(EnergyAsia, March 14 2011, Monday) — Singapore is Asia’s greenest metropolis thanks to its ambitious environmental targets and its efficient approach to achieving them, according to a study commissioned by Siemens AG and performed by the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Singapore was the only city to be rated ‘well above average’ in the five-rating the Asian Green City Index sponsored by the German engineering conglomerate. This result put the city state ahead of Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Seoul and Taipei which were banded as ‘above average’.

Conducting the study over the past months, the EIU analysed the aims and achievements of 22 major Asian cities relating to environmental and climate protection.

They examined eight categories including energy and carbon dioxide, land use and buildings, transport, waste, water, sanitation, air quality and environmental governance.

The researchers developed the methodology in cooperation with leading urban experts around the world, including representatives of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank and Asia’s regional network of local authorities, CITYNET.

The study results included the following:

•    Environmental awareness is growing, and the majority of the Asian cities have already introduced comprehensive environmental guidelines.

•    Average annual carbon dioxide emissions per capita are 4.6 tons in the Asian cities, and below the corresponding figure for Europe (5.2 tons per capita and year).

•    The 22 Asian cities produce an average of 375 kg of waste per capita and year, less than in Latin America (465 kg) and Europe (511 kg).

The biggest challenges facing Asia’s cities were also identified:

•    Air pollution levels are relatively high in all the cities studied, regardless of income. The average values for all the cities substantially exceed World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

•    Asia’s metropolises have much catching up to do in the area of renewable energies, which on average account for 11% of the total electricity generated in the 22 cities. By comparison, the average in Latin America is 64% – due to the high proportion of hydroelectric power plants there.

Barbara Kux, Siemen’s AG chief sustainability officer and member of the managing board, said:

“The Asian Green City Index supports cities in their efforts to expand their infrastructures on a sustainable basis. We want to enable Asia’s up-and-coming urban centers to achieve healthy growth rates coupled with a high quality of life.”

Jan Friederich, EIU Study research head, said:

“The study of Asian cities shows one thing very clearly: higher income does not necessarily mean higher resource consumption. While resource consumption increases substantially up to an annual gross domestic product of about EUR15,000 per capita, it drops again when income rises beyond this.” (US$1=0.72 euro).

The EIU explains that in the prosperous Asian cities, environmental awareness is greater and infrastructures are more efficient. These cities are actively cutting their consumption of natural resources and are thus developing more sustainably.

Mr Friedrich added: “In addition, cities that performed well in the Index are characterised by their ability to successfully implement environmental projects and consistently enforce regulations.”

Siemens notes that the progressive rural exodus in Asia is unprecedented in human history. The proportion of Asia’s population living in cities has grown in the last 20 years by around a third to over 40%, according to research by the United Nations Population Division.

In the last five years alone, the number of inhabitants in Asian cities has been increasing by about 100,000 a day. This development is expected to continue for years to come. In China alone, experts predict that by 2025 there will be well over 200 cities with a population of over a million. 2011 there are just under 90, while Europe currently has 25 cities of that size.

Siemens said the increasing urbanisation is having an enormous impact on the infrastructure: with the additional number of inhabitants, correspondingly more energy, clean water, transportation and energy-efficient homes are required.

The Manila, Philippines-based Asian Development Bank estimates that to cope with the influx, the Asian cities must for example build 20,000 new homes and 250 km of road and provide transportation infrastructure and an extra six million litres of drinking water, all on a daily basis.

In addition, the cities are the main emitters of harmful greenhouse gases. Cities are the growth engines of the future, but they are also responsible for 75% of worldwide energy consumption and for around 80% of the human carbon dioxide emissions.

Ms Kux said: “The battle against climate change will be decided in cities. This applies to Asia, with its booming conurbations, more than anywhere else on earth. But only green cities will make life worth living over the long term.”

She also noted Singapore could still improve on some areas, particularly its carbon dioxide emissions.

“With per capita emissions of 7.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide, Singapore is way above the average of the Asian cities we looked at. This is on par with other megacities like London and mostly due to the fact that Singapore is a highly developed city.

“However, it also is a case for action because this level of emissions is not compatible with the widely accepted goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius. I am sure that Singapore will also tackle this challenge with vision, prudence and determination.”

The scope of the Green City Index is unique, with Asia being the third region analysed by the EIU for Siemens. The series began in 2009 with the European Green City Index, which identified Copenhagen (Denmark) as the greenest metropolis. In 2010 this was followed by the Latin American Green City Index, where Curitiba (Brazil) came out on top. Similar studies are planned for other parts of the world.

Siemens Environmental Portfolio supports sustainable city development based on energy and resource efficiency. The German engineering conglomerate has the largest and most comprehensive range of green technologies for the environmentally friendly development of infrastructure – from efficient and clean energy generation, transmission and use to public transport and water treatment systems.