Monday, March 5, 2012

Singapore top carbon emitter in Asia-Pacific: WWF

Singapore had the largest carbon footprint per head in the Asia-Pacific in 2010, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Monday.

The environmental advocacy group said Singapore's 2010 per capita gross domestic product of more than US$40,000 (S$50,314) - one of the highest in the region - fuelled exorbitant consumption habits.

But the group also fingered the corporate sector and in particular the construction industry for crowning the tiny city-state as the region's top per capita carbon emitter. Precise figures for various nations in the Asia-Pacific will be released together with the WWF's Asia Footprint Report in June. But WWF President Yolanda Kakabadse revealed on Monday that Singapore topped the list.

'Every member of the population in relation to the size of the country is consuming a lot in food, in energy,' she said. 'Singapore... is a society that maybe is one of the best examples of what we should not do.'