A poor harvest in any one country in Southeast Asia could affect food supplies and prices across the region. To mitigate the impact of rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and extreme weather on agriculture, Singapore has launched a new initiative that aims to raise about S$640 million to help Southeast Asian farmers adapt to climate change.
The “Scaling Projects and Investments for Resilience in Asia” initiative (SPIRE Asia) will support promising agricultural projects by integrating data and providing technical assistance, among other measures. These projects include developing crop varieties that can better withstand high temperatures and extreme weather, promoting regenerative agriculture to restore soil health, and improving the efficiency of water and other resource use.
The 31st UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP31) is being held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu announced the initiative in a pre-recorded video address at the opening of the Singapore Pavilion on Tuesday (10 November).
“Our food system is especially vulnerable, as extreme weather threatens agricultural production around the world, affecting the livelihoods of farmers and communities,” said Fu. “Strengthening the resilience of the global food system is therefore an urgent priority, requiring greater investment and collective action.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony in Antalya, Singapore Ambassador for Climate Action Ravi Menon pointed out that climate impacts on food production do not stop at national borders. “For Singapore, which imports more than 90% of its food, regional food resilience is part of our own food security.”
New initiative combines data, technology and financing to attract investment in agricultural projects
Many promising agricultural projects in Southeast Asia currently struggle to secure financing because they are too small, are at an early stage, or lack the data investors require.
To overcome these bottlenecks, the National Climate Change Secretariat, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Enterprise Singapore and Temasek Trust will form a Steering Committee led by Menon to drive the new initiative.
The initiative has three main components. First, a data platform will integrate climate, agricultural and investment data to help stakeholders understand climate risks, identify projects worth investing in and assess project outcomes.
Second, farmers will receive technical and project development support, as well as help connecting with investors, buyers and partners.
Third, blended finance will be used to raise funds for agricultural climate adaptation projects. Singapore will provide initial funding to attract more private capital, with a fundraising target of US$500 million (S$640 million). Blended finance uses funding from governments or philanthropic organisations to attract private investors to projects they might otherwise avoid because of higher risks.
The authorities will assess the initiative’s success based on the amount of investment attracted and the projects’ outcomes on the ground.
Two FAST-P funds raise more than US$1 billion
Besides helping agriculture adapt to climate change, Singapore continues to advance the region’s energy transition by raising funds for projects that reduce carbon emissions.
At the 28th UN Climate Change Conference in 2023, Singapore launched “Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership” (FAST-P), a major blended finance initiative for climate action that uses public funding to attract private investment in Asia’s green transition projects.
FAST-P comprises three funds. The latest figures show that the Energy Transition Acceleration Financing fund, which supports the early retirement of coal-fired power plants, has raised US$250 million. Together with the US$800 million previously secured by the Green Investments Partnership fund, which supports mid-sized sustainable infrastructure projects, the two funds have raised a total of US$1.05 billion. The funding comes from countries including Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK.
Some projects already under way are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than one million tonnes a year. These include converting agricultural waste into steam for factories in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and India, as well as developing wind, solar and battery storage projects in India.
Meanwhile, Singapore is also working to develop the carbon credit market by improving the quality of carbon credits, encouraging companies to use them responsibly and aggregating demand for credits from companies subject to the carbon tax.
Menon said international climate cooperation must go beyond negotiations and agreements. Two kinds of partnership matter most: coalitions of like-minded countries that continue to act together when countries cannot reach consensus; and closer collaboration between the public and private sectors to pool efforts to tackle climate change when government funding and resources are limited.
He said, “Nature’s laws do not change. Climate change is already here and will only get worse. The fact that international climate cooperation has become more difficult only strengthens the case for practical partnerships [and] new ways of working together.”
