Creating Green Growth and Jobs as a Part of Post-Covid Economic Recovery

The country is waiting eagerly the announcement of Budget 2021 on the Government’s plan to bring us through Covid-19 crisis, to protect the social and economic wellbeing of the people. Undeniably, the outlook is challenging. Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) has just reported nearly 90,000 job losses so far this year and if the trend continues, the number will hit 100,000 by the end of the year. In addition to that, we already have 127,000 graduates still without jobs for more than 6 months and the number will keep rising as there are 300,000 new graduates every year. The country is in the search of new jobs and the government can play a big part to make it happen. 

 Income, jobs and growth used to be at the opposite ends of the scale with environmental protection. But it is no longer so as more countries around the world recognise the potential of green industry in the post-Covid world. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretariat, at least 30 OECD and Key Partner countries have included green measures in their post-Covid economic recovery strategy, and rightly so. This article focuses on green measures that can be considered in Malaysia. In order to create green jobs, the government needs to facilitate more green projects on the ground, reducing bureaucracy and catalyse them by attractive financial incentives in terms of tax incentive, low-interest loans as well as grants. 

Renewable Energy 

I believe the lowest hanging fruit among all in terms of increasing the number of green projects and new jobs on the ground is renewable energy projects. The government should maintain or increase Pakatan Harapan’s renewable energy (RE) target of 20% in electricity mix by 2025 excluding large hydroelectric sources above 100 MW (33% if include large hydro.) Pursuing this target has the potential of generating RM 33 billion private investment and additional 50,000 RE jobs. 

How MESTECC Address Climate Change Action Without Burdening the Government on Additional Fund

YAB Prime Minister had recently launched the establishment of the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Centre (MGCC) at the International Green Technology and Eco-Products Exhibition and Conference (IGEM) on October 10, 2019. MGCC is the result of the repurposing of Malaysia Green Technology Corporate (MGTC) which aims to prepare Malaysia moving towards a climate change resilience future and to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Instead of setting up a new agency that will require additional fund from the government, MESTECC has successfully optimized the ministry's internal agency by absorbing the functions of this climate change centre into its existing agency (MGTC).

The move of repurposing existing agency is consistent with Pakatan Harapan’s commitment to keep the civil service lean and to reduce expenditure by optimising delivery.

Was there really no allocation for climate change action in the Budget 2020?

The Malaysia Green Technology and Climate Change Malaysia will be funded through a RM10 million allocation from the saving of MESTECC ministry’s spending in 2019.

In conclusion, it is not no allocation for climate change, but the government is optimising the spending and using the savings to finance the climate change centre. This is the difference between the Pakatan Harapan and the Barisan Nasional.

Meanwhile, the government will also establish National Council of Climate Change Action as promised in the Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto.

In addition to the RM10 million allocation, MESTECC is also actively building capacity to leverage international funds such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and to drive partnerships with private companies in Malaysia and international organizations.

In addition, YB Yeo had witnessed the exchange of a letter of cooperation between Malaysia Green Technology Corporate (now known as MGCC) and the United Kingdom on May 16, 2019.

This is a four-year collaboration programme under the United Kingdom Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UKPACT) Cooperation which aims to strengthen, promote and develop climate change and low carbon transition collaboration between two countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

This collaboration programme will benefit Malaysia on addressing critical climate change initiatives including the scoping study on a climate change legal and institutional framework, as well as capacity building through sharing of skills. It will also allow Malaysia to study and adapt the UK 2050 Pathway Carbon Calculator to the Malaysian context.

Pang Sock Tao
Special Officer to YB Yeo Bee Yin
Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC)

Yeo Bee Yin witnessed the exchange of letter of cooperation between MGCC and the government representatives from UK in Putrajaya on May 16, 2019.

Additional 15,000 units of LED Street Lights for Rural Areas

Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) has increased the allocation of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights for rural areas. This is in addition to the initiative of 10,000 LED street lights allocated by MESTECC in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB).

On August 19, 2019, YB Yeo Bee Yin together with Minister of Rural Development Datuk Seri Rina Harun officiated the launch of the “Program Pemasangan Lampu Jalan Kampung" in Bangi, Selangor. MESTECC has allocated over 10,000 units of energy-saving LED lights for villages in need starting from 2019 until 2020 through the Incentive-Based Regulatory (IBR) initiative.

More than 10,000 units of LED street lights will be installed in the villages in Peninsular Malaysia under “Program Pemasangan Lampu Jalan Kampung” by Ministry of Rural Development through utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

For Sabah and Sarawak, it will be funded under KPLB’s budget allocation and the Ministry will announce the installation accordingly.

The program received encouranging response resulting in increased application of LED street light. In collaboration with KPLB, MESTECC has allocated additional 15,000 LED lights to illuminate the streets in the villages. This initiative proves that Pakatan Harapan has always put Rakyat’s well-being at the forefront.

The scope of the project is to supply and install sets of lamps in poles, in public areas or in front of public buildings such as community hall, prayer houses and at street intersections.

Benefits of Installing LED Street Lights

In addition to its lighting features, LED street lights are an environmentally friendly option as they are more stable, durable, less heat-resistant and does not contains mercury. LED lights save energy and are brighter at a lower voltage.

With these LED lamps, the damage rate of street lamps can be reduced from 15-20 percent to 2 to 5 percent. Therefore, the failure of road lights can be controlled to a minimum and the maintenance cost can be reduced.

The installation of LED street lights is also one of a Government’s initiative to promote energy efficiency that can contribute to energy savings and cost savings of at least 30 to 40 percent.

