26 OPINION
@ green | November-December , 2021
Not done right
Focus on ‘ emission intensity ’ is hurting Malaysia ’ s fight against climate change
BY YAMONA SEGAR
IN THE days leading up to the pivotal Climate Summit COP 26 , Malaysia ’ s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob reiterated the country ’ s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas intensity per unit of gross domestic product ( GDP ) by 45 per cent by 2030 relative to 2005 .
The Prime Minister added the commitment was unconditional and 10 per cent higher than the earlier target .
According to the graph on the left , the emission intensity of Malaysia has declined by 32 per cent from 2005 ( base year ) to 2018 . It means the carbon emission per unit of income has declined over the past decade . Sounds great , right ? Except it ’ s not . When examined more closely , the country ’ s overall carbon emission had increased by 31 per cent in 2018 from the 2005 base year . Because we measured our emission using an intensity target , which is normalised to account for economic growth , it appeared as though the emissions had decreased .
The very structure of the emission intensity ratio ( emission CO2 per PPP $ of GDP ) is problematic . When the economy is growing faster than the carbon emitted , emission intensity falls when the GDP denominator is growing faster than the emission numerator .
It overstates the extent to which carbon emission reductions have occurred in the economy . But the planetary ecosystems do not care about carbon emissions per GDP . All that matters are the absolute carbon emissions .
The bottom line is that Malaysia is con-