The year 2016 has kicked off with great news for Power Shift Malaysia as our Malaysian Youth Delegates return from a 3 week mind opening experience at COP21 in Paris. Having witnessed the gathering of leaders from all over the world sign a legally binding document on climate change, the youth of Power Shift were later pleasantly surprised to be given the opportunity to meet with our very own youth minister and Member of Parliament, YB Khairy Jamaluddin.

During the meeting, KJ expressed his appreciation for the work carried out by Power Shift Malaysia in educating Malaysian youth on the effects of climate change and the urgency to take action for climate justice. He expressed his thoughts on the awareness level of the Malaysian youth, saying “we are still far behind on our knowledge about climate change and how it is affecting us”.

Khairy says, he would personally like to have the opportunity to travel to work by train someday soon.

Khairy went on to add that Malaysians, including himself, still find it hard to change our behavioral patterns when it comes to placing the needs of the environment before our own. However, he understands the challenges that we are faced with especially in the transportation areas such as the current lack of public transportation which he hopes will improve by a ten fold once the new MRT lines are running. Khairy says, he would personally like to have the opportunity to travel to work by train someday soon.

The meeting reached its peak when the members of Power Shift Malaysia handed the Youth Statement on Climate Change to Khairy Jamaluddin. The document had previously been sent to the Prime Ministers prior to COP21. Khairy said that while the statement was ambitious, it carried weight and was a necessity due to the ticking clock of climate change. He understands that this is the voice of the concerned youth of Malaysia and will continue to support our cause.

#PowerShiftMsia, with the support of the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports, hopes to bring the Malaysian youth together in developing more publicly available resources about climate change and its affects on Malaysians. A lot more research is required to develop the right policies to effectively tackle the climate crisis whilst creating awareness and educating the general youth about these policies. Our government’s initiatives will only go as far as being paperwork without the action of the people. The youth should be at the forefront of these actions, demanding a cleaner, better future for all Malaysians.

Written by: Sheena

To read the Malaysian Youth Statement on Climate Change (2015), click here.