Challenges Arising From Climate Change

There are enough scientific evidences to show that climate change is real and its impact is going to affect all of us. It has also been proven that this phenomenon is attributed mainly to the significant increase in greenhouse gases emission especially carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, thereby causing unprecedented increase in global temperatures. According to scientists and experts increasing global temperatures can cause rise in sea levels, melting of glaciers, more intense storms and droughts. Already, there are signs of these occurrences in many parts of the world posing serious threats to humanity.

One could just imagine the disastrous consequences for mankind this climate change phenomenon is going to bring about if we do not take the necessary measures to overcome it. The global ecosystems, water resources and agricultural production could be severely disrupted and drastic changes to the weather coupled with high rainfall and temperatures can trigger the spread of diseases and affect our health. Scientists believe that the catastrophic events in recent times such as the Hurricane Katrina, cyclone Nargis, Sichuan Province earthquake, the Australian bushfire and Johor floods were all caused by global warming and climate change. And we also witnessed the emergence of the world’s first climate change refugees involving 1,500 residents living in the Carteret Island in Papua New Guinea which is experiencing sea level rise of 10 cm in the past 20 years. Experts predict by 2080s, between 50 million and 200 million people will be displaced from their homes directly because of climate change.

Recognising the threats of climate change to the future of mankind and survival of this planet, the global community through various international conferences and convention reached a consensus that there must be commitments and targets to reduce greenhouse gases emissions as well as address other issues related to climate change. The most well known is the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 whereby developed countries agreed to reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 5% compared to the year 1990 with each country’s emissions target to be achieved by the period 2008-2012. Then we gathered at Bali in December 2007 and adopted the Bali Roadmap including the Bali Action Plan which involves negotiations aimed at agreeing to a new set of emissions targets to replace those in the Kyoto Protocol and acknowledged that “deep cuts in global emissions will be required to achieve the ultimate objective" of avoiding dangerous climate change. The Bali event was followed by the Poznan conference in December last year to once again reiterate the need and urgency to take concrete measures including providing sufficient funds to vulnerable poor and developing countries to tackle the climate change issue.

Unfortunately critics have dismissed these conventions and conferences as mere rhetoric and a waste of time. Is there truth in these allegations or is there still hope in the forthcoming Copenhagen meeting in December this year? It is disheartening to note that the much talked about Poznan conference last year failed to live up to our expectations. We went to Poznan with the hope that the developed countries will take ownership and spearhead global efforts to combat the issue of climate change. But the results of the Conference were rather disappointing. Not only did we fail to get the developed countries to fulfil their commitments to deeper emission cuts but they also were also not willing to provide the necessary funds to developing and vulnerable countries to finance concrete projects and programmes aimed at adapting to climate change.

If this stalemate continues, I am afraid nothing much can be achieved at Copenhagen in December this year. Are we going to repeat the rhetoric of Bali and Poznan in Copenhagen? Will the developed countries sincerely take the lead in resolving the many contentious issues that hinder the achievement of the goals and targets of Kyoto, Bali and Poznan? Are we practicing what we have been preaching especially principles such as common but differentiated responsibilities as agreed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the polluter pays principle? Will the developing and poor countries ever get the required level of support in terms of finance, technology and capacity building from the developed countries to help them in the global climate change agenda? These are the fundamental issues we need to address first if we are to have a meaningful and fruitful meeting in Copenhagen. Let us not fail by default or it will be too late to save the one and only planet for mankind.

Notwithstanding the above contentious issues, Malaysia has and will continue to support global efforts to combat global warming and climate change. We are not lying idle or doing nothing about the threats posed by climate change. We in fact concur with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations that there is 90 % certainty that anthropogenic or human activities are responsible for global warming. As a responsible citizen of the global community, we as a nation feel we are duty bound to play our part in the efforts to reduce global warming and contribute to the larger agenda of resolving the issue of climate change.

Malaysia is very serious in tackling this issue within the context of sustainable development. We have formed the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change which is chaired by the Prime Minister to formulate policies and measures on climate change. We are also drafting the National Climate Change Policy to ensure a climate resilient development that fulfils national aspirations for sustainability.

Despite being a non-Annex I country and contributing only about 0.6 % of the total carbon emission into the atmosphere, Malaysia has consistently shown a high level of commitment to reduce these emissions. In this respect, one area we are indeed proud of is our commitment and ability to maintain our forest cover above 50 % of the total land area of the country. In fact currently about 60% of our land area is covered by forests. We have been able to achieve this through our policy of sustainable forest management (SFM). We believe this is a tremendous achievement that can help us fight against global warming and in mitigating climate change as forests are important carbon sinks. And we want the global community to take note of our efforts in forest conservation so that we are not accused of allowing irresponsible deforestation and illegal logging activities.

Apart from that, we are also emphasising and encouraging the use of clean and energy efficient technologies. In this regard, the establishment of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technologies and Water in April this year is a further testimony to our efforts to combat climate change. This also clearly demonstrates that climate change issue is now high on the agenda of the Malaysian government. We are also progressing well in the implementation of environmentally sound projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). We have so far successfully registered 49 projects with the CDM Secretariat in Bonn Germany and these projects can contribute to the reduction of more than 3.3 million tonnes CO2 equivalent. I am proud to say we currently rank 5th among the countries in the world, which have registered their CDM projects with the CDM Secretariat.

To further stimulate the development and use of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) activities and technologies, the government has introduced several fiscal incentives such as pioneer status, investment tax allowance and import duty and sales tax exemption for equipment used in energy conservation. Amongst the specific incentives provided include:

Ø exemption of 100 % import duty and 50 % excise duty on new hybrid CBU cars;

Ø tax exemption on companies’ income earned through trading of Carbon Emission Reduction (CER) certificates obtained from the implementation of environmentally sound projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); and

Ø Investment Tax Allowance on expenditures for energy conservation and energy saving initiatives such as the development and use of solar, wind bio fuel using palm oil. The Climate Change negotiations are an ongoing process. On the negotiations in Copenhagen in December, I wish to re-emphasize that the developed countries should continue to take the lead in addressing climate change. Developed countries, having first occupied the environmental space in the process of developing their economies, have a historical responsibility to address climate change. They also have financial and technological resources and capabilities to address this issue. The current global financial crisis has demonstrated the capacity of the developed countries to raise trillions of dollars in overcoming the challenges of the financial crisis. Surely, as climate change is a more serious issue than the financial crisis, the developed world could upscale its financial commitment to the developing countries to address climate change.

Otherwise, it is difficult to see a successful outcome in Copenhagen. This is largely due to the fact that the first and most pressing need of developing countries is the need for socio-economic development. In fact, without socio-economic development, developing countries would not be able to address climate change effectively. As such, efforts at determination of a global goal on carbon reductions must not infringe on the inalienable rights of developing countries to continue on their development path. More so developing countries which have contributed least to the climate change have been the most adversely affected by climate change.

I wish also to clarify and reiterate that developing countries including Malaysia have been taking national actions to address climate change. As such, we do not support proposals aimed at imposing legal obligations on developing countries to address climate change. Our stand is that the Bali Action Plan (BAP) provides the basis for nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) that developing countries will take. With the support and enabled by technology, financing and capacity building from developed countries, developing countries can take on more NAMAs. The challenges arising from Climate Change are many. Time wise, we find ourselves facing Copenhagen COP15