January 2, 2023

On 1 January 2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals came into effect. These global goals aimed to end poverty and address social needs while protecting the environment. Carbon dioxide, when used as a measure of environmental quality, allowed nations to measure the effectiveness of their sustainable efforts and determine probable environmental impacts in the future.

However, carbon dioxide as a proxy for environmental quality has its drawbacks. In particular, some world regions do not have sustained measurements over a long period of time. In ‘Economic development and pollution emissions in Singapore: Evidence in support of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and its implications for regional sustainability’ (Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019), Dr Qinqin Chen (NTU School of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Professor David Taylor (NUS Geography) explore the possibility of using chromium as an alternative proxy to estimate environmental quality.

Dr Chen and Prof Taylor developed a national emission inventory (NEI) to estimate Singapore’s chromium emissions from 1900 to 2017. Using statistics from industry and environmental reports, the NEI enables researchers to obtain time-series data for areas without regular environmental modelling.

The historical trend of chromium emissions was found to resemble an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This curve has an inverted U-shape which hypothesizes that Singapore’s early economic growth first caused environmental degradation. Economic progress then brought about environmental regulations, which reduced economic growth at the expense of environmental degradation. With this finding, the researchers suggest that chromium could be an alternative to carbon emissions for areas without historical records. Moreover, if chromium is representative of industrial emissions, it could also be used in Southeast Asia as these states share similar cultural and economic ties.

However, the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth in the EKC must be carefully made. The researchers demonstrate how discrepancies can occur by showing that Singapore’s pollution is ‘exported’ to neighbouring states. As heavy metals can be detected 30 to 50km from the source, regional data suggests that Singapore’s high levels of environmental quality may be due to the ‘exportation’ of environmental pollution to lower-middle income ASEAN countries through industrial developments. Singapore’s environmental pollution is reduced by creating ‘pollution havens’ in less regulated states of Southeast Asia. Therefore, careful analysis of the EKC will highlight if a country’s economic growth truly occurs with improved environmental quality.

As Singapore progresses towards its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, this article concludes by suggesting that heavy metals, alternative sources of transboundary pollution, and other proxies for environmental quality (such as ultra-fine particulate matter and mercury) can generate a more comprehensive understanding of regional sustainability.

Read the article here.