NEW YORK: Malaysia is on the right track to cut carbon emissions by 40%, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said, despite facing difficulties in fulfilling the pledge made in Copenhagen six years ago.

Bernama quoted the prime minister as saying that Malaysia had already reduced the emissions intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by more than 33%, and will reach its target by 2020.

The country did not receive the financial and technological transfer assistance pledged by developed countries during the Copenhagen meeting, he told the United Nations Climate Summit 2014 on Tuesday.

The summit was attended by world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

“That target we set in Copenhagen was conditional on finance and technology transfer from Annex I [developed] countries. Yet neither condition was met. We did not receive the assistance we were promised under Article 4.7 of the Convention,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

In the past six years, Malaysia has taken a clear step towards a cleaner future and it had a more sustainable economy and a more balanced energy mix currently, he said.

“But this progress came at a cost. In allocating finite national resources, we have had to make painful decisions. Sometimes, we have had to choose between adaptation and mitigation.”

He said Malaysia had spent nearly US$2.6 billion (RM8.42 billion) in the last decade adapting to more frequent floods.

“This money we could have invested in green industries, or used to slow climate change.”

During a recent dry spell, water shortages and fires combined to destroy thousands of trees planted to sequester atmospheric carbon, he said, adding that Malaysia had shown that its economy could grow while its emissions intensity fell.

“But we have had to divert finances from other sustainable development initiatives — and in those areas, we have lost valuable momentum.

“Malaysia will to continue to act on climate change.”

Najib said the country has new policies to promote energy efficient vehicles: a new, corporate greenhouse reporting programme; a building efficiency project; and a low-carbon city framework. The country is also constructing a new, urban mass-transit system that could halve the number of cars on its streets. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 25, 2014.