(EnergyAsia, April 4 2012, Wednesday) — Singapore will continue with its existing model of development emphasisng rapid economic growth, population increases and the use of modern management systems and technology to improve resource use despite charges that it has one of the most damaging impacts on the environment.

In recent separate reports, the World Wide Fund (WWF) ranked Singapore as having the highest per capita carbon footprint in Asia while Canada’s University of British Columbia (UBC) called it the “unhealthiest” country with the worst ecological deficit of 152 countries.

WWF President Yolada Kakabadse has described affluent Singapore, with a per capita GDP of more than US$40,000, as an example of “what we should not do.”

The organisation also warned that Singapore is not resilient and ill-prepared for future resource shortages.

Among 152 countries, Singapore ranked last in the Eco2 ecological and environmental health index devised by researchers at the UBC Fisheries Centre and the Global Footprint Network which studied consumption and natural resources data over a 10-year period from 1997 and 2007.

According to official statistics, Singapore emitted more than 43.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels in 2010.

Singapore has disputed both findings, in turn, citing its top ranking in Asia last year by Siemens’ Asian Green City Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU), and its relatively low energy intensity according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Among 137 countries studied for their carbon-dioxide emissions per dollar or GDP, the IEA ranked Singapore 123.

The National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) said both studies should compare Singapore with other cities of the world, not countries, for a fairer reflection of the city-state’s resource usage and carbon footprint.

Last month, Singapore signed up as an observer member of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group that includes 57 world cities working to reduce their carbon footprint.