Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_ Australia and its leading bilateral trading partner in Southeast Asia, Singapore, have inked the first-ever Green Economy Agreement (GEA). The historic bilateral agreement between the two nations will promote a sustainable future and assist Australian firms in capitalizing on the economic opportunities provided by the global clean energy transition. The GEA pact unites economic, environmental, and trade goals.
According to the joint statement released by the two governments, the pact strengthens the current collaboration between Australia and Singapore to combat climate change and enhance trade and investment in clean energy throughout the region. The agreement aims to expand their economic and environmental links as well as their participation in current areas of collaboration, including their memorandum of understanding for cooperation in low-emissions solutions. The overall objective is to improve the standard of living of communities while moving to greener economies and tackling climate change problems.
The GEA aims to realize this vision by lowering barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, promoting convergence on regulations and standards, investigating new business opportunities in green growth industries, following environmental initiatives that enable trade and investment in a way that is in line with current international trade and investment obligations, and guaranteeing an easy and inclusive transition to a green economy that generates promising jobs for the populace. Additionally, the Australian government has pledged an initial commitment of $19.6 million for new collaboration under the GEA for four years, which will assist domestic job creation and enhance supply chains, trade, and market prospects.
According to the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese MP, “The Green Economy Agreement extends well beyond a simple bilateral trade agreement. This world-first agreement establishes a framework under which our countries can advance work on the clean energy transformation and support businesses and industry. This is a model that will support both Australia and Singapore, and partners in our region to seize the economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero.”
