UNITED NATIONS – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim delivered strong remarks at those preaching climate change without considering that saving the planet also means undertaking efforts to assist poorer nations.
“Discussions on climate change in the absence of equity, justice, and the necessary means to assist and empower countries to undertake greater climate action is an exercise in futility,” Anwar said.
The prime minister was delivering the national statement in the General Debate of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday.
This year’s theme at the UNGA is “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals toward peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”.
In his address Anwar urged developed countries to fulfil their commitment of mobilising US$100 billion (approximately RM469 billion) a year to support the climate ambition endeavours of developing countries, while recognising that trillions of dollars per annum will be needed in the near future.
Malaysia, he said, is doing its part by developing low carbon and renewable energy roadmaps to implement mitigating and adaptation strategies.
“The newly launched National Energy Transition Roadmap should aid us in achieving our NDCs (nationally determined contributions), as well as lighting the path towards our net zero aspirations,” the prime minister said.
On Thursday, at the Invest Malaysia forum in New York where he met with the American business community, Anwar said Malaysia has taken up solutions to combat climate change at a great cost to the country’s revenue.
To a question from the floor on deforestation in favour of palm oil plantations, he said the matter has been addressed through the protection of forest reserves.
“As a major palm oil-producing nation these efforts were undertaken at a great cost to us but we did it.”
Meanwhile on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Anwar said the 2023 SDG Report confirmed that the world is falling behind, with nearly a third of the targets either in a state of inertia or worse, regressing.
“The global economy is also projected to continue to be weighed down by geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions, increase in commodity prices, as well as challenging financial conditions.
“This has widened the gap between economic growth and income, leading to a continuous disparity. As the growth in incomes fail to match economic growth, households became burdened with debt. We now have the super-rich living side by side with the ultra-poor.”
He said the contrast lies starkly in the things that matter: food on the table, shelter, access to quality education, and healthcare.
“These factors cry out for drastic, systemic reform, a total reset of the global institutions that impact our lives.
“Or else we will continue to face widening inequality setting apart nations and peoples.” – September 23, 2023