Climate analysts and experts here have welcomed the public sector taking the lead to start reducing carbon emissions five years ahead of the national goal.

They are confident the sector is in good stead to realise its ambitious climate goals and targets, with some experts suggesting that there may be room for even greater climate ambitions.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu yesterday announced a series of low-carbon targets for the public sector to peak emissions around 2025, five years ahead of the rest of the country. This plan was briefly announced in Parliament in March.

Under the Paris Agreement, Singapore aims to peak its emissions at 65 million tonnes by around 2030, halve that amount by 2050, and achieve net-zero emissions some time in the second half of the century.

Commenting on the public sector's plan, Ms Sharon Seah, coordinator of the Climate Change in South-east Asia Programme at the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, said: "As far as I know, no other public sector in this region, or even the world, has a civil service setting a carbon emission reduction target for itself."

One of the public sector's targets is to raise the use of solar energy to 1.5 gigawatt-peak by 2030, which is three-quarters of the national target of 2 gigawatt-peak the same year.

"It will be a stretch for the public sector, but supported by the SolarNova programme and various other initiatives such as the JTC SolarLand programme and the possibility of more floating solar projects, be it on reservoirs or near-shore, I am very confident that this can be achieved," said Dr Thomas Reindl, deputy chief executive of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

SolarNova refers to a whole-of-government effort to accelerate the deployment of solar photovoltaic systems in Singapore. Under JTC's SolarLand programme, solar panels can be installed on vacant land, with the generated electricity going to the national grid.

Dr Reindl added: "The public sector aims to contribute three-quarters of the 2 gigawatt-peak target by itself... The installation by the private sector, for example on factory roofs or commercial buildings, will come on top of that.

"This will likely help to over-achieve the 2030 target and also greatly help to further grow a local workforce for solar photovoltaics design, engineering and installations."

Other targets by the public sector include reducing the energy and water use by 2030 by 10 per cent from the last three years' average, and switching to more water-efficient equipment.

The experts said the public sector's water, energy, and waste reduction goals are achievable.

Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, executive director of Nanyang Technological University's Energy Research Institute, said: "Singapore has already put in place a very strong Green Mark standard; and new measures now, that include appliances and IT systems, will help in meeting the energy targets."

He observed that the targets announced for the public sector yesterday have been the most broad-based and deep measures that the Government has announced to-date.

"The details go beyond just energy-water-waste targets; but specifics in cooling tower, green procurement, information and communications technology. Collectively, the slew of measures represent very high confidence that the targets set ahead of us for 2030 and eventually for 2050 would be met," he said.

In terms of green procurement, for instance, the public sector will shift to buying products that meet high efficiency or sustainability standards.

Ms Melissa Low, a research fellow at NUS' Energy Studies Institute, said: "The targets set for buildings, information technology, and solar deployment are more ambitious than the national targets. This suggests that there's room for greater climate ambition."

The experts are hoping that the private sector will emulate the climate goals.

"Some of our manufacturing industries will find it challenging to implement broad measures in emission reduction without additional investments. New technologies and some level of government support may also need to be explored," said Prof Mhaisalkar.