LETTERS: It has been almost two years since Covid-19 reached pandemic proportions. When the number of cases spiralled out of control, a lot of countries imposed lockdowns to contain the virus, which has since mutated into variants.
As a result of lockdowns the world over, we saw a drop in global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
This situation suggests that higher CO2 emissions are attributed to economic activity. That is the reason why CO2 emissions dropped during the economic recession in 2009 and 2020 in Malaysia. When economic activity escalates, the use of energy, regardless of renewable or non-renewable energy, rises. What sets alarm bells ringing is that environmental degradation deteriorates simultaneously.
This is because the use of non-renewable energy, such as oil and gas, can release harmful gases such as CO2. Bear in mind, CO2 emissions are the main driver of climate change. Therefore, we should expect CO2 emissions to spike again after reopening more economic sectors, and we should expect to face greater pollution.
The total CO2 emissions in Malaysia increased by 25.1 per cent over 10 years from from 2009 to 2019.
This implies that environmental degradation follows an alarming trend, posing a great challenge for the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which emphasise several aspects, including climate action.
Malaysia is still reliant on non-renewable energy. Hence, we can observe that the use of natural gas and diesel increases each year.
The transportation sector consumed the largest share of total energy, followed by the industrial sector. The agricultural sector, on the other hand, consumed the smallest share of total energy. Energy consumption will determine our future environment.
Therefore, we should increase the use of renewable energy, such as biodiesel, hydro and solar, to outweigh non-renewable energy.
The use of renewable energy in Malaysia is still very low. If this trend continues, then our efforts to reduce environmental degradation will go down the drain.
Thus, high awareness should be ingrained in all parties, including industries and society, to reduce environmental degradation. Controlling the use of electricity and fuel does not only save money, but also saves the environment.
Despite campaigns to inculcate awareness of saving more energy in people, some people still take the environment for granted. Therefore, the onus is on all of us to protect the environment.
The government has made a good effort to reduce environmental degradation by introducing some plans in the 12th Malaysia Plan, such as carbon pricing and carbon tax.
However, this may affect productivity as firms have to pay higher taxes to produce more carbon in the process of production.
Therefore, using more renewable energy is the panacea for environmental problems, and, at the same time, economic activity may not be disrupted.
Dr Mohd Shahidan Shaari
Mohd Juraij Abd Rani
Faculty of Applied and Human Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times