Secteurs & marchés

Singapore to invest €27 million to bridge the gap between green research and the market

Photo : GAVIN FOO

Source : “Shabana Begum, 05/02/2026, The Straight Times”

On 5 February 2026, Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat announced a S$27 million fund at the Urban Solutions Congress to translate urban sustainability research into commercial deployment, bridging lab-to-market gaps in agri-food, waste, water, and urban environments.

The fund targets 20 projects over five years with prototypes facing technical, regulatory or commercial hurdles, prioritising national needs like advanced water treatment and tunnel collapse monitoring. Managed by the Office of Innovation and Enterprise (under MND/MSE), it builds on RIE 2030's S$25B plan, following RIE 2025 successes such as carbon-capturing concrete.

Chee highlighted NTU Entropy Lab's PasteCool paint, which cools buildings by 5°C (vs. 2°C for rivals) via evaporation, but needs faster certification despite safety. He called for agile regulations to enable breakthroughs.

A S$20M AI Centre of Excellence at SUTD will tackle construction labour shortages and boost energy efficiency using autonomous machines and data analytics, as over half of HDB estates hit 50+ years by 2040. Separately, BCA's 6 February roadmap outlines 70 measures to cut building emissions (over 20% of Singapore's total), including CO₂-absorbing paints, climate-adaptive coatings (24-27°C), solar panels, and micro wind turbines for operations and construction.