Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man's nonchalance towards climate change has been likened to that of former US president Donald Trump.
In a statement today, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Tuan Ibrahim was no different from Trump, who, during his presidency, showed a lack of knowledge and enthusiasm in the climate change agenda.
Tuan Ibrahim had claimed that Malaysia was not invited to the US-organised Climate Action Summit because Malaysia was not a major contributor to greenhouse gases (GHG), nor was it categorised as "climate-vulnerable".
Three Southeast Asian countries were invited to the summit - Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. Lim said Singapore's inclusion invalidated Tuan Ibrahim's explanation.
"Such Trump-like reasoning is unacceptable and dishonest when Singapore is also invited, even though Singapore should not come under either of the categories of GHG production or being climate-vulnerable," he said.
"In truth, all countries are climate-vulnerable; only the degree that they have contributed towards promoting climate change action in their region is the differentiating factor.
"Clearly, Malaysia is not seen as a strategic environmental partner on climate change action by the US - inferior even to Vietnam - despite slowly becoming a favoured dumping ground for US so-called 'clean' plastic waste."
Lim warned that apart from environmental problems, climate change will deal an economic cost to Malaysia, pointing to studies that have predicted that climate change will lead to sovereign credit rating cuts.
Lim said his party was willing to help Tuan Ibrahim convene meetings locally on how the country will respond to climate change.
"Tuan Ibrahim should convene a National Climate Change Conference to flesh out fresh ideas on how to move forward to restore Malaysia’s activism and leadership.
"DAP is willing to assist and contribute, especially former Pakatan Harapan minister Yeo Bee Yin, who gained international recognition for her efforts on environment and climate change action," said Lim.
Malaysia is a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which aims to keep the increase in global temperature to less than 2°C since the industrial age.
Signatories have committed to reducing GHG emissions and adopt sustainable development goals.
US President Joe Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate, to be held virtually on April 22 and 23, is meant to be a formal meeting ahead of the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, scheduled for early November. - Mkini
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