There are currently many schemes and initiatives in place to encourage businesses to adopt more sustainable practices. Here are some of them.
1. What Is The Government Doing?
- Provide funding support to non-governmental organizations to encourage them to implement ideas that will make Singapore more sustainable
–> If more and more businesses decide to go green, it will have a collective impact on the environment.
- Encourage public and private developers to introduce more skyrise gardens on the rooftops of apartments, office buildings and even carparks.
–> Gardens are a place for people to relax and this has a restorative effect on us. Hence, there are psychological benefits!
2. Singapore Sustainability Awards
- The Singapore Sustainability Awards is an initiative of the Singapore Business Federation which showcases the most innovative and impactful sustainable practices and green solutions among organizations in Singapore. It aims to promote sustainability excellence and facilitate the sharing of the best practices.
–> More organizations will be inspired to embrace sustainable development and hence all businesses in Singapore will slowly move towards becoming environmentally-friendly. Hence, this could indicate that there are increased chances of businesses in Singapore causing less impact on the environment in the future.
3. The BCA Green Mark
- The BCA Green Mark scheme is an initiative to encourage environmentally-friendly buildings in Singapore. It helps facilitate reduction in water and energy bills and reduce potential environmental impact. Every year, awards are given out to buildings with high Green Mark ratings. Besides that, they encourage users and occupants to adopt more environmentally friendly features and sustainable practices in their premises. To facilitate this, Green Mark schemes such as the BCA Green Mark for Office Interior, Green Mark for Restaurants and Green Mark for Supermarkets have been introduced in the recent years.
–> This could indicate that there will be more environmentally-friendly buildings in Singapore in the future and hence the impact on the environment caused by business premises will slowly be reduced.
- Fun fact: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was recognized as a Green Mark champion for having shown strong commitment and corporate social responsibility in their efforts towards greening their buildings.