Cost among top drivers – and barriers – to climate action in S’pore, survey finds

Republished from The Straits Times. Original article here.

When Emma Wong, 30, shops for home appliances, she considers not just the price. She checks the number of ticks too.

Wong will move into a four-room Housing Board flat with her husband, 31, in October. Every appliance they bought, from air-conditioners to the refrigerator, carries the highest five-tick rating under the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) energy labelling scheme.

More ticks mean less electricity for the same function, which can lower electricity bills.

Wong, who works in language localisation (adapting words to suit the language and culture of target markets), chooses them to cut power use and emissions, driven by concern over climate change and the warmer temperature it brings.

“With what we know about climate change, this just seemed like the responsible thing to do,” she says. “The heatwaves in Europe of late brought back into focus how much of a grave reality global warming is.”

Over 90 per cent of Singapore’s electricity comes from imported natural gas. Although touted as the cleanest fossil fuel, extracting, processing and shipping it still releases greenhouse gases.

These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, driving the long-term rise in the earth’s average surface temperature known as global warming. Climate change refers to its broader effects on weather patterns and climate conditions, like rising sea levels.

That energy-efficient equipment also lowers Wong’s electricity bills is a bonus, she says, though the savings are timely. Household electricity tariffs hit record high over July to September, as the Middle East conflict raised global natural gas prices.

While cost is a bonus for her, a recent survey suggests that it is one of the top motivators – and barriers – to adopting sustainable or climate-friendly actions in Singapore.

The survey was commissioned by SPH Media and Temasek Foundation, polling 1,000 Singapore residents in April 2026, drawn from independent market research firm Kantar’s Profiles Audience Network.

Long-term savings, affordable options, and financial incentives were the top reasons respondents gave to adopt more sustainable or climate-friendly habits. Conversely, their perceived higher cost and lack of incentives were the strongest deterrents.

Buying energy-efficient products and supporting environmentally responsible brands were among the least adopted of seven climate-friendly behaviours in the survey. This is despite hotter weather and heat stress being respondents’ top climate concerns.

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