Achieving those global green targets with local and regional actions

Planetary boundaries define the safe operating space for humanity, establishing critical thresholds in climate change, biodiversity loss, and freshwater use. The science behind planetary boundaries underscores the interconnectedness of Earth’s systems and the delicate balance required to maintain them. — Image: 123rf/Nasa

YOU’RE going to read a fair bit from me over the next few months about Asean – and the fact that Malaysia assumes the chair in 2025. As one of the region’s most developed nations, our once-in-a-decade opportunity to lead Asean should be something we invest significant political and human capital in.

Since we last chaired in 2015, the Paris Climate Change Agreement was concluded, humanity has been through a challenging pandemic, and the global order has suffered considerable challenges. We have released 360 gigatonnes (that’s 360,000,000,000 tonnes) of CO2 into the atmosphere.