SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Prepared by: Ikmal Rashmy Bin Ismail Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) USM

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1 Prepared by: Ikmal Rashmy Bin Ismail Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS) USM SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Issues & Challenges Associate In Malaysia.

2 Sustainable Development People living in this world way back from the time of Adam and Eve until now has developed tremendously through time. Resources has been used to developed nations, starting from the primitive time until present and will go on until the end of the world, which we do not know when. As long as we are still alive, it is our job as mankind to use the resources available today and make sure that some are left for our next generation that is what we called sustainability. Sustainable development involves the development of better future for the society, economy and environment (Figure 1). Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable To ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Commission, 1987) 1. Therefore, the developments that we make today can be applied today, tomorrow and make useful to people without jeopardizing and destroying our future generations. Sustainable Development means inculcating the process of maintaining human needs while preserving the environment for future generations. It also means we must use the available resources efficiently so that they will be available for many years to come. Consequently, Sustainable Development Goals is merely a social movement, whereby a group of people with a common ideology who try to get together to achieve certain general goals. Figure 1: We develop for better future for the society, economy and environment 1 JOHN, D. and DEBORAH, M. (2010) 1

3 In practical terms, sustainable development entails: Rising material wellbeing of the poor, at a pace that narrows the proportionate gap with the rich. Continued scope for improved material wellbeing of the rich (properly defined!). Sustainable functioning of the Earth s ecosystems, including Conservation of the Earth s biodiversity. Major Challenges of Sustainable Developments (SDs) Apart from the issues of SDs, there are also major challenges that can be identified using a comprehensive illustration below (Figure 2): Figure 2: (Major Challenges of Sustainable Development) Throughout the decades water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity (WEHAB) has been the main issue in the sustainable development. Moreover, it has put the challenges into the next level of concern globally as how to adapt to the global climate change, how to implement disaster risk management, how much to maintain production and reduce over consumption for the population and how to reduce poverty. Global Sustainable Development Challenges Post-2015 In September 2000, world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration which provided the basis for the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2. A global consensus was successfully forged around the importance of poverty reduction and human development. Since then, the global community has managed to uplift a large segment of the MDGs. As part of the WEHAB, the world is faced with challenges in all three dimensions of sustainable development economic, social and environmental. 2 (World Economic and Social Survey 2013 Sustainable Development Challenges, 2013) 2

4 More than 1 billion people are still living in extreme poverty 3, and income inequality within and among many countries has been rising. At the same time, unsustainable consumption and production patterns have resulted in huge economic and social costs and may endanger life on the planet. Achieving sustainable development will require global actions to deliver on the legitimate aspiration towards further economic and social progress, requiring growth and employment, and at the same time strengthening environmental protection. Sustainable development will need to be inclusive and take special care of the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable. Strategies need to be ambitious, action-oriented and collaborative, and to adapt to different levels of development. They will need to systemically change consumption and production patterns, and might entail, inter alia, significant price corrections, encourage the preservation of natural endowments, reduce inequality and strengthen economic governance. The World Economic and Social Survey 2013 aims towards contributing to the deliberations on sustainable development with a focus on three important cross sectorial issues: sustainable cities, food security and energy transformation 4. Sustainable Development Challenges In Malaysia Malaysia is classified as a middle-income country. In recent years, Malaysia has been transformed from an agro-based economy to a manufacturing economy. Malaysia is the fastest growing economies amongst ASEAN countries. This rapid growth rate is attributed mainly in the ability to exploit the very environmental resource base available for the country. The early European Colonialists who came over to Malaysia driven to vigorously exploit the country rich environmental resource base and the exploitation trend continues after the country independence till today 5. Government programs to develop and promote investment in the key sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, and services will need to be dealt with in a holistic manner. Environmental resources exploitation are important generators of economic growth but since the colonial periods environmental resources exploitation also have led to a steady increase in environmental degradation. Environmental degradation issues are becoming more intense and frequent in the last half decade or so not only in Malaysia but for the Southeast Asia Region as a whole. Environmental degradation would impact on the country societal wellbeing and quality of life. The last half decade also witnesses the emerging importance of trans boundary issues which further impact the well-being and quality of life in Malaysia. Consequently, given the major issues/challenges that the world faces today it directly and indirectly associates the sustainable development in Malaysia. Malaysia is a country that has considered sustainable development in its policies. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed (Malaysia s former Prime Minister) has stated Malaysia s 3 (Poverty Overview, 2015) 4 UN, D. (2013) 5 (Mokthsim and Salleh, 2014) 3

