KUALA LUMPUR: The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah has paid tribute to women across the world who have made immense contributions towards environmental awareness and protection.
He said they provided, among others, practical solutions to local environmental problems or worked to raise awareness in different ways.
“All these women have made important impacts, both through their own direct actions and through the inspiration they have provided to others to make their own commitment to respect the environment.”
Sultan Nazrin said this in his speech at the 26th Conference of the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asian Women’s Association (PPSEAWA) on the topic ‘Respect the Environment for a Sustainable and Peaceful Future’, here, today.
He cited Kenyan activist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, whose work demonstrated directly the powerful impact of many individual acts serving a single purpose - in her case, the act of planting trees.
“Jane Goodall is another outstanding woman environmentalist whose work has made immense contribution by promoting greater respect for and understanding of animals,” he said.
The Sultan noted that the threats presented by the failure to respect the environment properly were becoming increasingly apparent.
“It is becoming abundantly clear that we’re currently not doing enough to respect the environment in such a way to ensure a sustainable and peaceful future,” he said.
Nevertheless, Sultan Nazrin said, the small steps taken by everyone towards environmental awareness and protection as people went about their daily lives could and did add up to a greater world.
“Many of us now share this sense of injustice in relation to the environmental damage being perpetrated by the human race.
“But rather than leaving us helpless and frustrated in the face of intractable challenges, this deepening concern can also galvanise us into taking the small actions that together contribute to achieving the changes that are so necessary to save our planet,” he added. --BERNAMA