PILOT ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABILITY INDEX (PESI)

Mr Ong Kian Min asked the Minister for the Environment (a) whether Singapore's low ranking in the pilot environmental sustainability index (PESI) devised by a group of environmentalists picked by the World Economic Forum is a fair and accurate representation of Singapore's environment; (b) what is his Ministry's response to the findings under the PESI; and (c) what programmes and measures, if any, will his Ministry implement to improve our scores under the various indicators used in the PESI.

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for the Environment (a) what is his response to Singapore being ranked "lower than expected" in a "pilot environmental sustainability index" (PESI); and (b) what measures will be taken to improve on the range of environmental indicators in the index.

The Minister for the Environment (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I have permission to answer Questions 8 and 9 together?

Mr Speaker: Yes.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: The "Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index" or PESI has been designed to measure environmental sustainability on a pilot basis. It attempts to measure the ability of economies to achieve environmentally sustainable development. The inaugural report on the index was released at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on 31st January this year.

The index comprises five components: (i) Environmental systems; (ii) Environmental stresses; (iii) Human vulnerability to environmental impacts; (iv) Social and institutional capacity; and (v) Global stewardship.

The score for the `environmental systems' component is determined largely by urban air quality, water quality, surface and ground water resources and biodiversity. We are strong in urban air quality and water quality, but as a small city state, we are not endowed with plentiful surface and ground water resources nor able to support wide areas of biodiversity, and was rated below average in this component.

The score for the component on `environmental stresses' is determined by the amount of air and water pollutants discharged, waste production, consumption and population growth relative to land area. With our high degree of industrialisation and high population density, we do not expect to be rated highly for this component.

The score for the `human vulnerability to environmental impacts' component is determined by the success in providing basic sustenance such as safe drinking water and a high standard of public health. Singapore has fared well in this component, coming in third after Iceland and Germany.

The score for `social and institutional capacity' component is determined by the science and technical capacity, environmental regulation and management, the means to track environmental conditions and eco efficiency in terms of energy efficiency and the use of hydroelectric and renewable energy. Our score for this component was above average.

The score for the last component `global stewardship' is determined by our contribution to international cooperation such as our membership in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the status of national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The FSC is an international non-governmental organisation that promotes sustainable forestry management. The component also includes an assessment of forest areas certified by the FSC as well as carbon dioxide emission. The low score given to Singapore for this component is attributed to factors such as our relatively high carbon dioxide emission as we are fully dependent on fossil fuel, and our lack of forest areas that could be certified by the FSC.

The inaugural report released in Davos took care to highlight an anomaly in the case of Singapore, namely, that we scored far lower than expected in the environmental stresses' component. The report explained that the anomaly for Singapore was: probably a function of the fact that, as a city state, it possesses a qualitatively different environmental context than the other economies, all of which possess more conventional mixes of urban and rural areas and a greater diversity of ecosystems'.

The variables for the `environmental stresses' component are largely based on land area. For example, for air pollution, the variables express industrial emissions and the number of vehicles in terms of per unit of land area of a country. Likewise, for water pollution, the variable for industrial organic pollutants is expressed in terms of per unit of land area. This puts countries such as Singapore with small land areas and intensive use of land at a disadvantage under the system.

The inaugural report stressed the preliminary nature of the pilot effort and added that the methods used are experimental. It also added that considerable work is needed to produce a more refined index.

My Ministry will provide the originators of the pilot index with more information concerning our environment protection efforts to assist in refining the index so that it is more applicable to small, industrialised countries like Singapore.

I would like to assure the House that over the years, Singapore has received many international accolades for having managed our living environment well in spite of our limited resources, and considerable pressures from urbanisation and industrialisation. My Ministry's programmes will ensure that Singaporeans will continue to enjoy a quality living environment with clean air, clean water and high standards of environmental public health.

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh: Sir, does the Minister see the Environment Council playing a collaborative role in designing and implementing some of these measures that the Ministry is looking into?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Yes, my Ministry welcomes contributions from the Council as well as from other interested individuals.