Wan Junaidi: Malaysia to ratify Paris climate change agreement

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will ratify the Paris climate change agreement on Nov 4 as it is committed to combating global climate change, says Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pic).

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister announced that he will table the paper to the Cabinet for approval and subsequently deposit the ratification document with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in New York.

"To date, 81 countries have ratified the treaty," he told reporters at Parliament lobby Wednesday.

The Paris Agreement will enter into force on Nov 4, 2016, thirty days after the date on which at least 55 parties to the Convention – accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions – have deposited their ratification documents with the Depositary.

He said ratification was crucial as it would allow Malaysia to participate in the drafting of procedures and models aimed at reducing global carbon emissions.

A total of 197 countries signed the Paris Agreement aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 2030.

Malaysia is the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in Asean, behind Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, contributing to 0.52% of the world's carbon emissions.

Malaysia has pledged to cut its greenhouse emissions by 45% by 2030.

The country has introduced several measures towards this, such as developing new cities to be carbon neutral, giving tax incentives to companies that report and limit their emissions, procuring more environmentally-friendly Government assets and planting 13 million new trees since 2011.

Malaysia aims to cut another 32 million tonnes from its carbon emissions by 2020.