According to a recent study, Singapore is ranked the worst for its environmental impact on a per capita basis. Published at PLos One, the research studies 228 countries based on ‘natural forest loss, habitat conversion, marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions and species threat’.
Amongst 179 countries, Singapore was ranked having the greatest environmental impact ‘proportional to total resource availability per country’ outstripping countries such as Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands.
This survey also does not appear to support the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. The curve stems from the belief that as a country becomes more wealthy per capita, its population would also become more environmentally conscious.
Given that Singapore is ranked the worst on a per capita basis, there are major implications for environmental activists. At the very least, this means a need to increase public awareness on their environmental impact. It also requires efforts to demystify the notion that the Singapore authorities have always been efficient and effective in this area of governance.
