PETALING JAYA: More forest protection, faster green energy adoption, and collective public action – these are the baseline ways to keep carbon emissions under control, say environmental experts.
Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka) president Rajesh Nagarajan said the government should impose a moratorium on the degazettement of permanent forest reserves so that states are not driven to log their forests for revenue.
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“Every forest reserve that is degazetted releases carbon and destroys our capacity to absorb it, while heating our cities and dispossessing indigenous communities,” he said.
“There should also be statutory recognition of Orang Asli customary territories, whose stewardship has protected our forests for generations,” said Rajesh, who is an environmental lawyer.
He was asked to comment on Malaysia’s carbon dioxide emissions per capita at 8.16 tonnes – the third highest in Asean after Brunei and Singapore.
Rajesh also urged that the energy transition be sped up.
“The commitment to phase out coal by 2044, with half the plants retired by 2035, should be brought forward, and the pledge of no new coal plants should be honoured without exception,” he added.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia president Meena Raman said forests play an important role in climate change mitigation, and their conservation should be prioritised.
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“For Malaysia, our report to the United Nations showed that the land use, land-use change and forestry sector played a role in removing about 65% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019,” she said.
Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) environmental governance research officer Nabila Zulkeflee said the average daily temperature in Malaysia is expected to rise by 0.9°C to 1.6°C from 2040 to 2060.
This depends on our future greenhouse gas emissions, based on reports by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
“If emissions continue to rise among the hard-to-abate industries (like power, iron and steel industries), Malaysia is likely to experience a further temperature increase.
“The effects are already being felt through prolonged heat waves, hotter average temperatures, more intense rainfall, and increased flood risks,” she said.
The C4 has called on the government to make it mandatory in the Climate Change Bill for all emitters across types of corporations to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
