there’s going to be a big block on global carbon taxes," said Shi-Ling Hsu, a professor at Florida State University’s College of Law.
For activists in Singapore, this only increases the urgency of getting their own policy right.
“We have a huge responsibility... to uphold a certain amount of integrity in the way that we are designing and implementing our policies,” said Cheang.