KUALA LUMPUR – The government sees no need for the country to declare a climate emergency to counter global warming, and believes existing initiatives being taken are already sufficient.
Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, however, said Putrajaya will closely monitor all existing mitigation programmes and activities to ensure there is no sudden increase in temperature in the country.
Responding to questions from Nor Azrina Surip (Merbok-PH), Tuan Ibrahim also said that by declaring a climate emergency it would appear as though Malaysia has failed to take the necessary measures to address the issue.
“To declare an emergency, we need to fulfil certain criteria. First, we have to identify what are the climate change mitigation plans that we have taken that are considered insufficient, to a point we need to have a climate emergency.
“Second, once declaring an emergency, what are the drastic measures that they have to take? It’s as though we have failed to achieve our targets,” he said during Ministers’ Question Time.
According to the minister, Malaysia has already committed to reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity by 45% by 2030, and to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
He said among the initiatives taken to achieve this objective are the implementation of a carbon pricing policy in phases; targeting renewable energy capacity of 31% by 2025 and 40% by 2035; and to ensure all government vehicles do not use internal combustion engines by 2030.
Additionally, Tuan Ibrahim said Malaysia aims to ensure that forest cover continues to be over 50% of the country’s overall land size, while the government also targets the planting of 100 million trees between 2021 and 2025.
On a separate question highlighting the government’s failure to address rampant flooding, Tuan Ibrahim said his ministry already has long- and short-term plans to improve its flood management system. – The Vibes, August 4, 2022
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