Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility. You can make a difference by being an environment volunteer with the National Environment Agency (NEA) and PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency.

NEA is recruiting Community Volunteers (CVs) to educate the public on environmental offences. The primary role of a CV is to educate environmental offenders to stop the offending acts and encourage greater ownership of the environment. Training will be provided by NEA. If an offender does not heed the repeated advice of a CV, the CV is empowered to take down the particulars of the non-compliant offender for NEA's consideration to follow through with enforcement action.

NEA also has other volunteering opportunities such as SG Clean Ambassadors who support the SG Clean Campaign by working with our 3P (People, Public and Private) partners to promote good personal habits and social norms to raise standards of cleanliness and public hygiene, and safeguard public health. If you share our vision and passion to make SG Clean a way of life, we welcome you to sign up as an SG Clean Ambassador.

PUB also has a volunteer programme where you can do your part for water at the Singapore World Water Day events and public outreach activities.

Vehicular (or motor) emission is one of the major sources of air pollution in Singapore. As part of our Energy Reset goals under the Singapore Green Plan 2030, Singapore is transitioning towards cleaner energy vehicles and ceasing diesel car and taxi registrations from 2025.

To control the emissions generated by motor vehicles and safeguard public health, the National Environment Agency (NEA) sets specific exhaust emission and fuel quality standards for all vehicles, and regulates the type and quality of fuel that is being used in Singapore:

(I) All new and used petrol or diesel vehicles imported for registration in Singapore must comply with the Euro VI emission standards.
(II) All new and used motorcycles imported into Singapore for registration must comply with the Euro IV emission standards. Compared to the Euro III emission standard, the tighter Euro IV emission standard will help to reduce emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are precursors to ozone.
(III) All in-use vehicles have to comply with the in-use vehicle emission standards prescribed in the regulations.
(IV) Every motor vehicle being driven in Singapore, when using diesel or petrol, must only use Euro V diesel or petrol that conforms with the standards prescribed in the regulations.
(V) NEA also introduced the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) to replace the Carbon Emission-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) for all new cars, taxis and newly imported used cars with effect from 1 January 2018. The VES covers five pollutants – carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). To further promote the adoption of cleaner vehicles and to discourage the purchases of more pollutive models, the VES for new cars, taxis and imported used cars have been enhanced with increased rebates and surcharges from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022.
(VI) NEA further enhanced the Early Turnover Scheme (ETS) to cover Euro IV Category C diesel vehicles from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023, to incentivise owners of diesel commercial vehicles to replace them with new, cleaner options. NEA and LTA have also introduced the Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme (CVES) for all new and used imported Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs), Goods-cum-Passenger Vehicles (GPVs), and small buses, all with maximum laden weight (MLW) not exceeding 3,500kg, from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2023.
(VII) The import of used vehicles into Singapore must also comply with the prevailing emission standards at the time of registration in Singapore.Visit NEA's website for more information on air pollution regulations.

If you spot smoky vehicles or idling engines, you may report them to NEA, providing details such as the vehicle registration number, location, date and time of the incident via NEA's online feedback form.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) evaluates the hazard and pollution impact of industries to ensure that they do not contribute to unmanageable pollution, health and safety hazards. NEA checks the designs of industrial plants and pollution control equipment at the building plan stage for compliance with pollution control requirements. An industry is allowed to be set up only if it is sited in an appropriate industrial estate, and can comply with the pollution control requirements.

NEA's Source Emission Test Scheme requires industries to conduct source emission tests on their own, or engage accredited laboratories under the Singapore Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (SAC-SINGLAS) to monitor their air emissions regularly, and take measures to ensure their compliance with the prescribed air emission standards.

NEA also conducts regular inspections on industries, fuel analyses and smoke observations of chimneys, to ensure that pollution control equipment is maintained and operated properly.

Currently, there are no regulations against the burning of incense and joss paper in public places. Being a multi-cultural society, the Government encourages members of public, including temples and devotees, to practise graciousness and consideration for the environment and neighbouring premises, when carrying out religious practices in public places.

Devotees are advised to clean up the place after they have made their offerings. When burning joss paper, candles and other offerings, they should make use of the proper pits and containers provided at the designated points, such as those provided by the Town Councils.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) works closely with religious associations and the town councils on reminding devotees to avoid burning joss papers on the ground and grass patches, and that it is also not necessary to throw joss paper in the air but to burn them instead.

