Changes needed in nation’s push for net zero
14 Sep 2024
Aligning paradigm shifts and social consensus is essential for sustainable green growth in Malaysia, says Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said the Madani Economy Framework has rightly framed the nation’s green growth trajectory as an opportunity and not a burden.
“However, there are a lot more whole-of-government mindset shifts and whole-of-society consensus building that we will have to embark on together.
“To think about growing green or green growth in Malaysia in the 2020s, there are several paradigm shifts that we will need to make and also to bring society along. The climate debate has often been adversarial but we have a chance to make it more consensual,” he said during his speech at the National Climate Governance Summit (NCGS) 2024 on Sept 12.
Liew said among the several paradigm shifts that need to be made include articulating clearly how investments offer domestic benefits to the nation’s push for net zero (by 2050), rethinking the approach to balancing supply and demand, moving people back into inner cities, ensuring Malaysia is at the forefront of affordable technology innovations and creating a new price structure.
Liew said instead of only highlighting the absolute monetary value of a certain investment project, Putrajaya should engage with the public on how each investment creates jobs and provides a boost to the country’s journey towards net zero.
On the issue of balance in supply and demand, he said, “Malaysia is good at planning supply and meeting most of its requirements, but when we face a problem, our instinct is to provide additional supply. Shouldn’t we also look at demand management?”
For instance, on the matter of traffic congestion, he said the government could opt for “creatively” repurposing toll roads and providing discounts during non-peak hours through reverse congestion pricing.
The climate concerns can also be helped by bringing people back into cities and thereby stopping the issue of sprawling cities.
“Once more people live in inner cities, they will not need to own a car and that will change the usage pattern of energy and other resources as well as the cost of building infrastructure.
“I have repeatedly explained how moving more people back into inner cities is a great green investment and growth opportunity,” he said.
Liew pointed out that Malaysia’s weather was beneficial to a variety of agricultural products and hence the country should invest in agritech to solve the problems of food security and climate change.
And finally, he suggested that the public and private sector start the conversation on carbon measurement, pricing, trading and taxing as soon as possible to come up with a new price structure on issues like emissions and carbon offsets.
“Malaysia is blessed with the fact that we have plenty of land covered by forests and potentially more secondary forest. If there is a right price for carbon offsets, then protecting our forests would be something both noble and one that generates sustainable revenue.”
He added that getting the price right also includes dealing with the federal-state incentive structure and opting to create more mechanisms for states to generate revenue from sustainable resources.
“While there is a long road ahead in our nation’s push to net zero, I am glad that this government has put in the right framework and has accepted the intellectual premise that growth has to be green, and green growth is an opportunity, not a burden,” he said.
Source: The Star
