Individuals, groups and businesses with sustainability ideas - such as reducing waste and ways to mitigate climate change - can now apply for funding for their projects.
The first grant call for the SG Eco Fund was announced by the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) yesterday. Applications will close on Jan 31 next year.
The $50 million fund, which was announced by MSE in March during the Committee of Supply debate, will support ground-up projects that aim to build a more sustainable future.
Applicants will be expected to co-fund their projects. They may receive funding of up to 80 per cent, subject to a cap of $1 million.
Speaking at the MSE year-end appreciation event at the Environment Building yesterday, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said: "The fund will cover projects in a broad range of areas, from farming and food production to climate change mitigation and resilience, resource efficiency and recycling, and conservation of diversity."
Acknowledging that sustainability is a collective effort, Ms Fu said she hopes the public, private and people sectors can work together to tackle climate change.
For instance, residents in Tampines GreenLace used compost from food waste in a community gardening initiative to grow edibles such as passion fruit and tapioca. This was part of a pilot project by MSE on household food waste segregation, with the help of organisations such as Zero Waste SG and Foodscape Collective.
In response to a question from the audience on types of projects the SG Eco Fund would support, Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan said one such project would be improving recycling among citizens.
He said rates of recycling from recycling bins are not at an ideal level.
He also said he hoped to see more urban farming initiatives, as "it is not just about food resilience or alternative farming and productivity", but using urban structures to bring the community together.
Ms Fu said the current problem with recycling is in part due to Singapore's lack of an "established functioning recycling industry". So more focus should be on "strengthening the waste industry and finding better ways to extract its value".
Another important area would be the rapidly developing food sector, as there are "many technological solutions out there, but not all of them are necessarily applicable, and need to be adapted to our local context", said Ms Fu.
More thought must also be given to the way the food industry is structured, so that it is viable from a waste-management point of view, she said. For instance, arrangements can be made for the waste generated from aquaculture to be used to feed livestock or as fertiliser for agriculture.
In the next few years, with more newcomers entering the market, there needs to be a structured way for industry players to exchange technological know-how and experience with one another.
This would ensure they do not have to go through the same steep learning curve as existing players, allowing Singapore to reach its "30 by 30" goal of producing 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030, with as few mistakes as possible, said Ms Fu.
