Segambut Bersatu chief Mahathir Mohd Rais said he is very alarmed that the battle against climate change appears to have been largely all talk and very little action, with the degradation of our ecosystem being very evident.
"Our country is currently undergoing a battle with a killer that we could avoid. The killer’s name is climate change.
"Malaysia is no stranger to all the agreements and treaties that were made by the United Nations.
"This simply means that the government is aware of the urgency of combatting climate change but doesn’t change the fact that the degradation of our ecosystem, both the wetlands and forest habitats are very evident," said Mahathir in a statement today.
He cited that Malaysia has agreed to a number of targeted investments at climate resilience enhancement cultivation.
"Other than that, we are also under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, in which we have updated our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in August 2021, stating our intention to unconditionally reduce economy-wide carbon emissions by 2030.
"Additionally, we are also involved in the development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) internationally in 2014," he said.
However, Mahathir questioned how effective all the rhetoric could be when floods, landslides, deforestation, haze and extreme heat were all commonplace.
"A very obvious example would be the floods that have affected several areas in Malaysia last year. Even last week itself, when certain districts in Ipoh was hit with a sudden flash flood out of nowhere.
"Floods are one thing, but the extreme heat waves that have been hitting Malaysia recently caused a lot of seasonal cases of flu and sickness to a great number of people.
"The worst ‘silent killer’ of all is the rising sea levels in the coastal areas in Sabah and Sarawak, which will cause homes and livelihoods to be destroyed once the tide completely diminishes the islands there," he claimed.
He questioned if the government was doing a good job of pushing a pro-environmental agenda especially in the rural areas of our country.
"Open burning, illegal deforestation, lack of the 3R (Reducing, Reusing and Recycling) implementation, illegal farming and increase in the development of properties even though there are already enough houses in Malaysia - these are all left 'unbothered' by the authorities.
Ensuring change
"In addition, there are no incentives made to push the development of new technological machineries or environmental-friendly items to ensure that change is being made," he said.
"Even when change ‘happens’, it happens because of the NGOs. There are several NGO’s that pushes the agenda of replanting trees, picking up trash at the ocean and educating the people about the dangers of climate change.
"Unfortunately, the government rarely talks about this concerning issue. It is very disappointing to see the effects of climate change causing the rise in poverty and inequalities among the people of our country," he said. - Mkini
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