If you have an enquiry, you may contact NEA via this online feedback form.

We recognise that indiscriminate smoking in homes can be distressing and we empathise with those affected.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been progressively extending the smoking prohibition to more public places in consultation with the public and relevant stakeholders. Since 2013, the smoking prohibition has been extended to the common areas of public and private residential premises, including condominiums (e.g. common corridors, stairwells, lobby areas, and void decks).

Nevertheless, homes are private spaces and our regulations need to be balanced against privacy concerns. Apart from privacy concerns, there are also practical challenges to investigating and enforcing against smoking in homes. It will be challenging to track down the smoker or obtain evidence of an act of smoking being committed without intrusive methods and affecting the privacy of innocent neighbours.

We adopt a three-pronged approach on this issue:

a. Engender greater social responsibility by instilling consideration for the health and well-being of those around us, such as our family members and neighbours. This includes the widespread adoption/acceptance of new social norms of what constitutes acceptable behaviour. Agencies will explore effective ways of doing this such as developing targeted messages to be communicated across key platforms.
b. Explore ways to facilitate productive conversations between neighbours to deal with difficult situations, before they escalate into intractable disputes.
c. Study how disputes can be better addressed by the inter-agency Community Dispute Management Framework by reviewing the Community Mediation Process and the Community Disputes Resolution Tribunal (CDRT) to enhance their effectiveness when residents turn to these channels.

Currently, NEA has collaborated with the Housing & Development Board (HDB), Health Promotion Board (HPB), Municipal Services Office (MSO), and town councils to develop and issue joint advisories to units where feedback on tobacco smoke have been received. The advisory urges smokers to be considerate to their family members and neighbours, as well as advises them on the smoking cessation helplines available. We will continue to encourage and support ground-up efforts by community organisations and the grassroots.

Living close to one another necessitates good neighbourly behaviour so that we can live together harmoniously. Legislation is not a panacea and we must pursue a community approach. Affected residents are encouraged to resolve their concerns amicably with their neighbours, or seek assistance from a professional mediator from the Community Mediation Centre (CMC). Through joint or private session, trained mediators will facilitate discussions between parties in an effort to reach a mutually acceptable solution. You may call the CMC at 1800 2255 529 or register a case online.

Although the long-term goal is to prohibit smoking at all public places, we need to recognise that smokers also need space to smoke. To reduce the public's exposure to the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been progressively extending the smoking prohibition to more public places where the public are more likely to be exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke such as common areas of residential buildings, sheltered walkways, linkways, overhead bridges, outdoor compounds of hospitals, reservoirs and more than 400 parks.

Since 30 June 2017, NEA has also stopped accepting applications for smoking corners in all retail food establishments. Existing smoking corners will remain until the current licences of the retail food establishments are terminated. Retail food establishments with smoking corners are required to demarcate the smoking corner clearly.

As of 2021, 87 out of the 111 hawker centres in Singapore are smoke-free. For the remaining 24 hawker centres with smoking corners, NEA will continue to engage local stakeholders on the progressive removal of smoking corners when opportune. This phased approach is meant to minimise disruption to existing operations and businesses.

Since January 2019, public areas within the Orchard Road precinct have been designated as a No Smoking Zone (NSZ), and smoking is only allowed in Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs). Premises owners are encouraged within the NSZ to demarcate DSAs and put up directional signage within their premises, if they deem it necessary to facilitate the convenience of smokers among their occupants and visitors.

More information can be found at NEA's website.

Singapore has implemented a Fixed-Price Credit-based (FPCB) tax mechanism where companies will pay the carbon tax by purchasing and surrendering non-tradeable carbon credits representing the equivalent amount of verified emissions generated. These carbon credits can be purchased from the Government at a fixed price.

We recognise that there may be benefits in expanding the mode of carbon tax payment to include international carbon credits and linking our carbon tax framework to other carbon pricing jurisdictions in the longer term. We are studying the feasibility of doing so and how we can leverage robust international market mechanisms to complement our domestic mitigation efforts. The FPCB system provides the flexibility to accommodate international carbon credits and link up with external partners, should we decide to do so in future.

For now, companies may only use fixed-price credits issued by the National Environment Agency (NEA) to meet their carbon tax liability. Nonetheless, the Government is exploring the feasibility of enabling companies to partially offset their carbon tax liability with international carbon credits. We are studying the key design features, potential legislative changes and implementation options, and we will announce our decision in due course.