We all know Climate Change is a global issue. For decades now, DAP has been championing the climate change agenda and is the first political party in Malaysia to outline a clear policy on climate change. While our time in the government was short, Pakatan Harapan(PH) dedicated a ministry to develop and execute climate change policies.
This is because we understand how serious a threat climate change and global warming is to our world. Climate change is regarded as one of two critical existential threats to humanity – next to nuclear weapons and possibly a third, insidiously is corruption. That is a testament of the gravity of the issue of climate change.
It is true that we are currently battling a pandemic. But a vaccine for the pandemic has been developed and is currently being distributed, even though delayed by two months due to inefficiency and incompetency of the Perikatan Nasional(PN) government. Having said that, we do not have a vaccine for climate change. Our only weapon against climate change is ourselves, our actions as a society.
The Paris Agreement was formulated in 2015 with the aim to keep the increase in global temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit that warming to 1.5C. Since 2015, 190 countries have ratified the agreement, including Malaysia, each committing to its own nationally determined contribution (NDC) — an emissions reduction target and a plan to achieve it.
When Donald Trump became President, he shocked the world by withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement by reason that US was unfairly suffering economically. With Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th US President, Biden as recommitted US to the Paris Agreement. Hopefully, Biden’s decision will usher in a more rational, science and fact-based world equipped to face up to the challenges of climate change.
Therefore, I am pleased to launch the 100 Youth Ambassadors for Climate Action today. This is a unique campaign mobilizing the whole of society to battle against climate change. I believe that as a country, we need to do so much more to fight the adverse effects of climate change. Malaysia is equally vulnerable; with the unpredictable weather conditions and terrible floods we are facing.
When PH ran the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change helmed by Yeo Bee Yin, we pushed forward many climate change agenda as she outlined earlier. We received international recognition and was lauded for championing climate change issues on the world stage.
We put a stop to the dumping of plastic waste into our country. We pledged to stop single-use plastic. But our biggest agenda was to push forward renewable energy(RE) with an ambitious target to increase the RE target of electricity mix from 2% to 20% by 2025, arguably the most aggressive push in Asia.
Accelerating the deployment of RE will fuel economic growth, create new employment opportunities, enhance human welfare, and contribute to a climate safe future. It is estimated that doubling the application of RE can increase global GDP in 2030 by up to 1.1%, equivalent to USD 1.3 trillion. Given the distributed and labour-intensive nature of RE, direct and indirect employment in the RE sector could reach 24.4 million people in 2030.
The PH government was ambitiously pursuing an increase in RE target of 20% in the electricity mix by 2025. This can generate RM33 billion in private investment and an additional 50,000 RE jobs. Unfortunately, the unelected PN government appears to have given up on this goal.
We can’t sit and wait for this unelected PN government to wake up and do the right thing. As a community, we need to come together as one to save humanity and bequeath it to the next generation. Let me commend the DAP ADUN for Bukit Gasing Rajiv Rishyakaran for initiating this noble effort. I hope, with the launch of the 100 Youth Ambassadors for Climate Action, we will create a generation of eco-warriors who will lead the way to a cleaner and greener climate safe future.