(AseanAll)  — Singapore and Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) to pursue collaboration on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) on August 21,2024, on the sidelines of the 2nd Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC) Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Singapore Second Minister for Trade and Industry Dr Tan See Leng and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito signed the MOC. 

CCS is the process of capturing, transporting and storing carbon dioxide, thereby avoiding emissions into the atmosphere. It provides a pathway to decarbonise emissions from hard-to-abate sectors such as energy and chemicals, power, and waste. Internationally, CCS is regarded as an important decarbonisation pathway to achieve global climate mitigation. Both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and International Energy Agency recognise the crucial role of CCS to achieve net zero emissions by mid-century and mitigate the effects of global warming. 

The MOC will facilitate knowledge exchange on best practices for cross-border CCS and the sharing of insights on CCS technologies. It will also pool together expertise and resources from Singapore and Japan to accelerate the adoption of CCS in the region. 

Tan See Leng said, “This MOC signals both Singapore and Japan’s interest to deploy decarbonisation pathways to address climate change. Singapore is keen to work closely with Japan to develop and adopt common standards for CCS, creating a more interoperable market for CCS solutions in the region. Japan is also a leader in CCS technology innovation, and there is much to learn from Japan in terms of research and adoption of CCS technologies. I look forward to taking this partnership forward.” 

Tan See Leng also attended the 2nd AZEC Ministerial Meeting hosted by Jakarta, with representatives from the AZEC partner countries . Initiated by Japan, the AZEC is a multilateral platform that aims to accelerate Asia’s decarbonisation transition, through working with regional partners to pursue energy transition pathways.

At the Meeting, Tan See Leng shared about Singapore’s energy transition journey to fulfil our commitment to the climate goals and the Paris agreement, to reduce carbon emissions. He highlighted the importance of collaborations to realise the shared vision of an ASEAN Power Grid, as well as to catalyse the deployment of low-carbon energies. 

Tan See Leng also took part in the AZE Centre launch ceremony with the AZEC partners. The Centre, which would be hosted under the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in Jakarta, will serve as an energy-focused research and implementation platform to support AZEC partners in developing the vision, roadmaps and policies towards national and regional decarbonisation.