Title: MYD 2016: Viability of Malaysia’s Commitment Towards COP21
Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD 2016): Youths who are currently working their way to COP22 in Morocco in November. This is our Training Series focusing on climate policy.
Date: 7 August 2016, Sunday
Time: 9am-11pm
Location: KLTC Level 2, Chulan Tower, KL
Below is the experience shared by one of our MYD delegates, Nalina Santhiran, as well as a recorded video of the training series conducted by Dr Ong Kian Ming.
MYD 2016 was fortunate to host Dr Ong Kian Ming in an exclusive sharing session recently. As our second trainer under our Training Series, Dr Ong shared with us his particular insight on environmental policies specifically in Malaysia. Apart from that Dr Ong is also an academician, political analyst as well as the MP of the Serdang Constituency.
The session which was held at the Nottingham Training Centre (KLTC) commenced with the MYD delegation sharing their aspirations and the experience they would like to gain out of COP 22 later this year. We were taken on a hands-on journey in decrypting the current state of environmental policies in Malaysia from their inception to their execution. The disparities between them were also highlighted as well as methods to harmonise them.
Among the topics which were highlighted include waste management, efficient transportation, renewable energy as well as transparency in combatting climate change. We were even provided with a perspective on the works of a sanitary landfill by one of our very own MYD colleagues as well. It was indeed an eye-opening experience for it shows the potential that Malaysia stands in utilising its current resources in combatting climate change.
I found the concept of the feed-in tariff which allows individuals, schools and religious institutions to apply for licenses in order to generate renewable energy on their own property as well as being able to sell the excess energy back into the grid very interesting. This gives a chance to ordinary citizens to be more conscious of their roles in climate change initiatives and policies. The concepts of grid parity and net-metering and how it could transpire in the future were also discussed.
Furthermore, light was also shed on Malaysia’s unique position at the COP 22. The role we would play in the execution of our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) following COP 21 and the Paris Agreement.
Dr Ong also mentioned that it was time for the Energy Commission of Malaysia, which determines the energy policies of Malaysia, as well as the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA), a statutory body which has the oversight of all environmental regulations, to reconcile and align their objectives.
At the end of the session, Dr Ong expressed his best wishes and reminded us to use our varied backgrounds to our advantage for members of the MYD 2016 comprise of people from the legal and economic backgrounds to environmental consultants and scientists. Indeed, climate change as what we have learnt is best tackled through a collective effort. Through this training series, MYD has been able to build our capacity on national policies as well gain a truly personal insight on the works of tackling climate change in Malaysia.
