Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that climate change poses a significant global threat. To comat climate crises, the country is seeking to enhance cooperation in green technologies with Japan and South Korea.
"We must intensify efforts to combat its impact by adopting and supporting renewable energy solutions," he said in a speech at the 26th ASEAN - Japan Summit held in conjunction with the 43rd ASEAN Summit.
Anwar said that ASEAN nations could benefit from Japan's expertise in developing clean energy technologies, renewable projects and sharing best practices through the ASEAN - Japan Energy Efficiency Partnership and the ASEAN - Japan Climate Agenda 2.0.
Meanwhile, during the 24th ASEAN - Korean Summit meeting, Anwar emphasized the importance of green growth or climate sustainability.
He also stressed the importance of optimizing land use for food security, which prioritizes low carbon and climate-resilient socio-economic development. However, he said that it requires collective and concerted actions by all countries to combat the climate change.
Regarding this, Malaysia welcomes the establishment of ASEAN - ROK Cooperation Centre for carbon neutrality and green transition.
Southeast Asia is acutely exposed to climate change, with five of the world’s 20 most at-risk countries located in the region.
Unchecked climate change could depress regional GDP by 11% by 2100, and lead to displacement of 87 million people in high-risk flood areas in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Malaysia unveiled a detailed national energy transition roadmap (NETR) on August 29, which sets out initiatives the government will undertake to achieve 2050 net zero target.
The NETR sees Malaysia achieving 70% installed renewable energy capacity by 2050, mainly made up of solar PV capacity. The share of coal-fired power generation is targeted to fall to zero in 2050 from around 26% currently.
