There's much to like in the inter-ministerial Green Plan unveiled earlier this month. The Singapore Green Plan 2030, to give it its full name, is to be praised for what it sets out to do, despite the pressures on the Budget to contain, manage and recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indeed, as economists like to say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And so the Singapore Green Plan 2030 will entail massive expenditure while also accepting trade-offs such as forgone development opportunities where there is a preference for conservation.