Pang Sock Tao
Special Officer to YB Yeo Bee Yin
Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC)

Yeo Bee Yin and Minister of Rural Development YB Datuk Seri Rina Harun officiated the installation of LED street lights at Kampung Rincing Hilir in Semenyih on August 19, 2019

Reimagining Malaysia Part 15: Water Governance

Water is precious. However, just like air, people generally don’t spare it a thought until there is a shortage. This is probably the most boring topic of the book because it involves a lot of technical details but I want to dedicate this chapter to writing about the challenges of supplying water to Selangor and Kuala Lumpur as well as the ongoing water industry reform. This, I feel, will help the next generation to not take their water supply for granted. The same perspectives can also be applied to water management in other states.

Background

Because of historical reasons, the water supply in Selangor is combined with that of Kuala Lumpur. (I’ll use Selangor water from now on for simplicity purposes but it should be understood that it stands for the water supply for Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.) Managing the Selangor water industry is far more challenging than it is in other states because it serves seven million users. That makes us the biggest water supplier in Malaysia with a water demand size almost triple that of the second largest water usage state (Johor) [1]. In fact, it is one of the biggest in the world.

In addition, there is rapid industrialisation along many rivers in Selangor, which leads to river pollution as well as the drying up of rivers. This poses a serious threat to the resilience of raw water supply to Selangor. At the time of writing, the water industry is still in the process of consolidation after being wrongly privatised for many years, resulting in a fragmented water industry.

The figure below shows the fragmented Selangor water industry before consolidation. All the private water companies, with the exception of SPLASH, have been taken over by the Selangor State Government and placed under Air Selangor since the end of 2015.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 14: Climate Change Madness

Have you heard about the term climate change madness?

It was popularized by the head of the Philippines delegation, Yeb Sano, who made international headlines with his emotional speech at the opening session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2013[1]. At the time of his speech, Super Typhoon Haiyan had just hit the Philippines and caused catastrophic damage to the country. His speech brought tears to the eyes of many of the delegates and was met with a standing ovation.

However, emotions without actions mean little. At the end of 2016, 195 countries, including the US* and China, which are the two biggest carbon emitters, came together and signed the Paris Agreement. This was the first time in history that countries around the world had collectively agreed to undertake efforts to cut carbon emission to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels [2].

While carbon emission reduction can slow the pace of global temperature increase, the earth will almost certainly become warmer[3]. Carbon emission reduction can only reduce the extent of temperature increase.

If carbon emissions were to reduce significantly, the rise in the global average surface temperature could be limited to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. This is what the Paris Agreement is trying to achieve.

In short, whatever we do now, global warming is bound to happen and it is going to negatively impact our lives, depending on the extent of the temperature increase.

Generally, there are two aspects to tackling climate change – adaptation and mitigation. Adaptation consists of taking steps to reduce the impact of climate change while mitigation is related to taking steps to reduce carbon emission, and hence the extent of global warming. 

I shall discuss these two aspects in the Malaysian context.

Reimagining Malaysia 13: Energy

Energy comes in the form of electricity and fuel. Energy security and affordability are important factors for a country’s survival and prosperity. Figure below shows the energy supply by type from 1978 to 2015 in Malaysia. We can see here that natural gas and crude oil combined make up a major part of our energy supply. Hence it is impossible to discuss energy in Malaysia without mentioning the oil and gas industry.

Energy Supply by Types 1978 – 2015

Source: Malaysia Energy Commission

Reimagining Malaysia Part 12: Rape

Occasionally, we see social media users expressing outrage over high profile rape cases, such as the Kelantan gang rape, which saw 38 men gang-raping a 15 year-old girl [1], or the heartless father in Chow Kit who repeatedly hit and raped his underage daughter who had just arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Sarawak in search of a better life only to have it turn into an unimaginable nightmare[2]. Despite such cases, only a few people recognise the severity of the rape culture problem in Malaysia.

On average, there are 3,000 rape cases reported yearly in Malaysia. What is even more astounding is that only two out of every 10 cases are reported. Even worse, two out of three rape victims are minors (under 16 years old)[3]. How do these numbers translate into real life?

Including the non-reported cases, it is estimated that there are as many as 15,000 rape cases in Malaysia every year. Hence, a rape takes place every 35 minutes – by the time you finish reading 2 articles of this series, one female would have been raped in some corner of Malaysia. And 80 percent of rape victims, many of whom are girls, suffer in silence.

Reimagining Malaysia Part 11: Women in Politics and Economy

In the previous part of this series, I’ve discussed that despite no apparent formal barrier, direct discrimination and a complex pattern of hidden barriers prevent women in Malaysia from achieving their full potential in the economic and political sphere. In this article, I will drill down further on the topic of gender equality for Malaysian women in politics and economy.

Politics should not be an “uncle-only” game 

When I first joined the DAP, I attended many party dinners and meetings. One of the first impressions I had of the party was that the majority of people involved in it were “uncles”. There were very few women and young people.

Now that I have been in politics for a while, I have discovered that this “uncles only” phenomenon isn’t confined to the DAP – it exists in all our political parties. In fact, low female representation in politics happens around the world, although in Malaysia, only a dismal 10 percent of parliamentarians are women compared to the world average of 22.8 percent in June 2016 [1].

The table below is the breakdown of female representation according to parliament and state assemblies (2013-2018 term). Except for the Selangor state assembly, with 27 percent female lawmakers, women’s representation in other legislatures is low.