Page 8 - Berita Sunway - Issue 76
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CO VER ST OR Y
If your house was on re, what would you do?
Our home, Planet Earth, is in fact on re.
We are facing a climate crisis – and we have no option but to put the re out
quickly if we are to even survive.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by human activity have increased
since 2010 across all major sectors globally, with a growing share of emissions
attributed to urban areas.
e Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III
report released in April 2022 also found that carbon emissions reductions from
fossil fuels and industrial processes over the last decade were less than the
emissions increase from rising global activity levels in industry, energy supply,
transport, agriculture and buildings.
According to the IPCC, global carbon emissions must be reduced by 45% by
2030, and become net zero by 2050, if we are to limit global warming and
prevent irreversible, catastrophic climate disasters.
ACCELERATING A NET ZERO MALAYSIA
Malaysia faces a number of challenges when it comes to achieving net zero carbon emissions by
2050.
Besides a lack of clarity and cohesive policy direction on developing and implementing
low-carbon technologies, there is also slow progress in areas such as biofuels development.
In the ‘Towards a Low-Carbon Emissions Pathway: Industry Leadership for Climate Action’
report by the CEO Action Network (CAN) and Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM), other
net zero challenges include a lack of coordination across public and private sectors on focus
areas for technology deployment, as well as the lack of availability, cohesiveness and integration
of policies and actions surrounding data.
Amidst these challenges, the silver lining is the commitment demonstrated by the Malaysian
government to overcome such barriers, most recently seen in the launch of the Low Carbon
Aspiration 2040 initiative in September 2022.
Under the initiative, Malaysia targets a 50% public transport share by 2040, with at least 38%
electric vehicle usage, the introduction of fuel with 30% biodiesel mixture as alternative fuel for
heavy vehicles, and 25% use of liqui ed natural gas as alternative fuel in the marine transport
industry.
On top of attaining energy e ciency savings of up to 11% for commercial and industrial use
as well as 10% for residences by 2040, the Low Carbon Aspiration 2040 initiative is expected
to increase gross domestic product by an average of RM13 billion a year and generate over
207,000 new job opportunities.
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