KOTA KINABALU: Institutions of higher learning should play a bigger role to leverage their resources for a sustainable future, said Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin.
The Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) vice-chancellor said they should discuss and explore new possibilities to expand the roles of universities in promoting sustainability.
"Through our collective efforts, we can realise the desired outcomes of ensuring the sustainability of our institutions, resources and environment for future generations," said Dr Yap.
He was speaking at the launch of the "1st Malaysia Sustainable University Network (MYSUN) National Conference 2022" today, held in hybrid mode.
Universities in Malaysia involved in the cooperation and collaboration of sustainability were UMS, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and Multimedia University Malaysia, he said.
Also involved were their international counterparts, namely Universitat de'Alicante, Universita Degli Studi Di Genova and FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, he added.
"Such networks will pave the way for organisational synergies particularly among MYSUN university partners to become a catalyst in forging research and development alliances to achieve the shared sustainability-related goals," said Dr Yap.
He said the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals outlined that university should influence policies and implement their evidence-based findings to actively drive sustainable development.
"Hence, I believe it will be very inspiring to all sections of the society if they are aware of how sustainability policies could bring benefits to the communities," Dr Yap.
In this context, he said we should continue to emphasise on capitalising the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) to facilitate the transition towards sustainable development.
He cited the rate at which the climate is changing required us to enforce protection of natural resources, conserve biodiversity and reduce environmental impacts through these technologies.
For UMS, he said they have been able to maintain their ranking as among the seven per cent most sustainable universities in the world based on the UI Greenmetric World University Rankings (UIG).
"UMS has successfully retained its position as the third best university in Malaysia and the 20th best university in the Asian region in the latest 2021 UIG world ranking," he shared.
The themes to be discussed during the two-day conference range from energy, climate change, natural resources, food security, engineering, green technology, social sciences, as well as information and communications technology.