5 commitment towards Sustainable Development by the year in his working paper, The Way Forward, which was presented at the Inaugural Meeting of the Malaysian Business School in Feb, 1991 as follows:- a) To ensure that our valuable resources are not wasted. b) Our land must remain productive and fertile. c) Our water unpolluted. d) Our forest resources capable of regeneration and able to yield the needs of our national development. e) The beauty of our land should not be desecrated; for its own sake and for our own economic advancement. Malaysia s Plan and Strategies (Malaysia Plan) In Sustainable Development Malaysia is not away behind in the realization of sustainable development. In the Ninth Malaysia Plan for example, in line with the Ninth Principle of Islam Hadhari 7, environmental stewardship is going to be continued and promoted by the government to ensure that the balance between development needs and the environment exist. Sustainable development has been strategized in the Ninth Malaysia Plan The National Sustainability Development has been stipulated in Thrust 1, Thrust 3 and Thrust 4 of the Plan 8. In Thrust 1 9, the strategy is to move the economy up by strengthening agriculture and agro based industry. It involves new land development, replanting program, land consolidation and rehabilitation. Whereby upscaling manufacturing and related services may contribute in promoting new sources of Industrial Growth. In the area of tourism, the strategic thrust includes sustainable tourism development towards strengthening Malaysia s position as preferred global tourism development. Thrust 3 addresses the distributional agenda that to be pursued more firmly so as to ensure the achievement of a more equitable distribution of the benefits of economic development by all Malaysians by creating a more balanced and equitable participation among and within ethnic groups primarily through capacity building and raising of competitiveness 10. Thrust 4 focus on how to improve the standards and sustainability of quality of life Malaysian Citizens. It involves improving infrastructure, utilities and urban transportation, sustainable energy development, achieving better health, providing of quality housing and urban services and promoting environmental stewardship through environmental management and land use planning (Dr. Mahathir, 1991) 7 (Mohamed Sharif, 2005) 8 (EPU, 2006) 9 (EPU THRUST 1, 2006) 10 (EPU THRUST 3, 2006) 11 (EPU THRUST 4, 2006) 4

6 The sustainable development strategies continued in the Tenth Malaysia Plan , clearly mentioned in Strategy Thrust 4, Improving The Standard and Sustainability of Quality of Life 12. The quality of life for Malaysians will be improved through better access to healthcare, public transport, electricity and water by ensuring effective sourcing and delivery of energy. Measures were also taken to create a caring society and promote community well-being. Economic development was based on sustainability principles through developing a climate resilient growth strategy in order to ensure that the environment and natural resources are preserved so that growth will not come at a cost to future generations. The Establishment of Malaysia s Sustainable Development Policies In line with the plan and strategies that have been outlined in The Malaysian Plan, policies have been established by the authorities involved to support sustainable development in Malaysia mainly in the aspect of land use, climate change and green technology (Figure 3). Figure 3: Malaysia: Towards Sustainability Source: DR. DAHLIA ROSLY, Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia, Advancing the Sustainable Development Agenda through aligning Malaysia Plans & Policies (2011) 12 (EPU THRUST 4, 2010) 5

7 In the National Physical Plan (NPP) for example, is in par with the Sustainable Development Goal 15(SDG 15) which is to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reserve degradation and halt biodiversity loss 13. It is a framework for an integrated and sustainable land use planning to manage environmental sensitive areas, to safeguard water resources and to conserve prime agricultural areas 14. Consequently, the NPP derived to establish an efficient, equitable and sustainable national spatial framework to guide the overall development of Malaysia towards achieving Vision It includes safeguard and manage sustainably all surface and ground water resources, to apply sustainable forest management and water resources management that will integrate the planning and management of land use and natural resources. Thus, future settlements and infrastructure in coastal zones will be located away vulnerable to rising sea levels or storm surges. Natural barriers, especially mangroves, forests and peat lands shall be protected and expanded and further conversion of will no longer be allowed. To govern the climate issues in Malaysia, National Policy On Climate Change (NPCC) has been established to mainstream the climate changes. This policy through wise management of resources and enhanced environmental conservation will result in strengthening the economic competitiveness and improved quality of life. Why do we need such policies in Malaysia? According to a study, there will be a possible climatic change in Peninsular Malaysia by which result a temperature rise by 2 0 c and more extreme hydrological conditions such as higher maximum rainfall, lower minimum rainfall, higher high river flow and lower low river flow 15. The climate issue has been given some impact to Malaysia. Unpredictable heavy and constant rainfall for example has caused landslide disaster in Cameron Highlands, on December 23 rd Although some people said that it happened due to the will of God, however at least we can prevent it from happened if some precautionary actions have been taken to avoid or minimize the disaster. The NPCC will guide stakeholders who involved directly and indirectly to integrate climate change responses in the national development plans to fulfill the country s aspiration for sustainable development. The NPP will also initiate actions on climate change issues that contribute to environmental conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, integrate climate change considerations into development planning and implementation and improve participation of stakeholders and major groups for effective implementation of climate change responses. The other aspect of sustainable development addressed in Malaysia is about the green technology. The National Green Technology Policy (NGTP) has been introduced in July 2009 to establish a green environment in Malaysia with Green Technology as a driver to 13 (United Nations) 14 (JPBD, 2010) 15 (UKM, 2010) 16 (TheRakyatPost, 2014) 6

