Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and the World Bank Group announced the launch of the Singapore Carbon Markets Program, a new initiative aimed at supporting countries in developing and scaling national carbon markets.

The program is designed to address key barriers hindering the growth of carbon markets, while supporting countries in strengthening technical capabilities, institutional capacity and digital infrastructure needed to participate in high-integrity carbon markets, the organizations said.

The new program will include three key components, focused on strengthening carbon market infrastructure and technology, facilitating the monetization of carbon credits, and supporting host countries’ capacity building and market readiness.

Benedict Chia, Director-General (Climate Change), National Climate Change Secretariat said:

“Singapore is committed to advancing high-integrity carbon markets as a key pillar of both global climate action and sustainable development. Our collaboration with the World Bank Group on the Singapore Carbon Markets Programme reflects this commitment.”

Initiatives under the program will include the delivery of toolkits to help countries develop interoperable carbon registries aligned with international standards and enable digital monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) systems for new credit types, including regenerative agriculture. Additional measures will focus on developing new methods to aggregate carbon credit demand and supply at both buyer and country levels to reduce transaction costs, crowd in demand and de-risk projects in underserved markets, while also supporting the development of national carbon market strategies, policies and institutions through cross-country learning initiatives.

Kristina Svensson, East Asia and Pacific Regional Hub Manager, World Bank Group, said:

“This partnership reflects our commitment to deliver tangible development outcomes by providing meaningful access to climate finance to the countries that need it most. It reinforces our strategic alignment with the Government of Singapore to build high-integrity carbon markets.”