Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday called for renewed efforts to forge a global agreement on the climate change issue in the coming months.

He said in his annual New Year message that mankind needs to reduce carbon emissions and slow down global warming.

"At the Copenhagen meeting, countries missed the chance to make significant progress towards a global agreement. But we expect renewed efforts to forge such agreement in the coming months, based on the Copenhagen Accord." Lee said.

He said that Singapore must shoulder its share of this global effort. The country has committed to cut its carbon emissions by 16 percent below business as usual (BAU) levels by 2020, provided there is a global agreement.

Lee added that the Singapore government will implement comprehensive policies, including regulations, price signals and fiscal incentives, to curb emissions.

(Xinhua News Agency January 1, 2010)