UN report cities S'pore's 'green' policies as a model
SINGAPORE’S "green" policies are being held up as a model for developing countries in a United Nations report to be presented to the General Assembly next month.
The report, consolidated from information obtained from 29 UN agencies and 38 countries, highlights on several occasions Singapore’s integration of environmental concerns Into development policies.
It also cites Singapore’s policies together with those of developed countries such as Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and Britain.
Said a spokesman for the Environment Ministry: "The report gives a good reflection of Singapore’s environmental achievements and will serve to enhance Singapore’s international image as an environmentally responsible nation."
For example, the sale of unleaded petrol at a lower price than that for leaded petrol here was highlighted as one effective way in which environmentally sound technology is encouraged through financial incentives.
The report was commissioned to provide an Idea of the progress made since the passing of two UN resolutions in 1987 which stressed the importance of integrating environmental concerns into development policies, programmes and budgets.
Singapore’s annual Clean and Green Week was also used as an example of how some countries conducted public campaigns and allocated significant financial resources towards increasing public awareness and involving people in environmental-friendly causes.
The report said that many countries had the planning right — and the proper institutions — in ensuring that development would not mar the environment.
But these countries could not carry out their plans effectively because there was no proper co-ordination.
But it cited the Environment Ministry’s Pollution Control Department as one of the exceptions as the department managed to administer, monitor and enforce effectively environmental standards of development projects from start to finish.
Source : The Straits Times, May 27 1992
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