Urgent need to place equal emphasis on environment and economy

Cars trapped in floodwaters in the vicinity of Jalan Kia Peng near the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on March 7, 2022. — Bernama

WITH the December 2021 floods on Peninsular Malaysia, and again on March 7, 2022, when Kuala Lumpur suffered more flash floods, Mother Nature issued yet another reminder to us about the urgency of preserving our environment, keeping our cities clean and reducing carbon emissions.

First of all, make no mistake, floods are not a singular act of God. Instead, climate scientists say severe floods in general, like other extreme weather events, are increasingly a result of human-caused global warming and ensuing rising sea levels.

Secondly, we can only expect natural disasters to become more frequent and deadlier with accelerating climate change, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change began warning us years ago. For Malaysia, this means dealing with recurring floods, landslides, droughts, tsunamis and the like, on a grander scale.

Indeed, at the global level, it will take the effort of all countries if we are to halt and reverse climate change. Similarly, for our country, we need a “whole of government” approach that brings all government agencies to the same working table if we are serious about upholding environmental conservation.

At present, there is no central agency that actively coordinates the environmental sustainability efforts of all ministries and state governments. The burden of ensuring sustainable development throughout the nation currently falls on the shoulders of the Department of Environment (DOE), which is under the Environment and Water Ministry. It’s a small department with limited powers. Undoubtedly, this is a tall order and too much to ask of any single government department. Even more so since no one ministry can coordinate the work of another, unless it’s a central agency like the Economic Planning Unit (EPU).

Herein precisely lies the problem and potentially the solution. Our single pursuit of economic growth has led to significant environmental degradation that has boomeranged to hit us in the form of unmitigated natural disasters. Therefore, besides economic planning, the EPU, which comes under the Prime Minister’s Department, should also henceforth coordinate environmental preservation to achieve the ultimate goal of national sustainable development.

The time has come to mainstream sustainable development through national coordination. For this to happen, economic and environmental concerns have to be evaluated more rigorously, together in concert.

At the federal level, the EPU can coordinate and unlock the synergies from the collaboration of ministries and departments. While at the state level, the EPU can liaise with the respective state economic planning units, especially on environmentally-sensitive economic activities. These include logging, mining, development of forest and river reserves, river-polluting industrial and agricultural activities, poor farming practices, overfishing, the list goes on.

With active federal involvement and consultation, we can expect stronger natural environment protection than the status quo, especially for our water catchment areas, highlands, river reserves, and natural forests.

Undeniably, when it comes to land use for economic activities, land is a state matter. But for Peninsular Malaysia, the Federal Government coordinates land development through the Department of the Director-General of Lands and Mines under the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry. It is important to note that Lands and Mines has more powers and enforcement officers than the DOE. Until recently, these two agencies have always been under the same ministry for the synergies in environmental protection.

With these two entities now separated, there is a greater need for coordination of environmental preservation. As this effort cuts across various ministries, a whole of government approach can begin to solve economic-environmental issues concurrently (not consecutively).

Critical government agencies from other ministries could join the war room. These include the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation and the Public Works Department, among many others. To effectively lead the war room, a higher authority than any single ministry will be key, much like the EPU.

With the EPU coordinating both environmental and economic development, especially involving huge land areas, we can expect Environmental Impact Assessments to be taken more seriously. One-stop centres for land development will be more holistic, involving multidisciplinary input, prioritising ecofriendly, low-carbon-footprint and non-flood exacerbating projects. Expect rigorous ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) tracking from each ministry regulating their area of responsibility from the likes of the International Trade and Industry Ministry (industries), Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (agriculture) and Energy and Natural Resources Ministry (mining).

Before any approval, the true economic benefits and environmental costs will be weighed and measured more fervently. Sure, you can argue longer lead times in investment approvals will make us less competitive. But can the promise of more jobs and higher incomes justify the lives and properties lost from disasters resulting from our neglect of the environment?

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has said that the government is looking for a comprehensive long-term solution to floods. Besides the obvious need for better disaster response, sustainable development will be crucial in preventing or reducing future billion-ringgit disasters.

With estimated losses from the December floods standing at RM6.5bil, human-induced natural disasters are a colossal economic problem and, rightly, should be addressed in sync with economic planning. The responsibility of coordinating national sustainable development should be elevated to the EPU as an economic central agency leaving the DOE to focus its function better as an operating agency.

The outdated focus on the economy alone no longer deserves the single spot at the top of the priority pyramid. To plan our future better, equal emphasis has to be placed on both the environment and the economy. To ensure the sustainability of economic development, economic benefits and their costs to the environment must be evaluated more systematically. Redesigning the EPU as the Environmental and Economic Planning Unit may fulfil this function.

Forget rebranding, instead, focus on the urgent task at hand. The E in EPU should rightly be empowered to represent both the environment and the economy.

MUHAMMAD AMMIR HARON

Petaling Jaya

The letter writer is a serving civil servant.