Where's the climate plan, Malaysia?

Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, was among the hardest hit areas during the floods disaster in December 2021, with people trapped on upper floors and roofs of houses where floodwaters rose up to the first floor. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

Floating furniture, houses submerged to their roofs, cars under water and reptiles swimming in kitchens: these were some shocking scenes from the recent floods in Malaysia, which killed 54 people (as at Jan 5, 2022, according to the police) and affected 125,000 at the end of December 2021.

Such extreme weather events now happen far more frequently. In 2021, there were megafloods in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New York, South Sudan and Turkey. In China’s Henan province, a year’s worth of rain fell in just three days in July 2021, killing 300 people. Also in 2021 there was a megaheatwave that melted power lines on the American West Coast and a megadrought in Chile.

“Extreme weather events used to cover only 0.1% of our Earth’s total surface but that number has risen to 14.1% over the last decade. The likelihood of such extreme weather events happening is increasing,” says Malaysian climate change expert Dr Renard Siew.

Sounds apocalyptic? Welcome to climate change.

Last April, our Environment and Water Minister said Malaysia was not “climate vulnerable”. Well, the recent floods showed just how vulnerable we are.

Warmer temperatures cause more heatwaves and droughts, but also more rainfall in localised areas, as the atmosphere holds more moisture (about 7% more moisture for every 1°C rise). Since the 1980s, Malaysia has had more days with extreme rainfall. In the last three decades, there has been a 35% increase in extreme rainfall in Kuala Lumpur.

Aside from the changing climate, we are developing in a way that exacerbates flooding. A key factor is the loss of forest cover in recent decades. Urbanisation brings hard surfaces such as concrete or roads, and thus more surface water runoff. By contrast, forests absorb, store and release water like a sponge, helping to control the water cycle. They also prevent soil erosion.

Clearly, preserving our forests – which also addresses climate change – is imperative.

“This shouldn’t even be a question; yet this year we have seen controversies surfacing surrounding the Hulu Langat North Forest Reserve [in Selangor],” says Siew. “If anything we should be doubling our efforts in reforestation.”

The public get this: an online petition to stop logging to protect against flooding garnered 200,000 signatures in the first week of January 2022. There have also been calls to investigate illegal logging in Pahang, a state hit severely by flooding.

Currently, it is far too easy to degazette protected forest areas. Even water catchment areas, which should be considered hallowed ground, are under threat, subject to the whims of state governments.

“They can immediately degazette a forest because they want the timber or to start mining or for urbanisation. There is no proper due diligence,” explains Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar, chairperson of Klima Action Malaysia (Kamy).

Water catchment areas are vital to keep the water table in the ground stable. “When they are gone, water doesn’t get absorbed,” she says. Any buildings in these areas would be highly prone to floods.

Other exacerbating factors are poor town planning and drainage, Ili Nadiah says. “We need to build urban areas with a climate proofing lens. We need strong mitigation against intense rainfall.” One area hit badly by floods was Klang; the local MP had previously asked for funds to improve drainage.

A core issue here is good governance – or the lack of it. In a statement, the Malaysian Bar called for urgently strengthening “legal accountability” to address the “weaknesses and gaps in our systems of governance” and for comprehensive environmental legislation.

The Climate Emergency Coalition of Malaysia (GDIMY by its Malay acronym) has called for a special commission – led by independent scientists and local experts – to investigate the floods disaster and for a robust national climate adaptation plan.

Climate adaptation – actions to reduce the negative impacts of climate change – has barely begun in Malaysia, with piecemeal, uncoordinated efforts. (For that matter, we’re still grappling with climate change mitigation – that is, reducing carbon emissions – with coal, a prime polluter, constituting a whopping 60% of the Malaysian energy mix in 2021.)

Malaysia recently requested US$3mil (RM12.6mil) from the United Nations Green Climate Fund to develop a national climate adaptation plan. Great.

But making that plan a reality and putting it in place will be tough, says Ili Nadiah. “We don’t have a proper roadmap or targets, or even an overarching idea of what adaptation means. How to implement this? A lot of capacity building is needed.”

Adaptation is also extremely expensive, thus the focus on international funding and the discussions on historical emissions.

She adds that the national fiscal space is shrinking, in part due to mismanagement of resources and corruption, highlighting the need to plan how we manage our resources. But the biggest challenges come back to political will and good governance, she says, adding the Climate Change Act needs to be expedited.

“We need to have accountability and enforcement. Polluters have to pay up. Otherwise, anyone can do anything,” she says.

Profit has long been driving Malaysia’s development. We need to realise that if we don’t prioritise people and the environment, there is a very high price to pay.

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Human Writes columnist Mangai Balasegaram writes mostly on health but also delves into anything on being human. She has worked with international public health bodies and has a Masters in public health. Write to her at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.