Singapore - Singapore is prepared to cut carbon emissions going into the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, but only if other countries do their bit as well, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech late Friday. "Our carbon emissions are a negligible part of global emissions," said Lee.
He said Singapore had no obligation to cut emissions as it was not listed under annex I of the UN Kyoto Protocol.
"But as a responsible member of the international community, we have to bear our fair share of the collective global effort to reduce carbon emissions," Lee said.
"We will reduce emissions ... provided other countries also commit to do their part in a global deal," he added.
The Copenhagen summit is due to reach a new climate deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.
Separately, Singapore's Environment Minister Yacoob Ibrahim said that a fair global solution had to take into account differences in national circumstances.
"If a global agreement is reached, we are prepared to do our fair share," he said, adding that there had to be a balance between concern over the environment and economic growth.
Yacoob's comments came in a statement released by his ministry late Friday, after the Straits Times newspaper ran a story saying that Singapore would not be prepared to accept any emission cuts as part of a global agreement to tackle climate change.
