Problem that needs to be attended to urgently

THE Sunday Star editorial yesterday, “Climate change – it’s time we changed, too”, is a good and necessary wake-up call. As Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin put it: Two years after Malaysia signed the Paris Agreement, nothing much has been done by us.

A Merdeka Centre 2016 survey found that only 32% of Malaysians were concerned about climate change. This is worrying because the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear that climate change is already happening, with the world experienc- ing more devastating hurricanes and typhoons and record droughts due to rising sea levels and temperatures. The dire outcome of not dealing with climate change in Malaysia includes floods, less food, and water shortages. Selangor’s six million residents, for instance, can expect to experience more frequent water shortages and drier dams.

It’s time Malaysia strived to adapt to a phenomenon that will only worsen. If no concrete mitigation and adaptation plans are implemented (there is not even a proper carbon accounting plan for industry and business) soon, even our basic food security will be affected, as unpredictable weather will see a 10% to 15% drop in our annual agricultural yields.

True, Malaysia can’t tackle this problem on its own; so we must be proactive with other governments worldwide to confront this pressing man-made environmental issue. Economic growth must not come at the expense of uncontrolled climate change.

As Bill Gates warned, climate change is a terrible, huge priority problem that absolutely needs to be solved, especially for our next generation.