DECELERATE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
Galvanise global concern to compel recalcitrant nations into urgent action
GLOBAL warming is palpable. The world is experiencing extreme weather patterns. And littoral states face an existential crisis.
Unchecked, temperatures will rise by 5°C by the end of this century. So, at the recent Glasgow COP26 summit, the world renewed its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement to cap global warming at 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, above the pre-industrial level. Malaysia committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.
The government has started to act. The long-term low-emission strategy would be finalised next year. Solar panels, wind energy and even nuclear energy must figure prominently as strategies to slow down climate change.
More needs to be done. We need to reduce our fuel subsidies and tax its profligate consumption. Next year, a voluntary carbon market will be established for carbon-credit trading. Although mandatory carbon pricing may take years before its salutary effect on the environment can be felt, the time is ripe to make the carbon market mandatory with pre-determined carbon prices.
As China and the West seek to temper public anger over environmental pollution by developing green lungs, Malaysia, too, should seek to conserve forest reserves. Every state should have a forest-stewardship council. There is an added justification for forest preservation. Malaysia’s 2020 biennial update report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change highlights the capacity of our trees to absorb carbon four times faster than forests in Indonesia.
The smog strangling China’s and India’s cities are partly due to the burning of coal — the most polluting of fossil fuels. Unlike China, which goes on building more, Malaysia has committed to no new coal-fired plants. Notwithstanding, we should wean ourselves off over-reliance on coal-fired plants that now generate 40 per cent of our electricity.
As do rich countries, we need to use our natural gas to generate electricity rather than export them. Natural gas releases about three times less carbon dioxide per unit of electricity generated than coal. As such, our coal-fired plants could be converted to firing natural gas. It will also reduce our import bill for coal, almost all of which are imported.
We must foster public debate on renewable energy. Sadly, the mass media have gone into a lull on global warming in the aftermath of the Glasgow Summit.
Businesses, too, play an important role in alleviating global warming. Under the 2022 Budget, Bank Negara Malaysia will create a RM1 billion low-carbon facility to help small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) adopt lowcarbon practices.
This should be impactful given that SMEs comprise 97 per cent of all business establishments. Each should have a handsome RM870 million to draw on to finance its efforts to go green.
Big companies, such as the Employees Provident Fund, have crafted policies towards a greener economy. As a long-term initiative, they should be mandated to formulate specific climatechange policies. This could even include carbon capture and storage in disused oil fields.
Singapore aims to phase out diesel and petrol vehicles by 2040. We, too, should do likewise. The purchase of electric vehicles should be incentivised through the shift of subsidies from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. Having easy access to charging ports will be an added advantage to nudge this transition.
We cannot underestimate the importance of institutional arrangements to achieve low-carbon emissions. The recently instituted Malaysia climate change action council should develop a low-emission action plan with targets and timelines to achieve the commitments that the prime minister made at the Glasgow Summit.
And every state should have a climate-change committee and a nature conservation plan. All levels of government must work together to stop environmental destruction.
We cannot do it on our own steam. Malaysia should galvanise the widespread international concern to compel recalcitrant nations into action. It is difficult to set aside money for tougher green policies when the economy is just emerging out of the woods.
But, future generations will thank us for it. An oft-quoted statement of the influential environmental activist, Wendell Berry, is: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”