8 accelerate the national economy and promote sustainable development 17. Green Technology refers to products, equipment or systems which satisfy the following criteria 18. a) It minimizes the degradation of the environment; b) It has a zero or low greenhouse gas(ghg) emission; c) It is safe for use and promotes healthy and improved environment for all forms of life; d) It conserves the use of energy and natural resources; and e) It promotes the use of renewable resources. The strategies in the policy will seek stakeholders to provide conducive environment for green technology development, to promote and enhance public awareness within the 4 pillars of NGTP: - 1) Energy - Seek to attain energy independence and promote efficient utilization; 2) Environment - Conserve and minimize the impact on the environment; 3) Economy - Enhance the national economic development through the use of technology; and 4) Social - Improve the quality of life for all. In the creation of cities with a vision which supports harmonious communities and living conditions through sustainable urban development National Urbanization Policy (NUP) has been established in NUP of Malaysia comprises 30 specific policies to be referred in order to plan, develop and manage the urban environment. Of which, one of the policies that is NUP4 has stated as Urban Growth Limit (UGL) is determined based on its carrying capacity for all towns in the country. The implementation of NUP could contribute to reduce numerous existing major urban problems such as, rapid rate of urbanization that overly encroaching agricultural land and environmental sensitive areas, traffic congestion, carbon emission, underutilization of land or space and weakening social interaction. It is believed that most of the above-mentioned urban problems are associated to the sprawl pattern of the present urban form. Therefore, it is obvious that one of the rationales of that particular policy (NUP4 of UGL) is anticipated to deal with the issue of urban sprawl. Additionally and more importantly, we believe that it is deliberated to make Malaysian towns or cities more compact. 17 (Energy and Feed, 2009) 18 (KeTTHA, 2009) 19 (National Urbanization Policy, 2010) 7

9 Malaysia s Commitments and Achievements Malaysian Government is so committed in addressing the sustainable development issues for the betterment of the society, economy and environment for present and future undertakings. Given the outstanding and comprehensive plans, guidelines and policies established within the specified area of sustainable development challenges, certain indicators have been identified and access to measure whether the specified objectives and targets have been achieved. There is a need to build national, state and local capacity to collect useful information from the specified area of focus such as conditions and trends, to convert that information through appropriate analytical techniques, and to apply that knowledge in formulating and modifying such policies and programs. One good example is The Urban Indicators Network (MURNInet) 20 developed by the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia. MURNInet was created based on a computer network designed to analyze present urban conditions, effects of development, to survey temporal changes and formulate sustainable urban scenarios for the future based on fixed standards. The indicators will help to measure the minimum quality and life standard that has to be achieved by each town or city in Malaysia. Another success story that shows Malaysian commitment is the involvement of government agency internationally. The Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) made its first debut in the International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2014 (IGEM 2014) to promote our activities in green high technology industries and the Science to Action (S2A) program. In IGEM2015; MIGHT hosted the MIGHT Open Forum during 3 days exhibition and was attended by the trade visitors and speakers of IGEM The forum was delivered by 5 very exiting speakers from a range of background including Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre (AMIC), MY Biomass Sdn Bhd, Global Cleantech Innovation Program (GCIP) and Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA). The topic covered ranged from sustainable aviation, Biomass into Green Chemical, Energy Storage System, Innovating and Investing in Cleantech and Sustainable Development Lifestyle. Also, there were a show case of mini Bio-digester system by Greendas Biotech (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Bio-degradable Packaging by Free The Seed Sdn Bhd. MIGHT at IGEM 2015 exhibition has successfully highlighted our initiative in green particularly in developing the industry and application of green material. As nations zero in on the UN's post-2015 global Sustainable Development Goals, innovations being successfully pioneered and demonstrated in Malaysia offer several proven tactical ideas for improving the world, says an influential international sustainable development networking organization. The UN's Sustainable Development 20 (MURNInet) 21 (MIGHT, 2014) 8

