A coalition of 16 Singaporean non-government organisations (NGOs) has issued an open letter urging the bosses of Singapore’s banks to end funding for coal power projects and to take leadership for sustainable development in Southeast Asia. The letter was sent to the banks on Monday, the same day that Singapore hosted the Special ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Climate Action for government officials. The group, which includes local NGOs such as People’s Movement to Stop Haze (PM Haze), Plastic-Lite Singapore, Foodscape Collective and Climate Conversations, described the recent backing by DBS and OCBC of a 1,200 megawatt coal plant in Vietnam as “disturbing”, undermining Singapore’s commitments to the Paris Agreement. "The last thing we would want to see is our money being used in a way that accelerates climate change, thereby destroying the future of our loved ones.", said Benjamin Tay, President of PM.Haze. The letter comes five months after 14 other international NGOs published a similar open letter urging Singapore banks to ditch coal and follow the lead taken by some European banks such as ING, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and RBS. In response to the NGOs' letter, OCBC pointed to a new climate policy it published a week ago, ruling out financing coal-fired power plants that use low-efficiency technology or low-grade grown coal as the main fuel source. DBS also said that while the bank is committed to the transition to a low-carbon economy, "it would be foolhardy to assume that the transition can happen overnight". UOB echoed DBS' position that while renewables are on the rise, coal will "still play a role in supporting the region's economic development and empowering local communities". They added that UOB now prohibits the financing of new subcritical coal-fired power plant projects, only supporting power plants with a maximum carbon intensity 830g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour.

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