Renewable Energy: Malaysia’s Climate Change Solution or Placebo?

Summary

Under the Paris Agreement, Malaysia committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 in relation to its 2005 GDP figure. The target includes a caveat for an unconditional reduction by 35 per cent, and an additional 10 per cent reduction upon receipt of climate financing, technology transfer and capacity building from more developed nations (MITI, 2017).

Malaysia's commitment to climate change began with then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's insistence at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit that poorer nations had already been exploited by developed countries (who were guilty of higher carbon emissions), and should be allowed to continue to develop, albeit sustainably (Varkkey 2019). This was when Malaysia first pledged to keep at least 50 per cent of the country under forest cover. Since then, several initiatives under myriad governments have been launched to reduce Malaysia's climate change impacts.

On the ground in Malaysia, many feel and see the effects of climate change; increasingly frequent and extreme weather ranging from violent storms to extended droughts, changes in the winds and monsoon seasons affecting farmers and fishermen, as well as rising sea levels encroaching on coastal communities. Studies have shown that climate change will have an extensive impact beyond those that are immediately physically visible; reduced crop yields and food insecurity, biodiversity loss and disease, increased flood intensities, coral bleaching, decrease in freshwater availability from seawater encroachment and novel human illnesses (Abdul Rahman 2018; MESTECC 2018).

However, not everyone necessarily connects the changes in these natural phenomena with climate change. Only 32 to 40 per cent of the general public are aware of climate change and its impacts (Varkkey 2019). This thus hampers the government's efforts to encourage Malaysian citizens and residents to take ownership of climate change issues. While there are several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research centres that focus on climate change awareness and action, broad-scale efforts for institutional change to accommodate and mitigate climate change impacts have necessarily been top-down (but not necessarily effective) in nature.

This paper examines some of Malaysia's efforts at climate change mitigation, thereafter focusing on the country's emphasis on renewable energy (RE) as a key tool to reduce GHG emissions and meet its reduction targets.