Singapore’s carbon tax has almost doubled to $45 per tonne in 2026, and the signal to business is clear: carbon is now a cost that will keep compounding.

The Straits Times focused on the household impact (about $3/month for a typical four-room flat, excluding GST, assuming other tariff drivers stay constant). But for businesses, the bigger story is not the household number—it’s what it implies for operating costs, supply chain pricing, and competitiveness as carbon prices rise.

What actually changed in 2026 (and why businesses should care)

A few datapoints from the article that matter for corporate planning:

• The carbon tax moved from $25/tonne in 2024–2025 to $45/tonne in 2026, and will stay at $45 until 2027, with a stated intent to reach $50–$80/tonne by 2030.
• Some near-term relief can happen (this quarter, residential electricity tariffs were reported to decrease by 0.84 cent/kWh and gas tariffs fall by 0.67 cent/kWh from Jan–Mar), but that’s driven by energy/fuel costs—not a reversal of the carbon price trend.
• Singapore has about 50 carbon tax-paying facilities, mainly in manufacturing, power, waste and water—accounting for about 70% of national emissions.
• The Government provides allowances (“carbon tax relief”) to some trade-exposed sectors, and plans to publish aggregated allowance data in 2027.
• Firms can offset up to 5% of emissions with carbon credits, but (as of the article) none of the carbon tax-paying facilities had done so.

For business leaders, this adds up to one message: carbon exposure won’t just show up in your carbon tax bill (if you pay it). It will show up in your electricity costs, your suppliers’ pricing, and—soon enough—your access to capital.

The carbon tax isn’t the problem. The lack of visibility is.

Carbon pricing is doing what it’s designed to do: put a real price on pollution.
The businesses that get caught out aren’t necessarily the biggest emitters—they’re the ones that can’t answer, quickly and credibly:

• Where are emissions coming from (site/process level, not annual averages)?
• Which interventions reduce exposure without disrupting production?
• Can we prove outcomes in a way stakeholders and financiers will accept?

This is exactly why Evercomm’s operational approach starts with three questions: how much you consume, how much you need, and how much you waste—so decisions move from guesswork to evidence.

A practical 3-step playbook: Measure → Plan → Prove

1) Measure: build a baseline you can defend

If you can’t measure reliably, you can’t manage exposure.

Evercomm’s Energy Management System (EMS) uses IoT and machine learning to simplify energy management, with real-time tracking of energy/operational efficiency and dashboards that link usage to cost.

2) Plan: test pathways before you spend CAPEX

As carbon prices rise toward 2030, “we’ll do efficiency” isn’t a roadmap.

Evercomm’s PATHMATCH platform is powered by an AI simulation engine built on thermodynamics modelling, designed to generate scientifically calibrated forecasts and tailored decarbonisation roadmaps. It was developed over years with an R&D investment of SGD $18.7 million.

3) Prove: make it finance-ready (because finance is moving fast)

The article highlights allowances, offsets, and planned disclosure—signals that carbon policy is maturing.
In parallel, banks are under pressure to manage Scope 3 financed emissions and comply with standards such as PCAF and IFRS S2.

PATHMATCH is designed to help financial institutions assess decarbonisation impact and automate parts of financed-emissions work—saving up to 1,500 hours/year in manual effort (as referenced in Evercomm materials).

Why this matters now: carbon cost is becoming a leadership KPI

Evercomm’s brand narrative is clear: help organisations know their carbon emission state with actionable data, within global ISO frameworks, so efforts are recognised—and translate into “real change” and “real benefits.”

With carbon tax moving from $25 to $45—and with a stated trajectory toward $50–$80—leaders can’t afford to wait for the cost to “show up” before acting.

What to do this quarter (Executive Checklist)

1. Baseline: Do we have a trusted emissions + energy baseline we can stand behind?
2. Granularity: Can we pinpoint what we consume / need / waste by site/process?
3. Roadmap: Have we scenario-tested pathways before committing CAPEX?
4. Credibility: Are methods aligned to recognised standards (GHG Protocol / ISO 14064), and verification-ready (e.g., Bureau Veritas)?

Carbon tax is rising again. The organisations that win won’t be the ones that “absorb” the increase. They’ll be the ones that measure precisely, plan intelligently, and prove credibly—so carbon becomes a managed variable, not a recurring shock.

If you want to quantify exposure and prioritise the highest-impact moves first, Talk to Evercomm about building a trusted baseline and a finance-ready decarbonisation roadmap.