10 Solutions Network (SDSN), through its Malaysian chapter, cites ways in which the country is "rising to the challenge," including the construction of ingenious, selfsustaining "smart" villages -- each lifting about 100 families out of poverty and into affordable homes and employment. Meanwhile, guides for minimizing the carbon footprint of cities while promoting healthy lifestyles, and using science to extract new wealth from palm biomass waste are among other creative initiatives underway in Malaysia that help light a path for emerging economy countries 22. Malaysia's achievements in sustainable development has been highlighted at the 2nd Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development Practice (Columbia University, New York, Sept , Other than the environmental challenges, the issues of society and economic has been the main agenda for the Malaysian government throughout the years since the Independence Day of Malaysia in Recently, these issues has been highlighted again as the main agenda in the Malaysian Budget Datuk Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak (Malaysia s current Prime Minister) on Friday, October 23 rd 2015, has delivered a relatively painless but fiscally responsible budget, providing some cheer to ordinary Malaysians while ensuring sustainable growth in the face of volatile global economic conditions 23. The main thrusts of the Budget 2016 include addressing bread-and-butter issues like the rising cost of living, housing, education, income levels and job creation. In his Budget speech, he also ensured that Malaysia is not a failed or bankrupt nation, but one which is stable with strong economic fundamentals and remains competitive, a point to ponder by our economic specialist whether to agree or disagree with the statement. There are 6 achievements have been highlighted under the National Transformation Program of which two of them relates to the poverty eradication, water and energy supply issue. Poverty rate has been reduced to 0.6 per cent this year from 3.8 percent in Water and electricity have been supplied to 5 million rural folk throughout the country. In terms of social impact, unemployment rate reduced to 2.9 per cent from 3.4 per cent in 2009 with 1.8 million jobs have been created so far 24. Conclusions Sustainable development is a complex and multi - domain issue, which has to combine efficiency, equity, and intergenerational equity on economic, social, and environmental ground. Debates on sustainable development present in the literature can be classified into several thematic areas such as category of conceptual discussions, contexts of sustainable development, academic debates, and geopolitical discussions. Since then, Malaysian Government has made a lot of effort to continuously tackle, improve and overcome the sustainable development challenges and issues. Credit should be given for the excellent work that has been done by the stakeholders involved. Consequently, a 22 (SmartVillage, 2014) 23 (NST, 2015) 24 (NST, 2015) 9

11 lot more has to be done in order to achieve certain objectives. Stakeholders have to be more focus and get involved deeply. More capable and productive research has to be done. Good governance has to be maintained so that the formulation of policies will be fair for everybody. Last but not least, educate people as early as their childhood age so that they know what kind of future they want. References: 1) JOHN, D. and DEBORAH, M. (2010) Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio ) World Economic and Social Survey 2013 Sustainable Development Challenges (2013) 3) Dr. Mahathir, M. (1991) Malaysia: The Way Forward (Vision 2020). 4) Poverty Overview (2015). 5) Mokthsim, N. and Salleh, K. O. (2014) Malaysia s Efforts Toward Achieving a Sustainable Development: Issues, Challenges and Prospects,Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 6) EPU, P. O. P. (2006) Ninth Malaysia Plan , The Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister s Department, Putrajaya. Available at: 7) EPU THRUST 1, 9TH M P (2006) NINTH MALAYSIA PLAN - ENGLISH. 8) EPU THRUST 3, 9TH M P (2006) 9) EPU THRUST 4, 9TH M P (2006) NINTH MALAYSIA PLAN - ENGLISH. 10) EPU THRUST 4, 10TH M P (2010) TENTH MALAYSIA PLAN ) Mohamed Sharif, B. (2005) Islam Hadhari: Concept and Prospect. 12) United Nations, K. P. SDGs & Topics: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. 13) JPBD, K. (2010) Jabatan Perancangan Bandar Dan Desa Semenanjung Malaysia, KPKT. nning%20framework.pdf 14) TheRakyatPost, N. (2014) Landslides reported in Cameron Highlands. 15) UKM, C. C. P. (2010) Workshop on Climate Change & Biodiversity: Mobilizing the Research Agenda December 2010, UKM, Bangi. 10

12 RE.pdf 16) Energy, N. G. T. P. and Feed, C. R. (2009) National Green Technology Policy launched. 17) KeTTHA, M. (2009) GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES: TOWARDS GREEN GROWTH. %20National%20Green%20Technology%20Policy%20and%20Government%20Initiatives.p df 18) UN, D. (2013) World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable Development Challenges. 19) National Urbanization Policy (2010). 20) MURNInet.The Urban Indicators Network (MURNInet) developed by the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia, Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia. 21) MIGHT (2014) MIGHT S ON GREEN KNOWLEDGE SHARING FORUM. 22) Smart Village (2014) Malaysia s Smart Villages and 9 other proven ideas for sustainable development. 23) NST (2015) (LIVE) 2016 Budget Highlights. 11