Make environment a priority

IT IS heartening to know that 69% of voters consider environmental protection to be one of the factors that will influence the way they will vote.

Having read the manifestos of both political coalitions, I am of the opinion that more specific, effective and convincing pledges need to be made. The actions of legislators and decision-makers are often inconsistent with their pledges. Some inconsistencies are pointed out below:

Climate mitigation Both coalitions pledge to reduce carbon emissions by using cleaner diesel and petrol and increasing the development and use of renewable energy.

Yet Barisan Nasional’s pledges to accelerate the growth of the oil and gas industries, its Forest Economy Policy which focus is on income generation and not conservation and its proposals to build more roads effectively efface any good that its plans to introduce electric buses, switch to LED lights and create urban parks and recreational areas.

Pakatan Harapan has pledged to promote the development and use of green technology and renewable energy and halt BN’s plans to build a nuclear power plant, but at the same time plans to reintroduce petroleum subsidies and build more roads.

Both coalitions should focus on policies to reduce reliance on private vehicle ownership and driving, by establishing reliable and affordable non-fossil fuel powered public transport systems, creating incentives for telecommuting and upgrading road and rail infrastructure instead of opening up more land for roads and highways.

Deforestation Both coalitions pledge to curtail illegal logging and manage forests and forest resources sustainably, despite their history of doing the opposite. BN had authorised logging and forest clearing in Ulu Muda, Merapoh and Terenggun, among others, despite knowing the importance of the ecosystem services provided by forests.

PH in its previous election manifesto had pledged to gazette and conserve forests and halt illegal logging, but went on to degazette parts of the Selangor State Park for the East Klang Valley Expressway. This action makes voters wary of their lofty promises to halt deforestation.

Both coalitions pledged to preserve biodiversity and wildlife populations, yet under their watch, the construction of yet more highways has opened up access to wildlife for poachers and wildlife traffickers, and caused an alarming increase in wildlife roadkill.

The rakyat needs to witness sincerity on the part of the political leaders in protecting forests, water catchment areas and environmentally sensitive areas. No amount of planting trees in urban parks can reverse the adverse impact of rampant deforestation, fragmentation of wildlife habitats and the opening up of more land.

Both coalitions promised to improve solid waste collection services and ease of recycling. Yet BN proposed to reverse the ban on free plastic bags in Pakatan states, and has allowed the plastics manufacturing industry to be a powerful lobby. In Pakatan states, the ban on free plastic bags has normalised waste reduction practices and encouraged consumer environmental responsibility, but the replacement of styrofoam food packaging with packaging that are neither biodegradable nor collected for recycling has cancelled some of the benefits of the plastic bag and styrofoam ban.

According to a 2015 study published in Science journal, Malaysia is among the top eight highest-offending ocean plastic polluters in the world. Malaysia is one of the 200 countries which signed the December 2017 UN resolution on microplastics and marine litter, but has not been seen to do anything constructive to reduce plastics production, consumption and disposal, although Selangor has been cleaning up its beaches, which, while commendable, constitutes a treatment of the symptoms and not the cause.

Both coalitions need to create incentives for waste reduction and alternatives to plastics and other harmful and wasteful materials and industries. The environment cannot wait. Already human and animal health and food security have been adversely affected by plastics pollution and poor waste management.

Voters are better informed, and will not stand for tokenism. It cannot be the job of concerned citizens, non-governmental organisations and volunteers alone to protect and speak up for Malaysia’s natural environment and resources. Malaysia stands to gain more economic benefits and ecosystem services from keeping its forests, mangroves and other environmentally-sensitive areas intact and biologically diverse, than from issuing permits for logging, mining and building roads. The time to act is now. Conservation should be each coalition’s main consideration in all policies and decisions, and not an afterthought.

Wong Ee Lynn Coordinator Green Living Special Interest Group Malaysian Nature Society