@ green | September-October , 2022

Malaysia must decarbonise the energy and transportation sector and preserve its forests

BY FATIHAH MANAF

According to Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar , Chairman of Bursa Malaysia Berhad , to achieve this goal , these parties or countries will have to reach the global peaking of greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions as soon as possible to achieve net zero GHG emissions by mid-century , i . e . by 2050 or 2060 .

“ We are glad the Prime Minister announced that Malaysia is committed to being a Net Zero GHG emissions nation as early as 2050 when he tabled the 12th Malaysia Plan in the Parliament last September 2021 ahead of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow last November 2021 ,” said Abdul Wahid , while chairing the Main Plenary session at the International Sustainable Energy Summit ( ISES ) 2022 , in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre .

“ This makes Malaysia among the countries that contribute to more than 90 per cent of global GDP commit to Net Zero by mid-century . Such commitment is also supported by businesses similarly committed to being Net Zero in their operations under the Race-To-Zero initiative , which has been mooted quite sometimes .”

He stated that significant environmental , social , and governance investments ( ESG ) assets would exist . By 2025 , it is projected that 38 per cent of global investments will be in the ESG sector .

Suggested priorities for Malaysia ’ s climate agenda

According to Malaysia ’ s Third Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC ( 2020 ), the energy and transportation sectors contributed to 75 per cent of the country ’ s GHG emissions , whereas 18.2 million hectares of Malaysia ’ s forest cover were able to sequester some 259 MT CO2e .

“ Therefore , if we are going to achieve the Net Zero target , the biggest impact would come from decarbonising the energy sector and preserving our forests ,” Abdul Wahid highlighted .

He then stated that the Boston Consulting Group ( BCG ) and World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia ( WWF ) had released a report entitled Securing our Future : Net Zero Pathways for Malaysia on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021 .

The report identified 10 suggested priorities for Malaysia ’ s climate agenda . The top three priorities include :

• To maximise and enhance Malaysia ’ s natural assets , safeguard our current forest cover as a comparative advantage , expand reforestation , safeguard biodiversity and preserve forest quality , and unlock the full potential of naturebased solutions for mitigation and adaptation .

• To decarbonise the power sector . To phase out coal ; scale renewables with storage ; leverage Malaysia ’ s gas advantage to complement renewables as a transition fuel ; invest in the grid ; and scale up energy efficiency and demand side management .

• To accelerate low carbon transportation and scale public transport infrastructure ; scale EV penetration by enabling the EV ecosystem ( EV manufacturing , charging infrastructure , early incentives etc .); sustainable biofuels in heavy transport , aviation , maritime , etc .