Grace Fu

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment; Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations — Government of Singapore

About Grace Fu

Key facts Role: Minister for Sustainability and the Environment; Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Organisation: Government of Singapore Country: Singapore Sector: Politics & Government (climate and trade) Headline figures: Carbon tax of S$45 a tonne in 2026; Laos deal was Singapore's 12th Article 6 implementation agreement When Prime Minister Lawrence Wong reshuffled his Cabinet in July, Grace Fu kept both of her jobs. She remains Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, according to the Straits Times' guide to the new line-up, which took effect on 27 July. The combination is unusual. Fu speaks for Singapore both on climate policy and on trade diplomacy, and she has spent 2026 bringing the two together through carbon-credit deals, which Singapore uses to meet its climate targets while building a regional carbon-trading market. Carbon-credit deals The latest came on 4 September. Fu signed an implementation agreement with Laos on carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which lets countries trade emissions reductions. It was Singapore's 12th such agreement and its fourth with an ASEAN member state, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said. The agreements set a framework for generating and transferring carbon credits between the two countries. In April she led a ten-day mission to Peru, Paraguay and Chile, with 19 companies across two business missions on carbon credits and agri-food, according to her ministry. There she called on Paraguay's president, Santiago Peña, and hosted networking receptions intended to build "a pipeline of Article 6 carbon credit projects". She also told Peru's foreign minister that Singapore had approved imports of Peruvian processed poultry and pork. "Our business missions to South America reinforce Singapore's position as a strategic global partner in sustainability and trade," she said. The carbon tax On the environment side, her portfolio covers climate policy, and the carbon tax is the central tool. The tax rose to S$45 a tonne in 2026 from S$25 and will stay there in 2027, the Business Times reported. The Prime Minister, who is also finance minister, called it the highest in Asia. In his February Budget speech, Wong said Singapore might need to set the 2030 rate at the lower end of its planned S$50–80 range if global climate momentum keeps weakening. It was the first indication of where the rate might land, and it will shape how Fu's ministry presents decarbonisation to industry. Trade In trade, her role sits within the Ministry of Trade and Industry, which will be renamed the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry on 1 October to reflect a growing focus on energy, the Prime Minister's Office said. In March she attended the World Trade Organization's 14th ministerial conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon. She has also overseen the MERCOSUR–Singapore Free Trade Agreement coming into force for individual South American members during 2026. For a small, trade-dependent economy facing US tariffs and weaker multilateral trade rules, these bilateral and regional agreements are a central part of economic security. “Our business missions to South America reinforce Singapore's position as a strategic global partner in sustainability and trade,” — Fu, on the April business missions to South America Background Fu has been in politics for two decades. She entered politics in 2006 after serving as chief executive of PSA South-east Asia and Japan, and became a full Cabinet minister in 2012, the Straits Times reported. In 2015 she became the first woman to head her own ministry, as Minister for Culture, Community and Youth. She has led environment policy since July 2020 and is an organising secretary of the People's Action Party. What to watch: the first projects under the Laos agreement and further Article 6 deals within ASEAN. Watch also how the renamed energy-and-trade ministry divides responsibilities, and whether the government confirms a lower-end carbon-tax path for 2030. She ranks 49th as a senior minister with a long tenure in two portfolios that shape Singapore's regional role on carbon markets and trade. Key decisions such as the carbon tax rate are set at Cabinet and Budget level, not by her alone. Sources The Straits Times, Changes in Singapore's Cabinet , 22 Jul 2026 Prime Minister's Office, Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments... (Jul 2026) , 22 Jul 2026 Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore and Lao PDR sign Implementation Agreement on carbon credits under Article 6... , 4 Sep 2026 Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Singapore and South America reaffirm bilateral ties... , 22 Apr 2026 Ministry of Trade and Industry, Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu to attend the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference... , 25 Mar 2026 The Business Times, Budget 2026: A lower carbon tax may slow Singapore's decarbonisation , 12 Feb 2026

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks 49th as a senior minister with a long tenure in two portfolios that shape Singapore's regional role on carbon markets and trade. Key decisions such as the carbon tax rate are set at Cabinet and Budget level, not by her alone. On 4 September 2026 she signed Singapore's 12th Article 6 carbon-credit implementation agreement, with Laos.