Ambitious targets needed to fight climate change — SEB chief exec
KUCHING: More ambitious targets are necessary to accelerate and achieve a just energy transition in combating climate change with immediate action being even more crucial, especially for the private sector, said Datu Sharbini Suhaili.
Speaking at a side event organised at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) pavilion at the recent 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, the Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) group chief executive officer also reminded the audience which included virtual participants that renewable hydropower was the ‘forgotten giant of lowcarbon electricity’ in the energy transition.
“We (Sarawak Energy) are fortunate that the Sarawak government has been very committed towards realising a more sustainable and inclusive transition for everybody. In fact, the Sarawak government’s vision of leveraging and harnessing our hydropower potential in the 1980s has allowed us to transition our generation mix from 92 per cent fossil fuel in 2010 to more than 60 per cent renewable hydropower in 2014,” he said in a statement issued by the SEB.
Sharbini believed that for companies to develop and implement better strategies and plans for lower carbon operations and more meaningful action, bolder government policies and frameworks would provide the enablers and impetus for the private sector to deliver the energy transition targets, saying it is time for urgent actions and not setting more targets and longer debates.
“The private sector has a much bigger role to play in energy transition and we need to have stronger corporate commitment in the region. Sarawak Energy was the first corporate body in Malaysia to commit to the 1.5C pledge.
“We have already achieved the Paris Target of 2°C on grid emission intensity and we are trying to lower this further to 1.5°C by 2030. That shows how we can do more with great support from policy makers and the collaboration we have with other industries,” said Sharbini.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), at least 850,000 MW of new hydropower capacity is needed by 2050 to limit global temperature increase to below 2°C below pre-industrial level and over 1,300,000MW (1,300GW) to keep it below 1.5 degrees.
“Given hydropower’s capability of producing low-carbon electricity and its flexibility to allow for the integration of more intermittent wind and solar power, there needs to be a holistic policy and investment push to accelerate hydropower’s growth regionally and globally.
“With Asean’s hydropower potential, we can achieve our climate ambition and common prosperity at regional level,” he added.
Sharbini was a panellist on the ‘Decarbonising the Asean Way – Harnessing the Collective Actions of Asean Private Sectors’ session.
Ahead of his attendance at COP27, Sharbini was invited to the Global Business Leaders Event held on Nov 4 in London to mark the conclusion of the United Kingdom’s COP26 presidency, hosted by COP26 president rt hon Alok Sharma. Present were British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US Climate Envoy John Kerry.