Media Coverage

Global Counsel senior associate Marissa Lee:

 "The decision to ramp up the carbon tax more quickly while allowing for offsets as a means for reducing tax liability is a bold one, and will certainly help to catalyse a shift to clean energy. Singapore's original plan to gradually raise the tax to S$10-S$15 a tonne by 2030 would have been insufficient to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement's main goal of limiting warming to 2 deg Celsius. Importantly, the government has signalled that Singapore's carbon tax could be raised to S$50-S$80 per tonne by 2030. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) has previously said that advanced economies should strive for a carbon price floor of US$75 per tonne by 2030."

"Budget 2022's tweaking of manpower policies has thematically built on initiatives that have been introduced in recent years, including Tech.Pass, which was established to attract leading technology experts and entrepreneurs globally, as well as the Nongsa Digital Park initiative, which effectively builds a talent hinterland for Singapore," said Andrew Yeo, practice lead for Asia at public policy advisory Global Counsel.

Ms Charley Roberts, an associate at advisory firm Global Counsel's climate and sustainability practice, said governments and private actors are increasingly setting out specific additional criteria beyond carbon. They are using these criteria to screen the types of projects they invest in.

She said: "Quantifying the range of benefits created by nature-based solutions can also provide further points of differentiation in the market, and ideally lead to more thoughtful project design to ensure these multiple benefits are achieved."

Mr Andrew Yeo, Asia practice lead at public policy advisory firm Global Counsel, drew attention to the political branding that Ms Raeesah had brought along when she was elected into Parliament — one that highlighted WP’s desire to debate topics “transcending the bread-and-butter issues of society”.

Although her actions may represent a setback for such a political brand, Mr Yeo stressed that issues such as environmental sustainability or gender equality, which are of particular interest to young people, will still remain.

"Eurofound's 2015 European Working Conditions Survey had already shown that people who regularly work from home are twice as likely to exceed the maximum of 48 hours per week as those who work at their employer's site."

Negotiations to resolve the steel and aluminum tariffs, meanwhile, “could last months,” according to Alexander Bobroske, UK-based trade associate at the consulting firm Global Counsel. Bobroske told Inside U.S. Trade in an email on Monday that the negotiations likely “will continue to be quietly be tied to progress on UK-EU talks on the Northern Ireland protocol.”

The Financial Times reported in December that the U.S.-UK talks had been delayed because of UK threats to rewrite its obligations in the Good Friday Agreement, an assertion a British official called a “false narrative.”

“We may see the Department of Commerce take the lead on negotiating the exact tariff rate quotas that are expected to be part of a deal while the speed of negotiations may be dictated by the White House and, perhaps, USTR,” Bobroske said. He said a deal -- if reached -- likely would “mirror” the U.S.’ deal last year with the EU to resolve a parallel dispute, which involved TRQs for steel and aluminum.

Geopolitical tensions involving Russia and Ukraine also could impact the course of negotiations, Bobroske wrote.

Opinion piece from UK Politics and Policy Practice Lead Alex Dawson.

An op-ed co-authored by Peter Mandelson, Chairman of Global Counsel. 

Marissa Lee, a senior associate at consultancy Global Counsel, which advises firms on climate and sustainability policy, said doing so forces organisations and consumers to consider the cost of pollution and environmental harm in their decision-making.

"As for how effective a carbon tax will be in changing behaviours, that depends on how the carbon price is set," she added.

"If the carbon price is set too low, businesses will not be motivated to improve their energy efficiency or invest in changes that would hit their immediate bottom line."

Global Counsel's Ms Lee said the Article 6 rules clearly demonstrate that parties to the Paris Agreement are concerned about how to avoid double-counting emissions reductions. "This sets an expectation for standard-setting bodies to clarify which credits have been issued with a corresponding adjustment and which have not in the voluntary carbon markets," she added.

"Investors may be more willing to invest in start-ups if they believe they have a chance to challenge tech giants and become key players. But, they might also be reluctant to do so if acquisition by a large player – a common exit route – becomes impossible."