LETTERS: Our new Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, ought to be congratulated for establishing a separate ministry to handle environmental affairs.
The purpose of this letter is to awaken and heighten the awareness that the state of the environment should never be neglected at any time. Challenges such as climate change concerns all of us — governments, corporations and individuals (civil society).
Hopefully the new government will gravitate towards addressing “green issues” and one of the hallmarks of Muhyiddin’s prime ministership should be his commitment and seriousness in reducing the country’s carbon emissions. In short, he should be the first “Green PM”, becoming a champion of the environment by his words and deeds.
Here are a few suggestions for the PM to assist the new environment minister to work on:
AS we have had enough of education, heightening awareness and more coaxing, we must now move forward and adopt drastic measures that will force the public to adopt new lifestyles.
For instance when people have to pay more for their petrol (by doing away with subsidies) they will stop driving fuel-guzzling SUVs and MPVs. If they have to pay more for electricity use, they will learn to conserve energy in their homes and workplaces;
OUR new prime minister should develop and nurture a “green-conscious” environment such that ministries, departments, agencies and even municipalities will be encouraged to vie for green-bragging rights in all of their programmes and projects;
START drawing up legislation to cap carbon emissions;
SET up a Green Fund to finance environmentally-friendly projects;
APPEAL to parents, teachers, religious leaders, CEOs of corporations, including GLCs and politicians, to reduce carbon emissions;
PUT in place a tough enforcement programme that aims to prevent “environmental degradation”; and,
IF the above are to be executed effectively, there ought to be tremendous hands-on leadership at the PM’s level.
Ultimately we cannot depend solely on the government to protect the environment; it has to be people-centred. At the individual level it is regrettable that true awareness of the adverse effects of climate change is wanting.
The rakyat (even the rich) care more about petrol subsidies than about the adverse impact of carbon emissions. This mentality has to change.
The public need to be mindful that the little things we do matter and in the long run we do make a difference. For example a tree that we grow today will make the world greener. Or cutting down on energy consumption on a daily basis will contribute to a cleaner environment.
All corporations, businesses and enterprises — large or small — need to take individual responsibility in mankind’s efforts to protect the environment. The longer we wait, the more difficult the task ahead will be.
Malaysia must prepare itself for a new development paradigm that will meet the environmental and social challenges of the coming decade. We should realise that the time for taking action against global warming is not tomorrow, not even today but this very minute.
Over to you Mr Prime Minister. Seize the moment. This is a golden opportunity for you to become the Green Prime Minister of the country.
POLA SINGH
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times