VULNERABLE communities directly impacted by economic policies decided in the corridors of power at global and regional levels are trying to make their voices heard at the ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic (Apec) summit in San Francisco.
Among the many who have gathered in the city are Malaysian indigenous rights activist Adrian Banie Lasimbang.
When met by The Vibes, he lamented that grassroots communities are barely represented even though they are the ones who suffer first and are impacted most due to industrial contamination and climate change.
“But in recent years, more and more voices are coming out to have a space on the (Apec) table.
“Apec has always been exclusive. Here, influential leaders, top CEOs are making decisions that affect the lives of millions of these people,” he said.
The governments also have their own agendas, signing treaties here and there, without even knowing what is really happening on the ground.”
Lasimbang was a participant of the Apec Multi-stakeholder Forum held on the sidelines of the summit between November 10 and November 13.
He was representing his social enterprise, Tonibung, and also the Right Energy Partnership.
Lasimbang was sharing his comments when met yesterday near the Moscone Centre in San Francisco where the Apec leaders’ meeting and several other summit events are held this week.
He said that the forum addressed community-level interventions that are needed to deal with the global shift towards net-zero economies, which is among the key issues at the summit.
Cost of going net-zero
The forum was positioned with the expressed hope that the participants’ views and solutions would be taken seriously at Apec, providing the “voice of conscience” to the member nations and their leaders.
“Apec accounts for 60% of the world economy and therefore also the biggest polluter of the world.
“Countries such as the United States, Canada and Indonesia, for instance, could easily be attributed to over half of the global carbon emissions.
“This gives prominence for a just energy transition. Renewable energy is at the core of this transition,” said Lasimbang.
He explained that the global shift towards having net-zero or carbon-neutral economies – where there are no excessive greenhouse gases – is also coming at a cost.
For instance, the silica sand mining operations in Kudat to manufacture solar panels in Sabah is one of the few problems arising in the shift towards just energy transition on renewable energy, he said.
Lasimbang added that the push into renewable energy has resulted in lands in Sabah alienated for the purpose, and, in the process, denying indigenous communities in Sabah their customary rights.
“While this is good for the Sabah economy, the mining process may be done through processes such as land grab.
“We have experienced this during the palm oil boom before, and now solar is being the most lucrative,” he said.
Ruining Sabah for profits
Lasimbang believed the land grab problem comes following Sabah’s poor environmental laws and its implementation, allowing individuals and companies to navigate into the loopholes to earn easy profits.
As a result, any company can run down Sabah for profits, aside from the corruption this process may involve,” he said.
Lasimbang also cited the recent abuse of power allegations directed at Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor as a possibility.
The Apec Multi-stakeholder Forum convened with more than 150 representatives from sustainable businesses, private organisations, including charities and indigenous groups, as well as youth and women's groups across APEC economies.
This forum, held in San Francisco until Monday, focused on diverse topics such as community-level initiatives, the transitional experiences of indigenous communities, the perspectives of youth, public-private partnerships, and inclusive, innovative low-carbon solutions.
Their agenda centred on community-level interventions, the forum aimed to address the needs of vulnerable communities during the global transition toward net-zero economies. – The Vibes, November 15, 2023
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