KUALA LUMPUR – While it was a low-key and subdued affair, the meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Malaysian alumni of his government’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) programme yesterday saw the issue of climate change take centre stage.
There was little room for spontaneity as the line of ten questioners, who were among 19 in-person attendees and 44 online participants, were pre-selected ahead of his arrival at innovation incubator space Me.reka in Publika.
Interestingly, Blinken called on the alumni and their peers elsewhere to hold leaders in every country accountable for their actions that affected the environment.
“Ultimately the decisions we’re making now will affect you more than ever. They affect us because we know the urgency of dealing with climate change,” the 59-year-old US top diplomat told the young crowd.
“We also know that as challenging as things are now, we see these events (climate change) on an almost regular basis, including here in Malaysia.”
Blinken’s remarks came hot on the heels of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, which was held in late October and November this year.
The US lawmaker was asked by a YSEALI alumni member how the US would play a key role in meeting the target to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C as set by the Paris Agreement in 2016, as well as achieving its nationally determined contributions in an equitable manner.
Launched by former US President Barack Obama in 2013, the YSEALI programme educates and provides skills training to young people from the Southeast Asian region.
Currently, the programme – which includes fellowships – has more than 5,000 alumni and another 150,000 who are part of the YSEALI network.
Blinken conceded that the US has historically contributed to the most greenhouse emissions that have been accumulated over time, and this figure currently stands at about 15% of global emissions.
“Even if we did everything right at home, everything, that still doesn’t account for the current 85% of emissions coming from other places,” he said.
“So, we have a stake in making sure that other countries are stepping up, just as they have a stake in making sure that we’re stepping up.”
Optimistically, Blinken noted that 60 countries representing 65% of the world’s GDP had made pledges and commitments at the beginning of COP26, a number that he viewed as significant.
He said by the end of the conference, more than 100 countries had signed up for commitments, including the pledge to curb methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
“And if a couple of big countries that are not yet there, like China, join in… these pledges would be the equivalent – by 2030 in terms of emissions – of taking every airplane out of the skies and every ship off the seas.”
“We have to keep raising our ambitions. And we have an obligation to make sure that countries that need assistance in making the transitions that are necessary – adapting, building resilience, bringing in new technologies et cetera – have the support they need.”
Blinken also said climate change was a subject that was very close to US President Joe Biden, as the country had doubled its commitment to different funds for developing countries to adapt to the climate change policies.
He also pointed to an annual international commitment amounting to US$100 billion (RM423 billion), which was meant for adaptation, coupled with COP26 agreements to go beyond that.
“And we have to speed things up because here’s the final point. Many countries have set goals for 2050. But if we don’t take action now… it will be too late. We won’t be able to achieve the goals we set for 2050.
“If we don’t do what we need to do by 2040 or 2050 when you really fully inherit this Earth, it’ll be too late.” – The Vibes, December 16, 2021
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