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Welcoming Remarks

By YB Elizabeth Wong

at the luncheon talk on

Greener Governance

7 June 2010

11.30 am PJ Hilton

On behalf of the Pakatan Rakyat administration let me bid a very warm welcom Dr.

Harmut Grewe to Selangor. Your talk this morning on "Greener Governance, I believe,

will be very meaningful for us. The Pakatan Rakyat is an alliance for reform. We are

elected by the people not to run the state in business-as-usual manner of the previous

Barisan Nasional administration, but to undertake and implement policy shift. A shift that

is much needed in Selangor is to mainstream climate change in our approach to

sustainable development.

Climate change is a burning issue in the world today and at the level of state

government we must do our part in solidarity with the global community to address the

issue. As such, we want to tap your expertise Dr. Grewen and the resources of the

Konrad Adenauer Foundation to assist in formulating appropriate policies and

initiatives.

Climate change is already affecting our region, with rising temperature, decreasing

rainfall, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events

leading to massive flooding, landslides and drought causing extensive damage to

property, assets, and human life.

Annual mean temperature is projected to rise by 4.8 degrees celsius by 2100. During

the same period mean sea level will rise by 70cm. Our region will experience drier

weather in next two and three decades. This will exacerbate the problem of water

stress, affecting agriculture production, causing forest fires, degrading forests,

damaging coastal marine resources, and increasing outbreaks of infectious diseases.

We need to take timely action to adapt to climate change, build resilience, and minimize

the costs caused by the impact driven by green house gases (GHG) emissions that

have been locked into the climate system.

We should treat adaptation as an extension of sustainable development practices. Its

key elements include: adapting agricultural practices to changes in temperature and

precipitation; adapting water management to greater risk of floods and droughts;

adapting coastal zone management to higher sea levels; safeguarding forest areas from

forest fires and degradation; adapting people to threats of vector-borne

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infectious diseases.

Compared to developed countries, the regions emissions on a per capita basis are

relatively low. But they are considerably higher than the global average. By the turn of

the century Southeast Asia will produced 12% of the worlds greenhouse gases, with

the regions expanding population and economies, its global share of GHG emissions is

likely to increase if we remain with our business-as-usual attitude.

Yet, Southeast Asia is among the regions of the world with the greatest potential for

mitigating carbon dioxide by reducing deforestation and improving land management

practices. It also has vast, untapped opportunities for energy efficiency improvements

and for increasing the use of renewable energy sources, including biomass, solar, wind,

hydro and geothermalall leading to GHG emission reductions.

A recent report by the Asian Development Bank suggests that mitigation actions inSoutheast Asia should put priority on efforts to avoid deforestation, encourage

reforestation and afforestation, and promote sustainable forest management in the

forestry sector; improve energy efficiency, promote renewable energy sources, increase

investment in new and clean energy technologies in the energy sector; and

improve land, livestock and waste management in the agriculture sector.

Climate change together with bio-diversity should not be treated in isolation from the

general economic, social and environmental systems and must be dealt with in the

context of sustainable development. It requires growth with economic stability,

development with social equity and poverty eradication, and the continued functioning of

eco-systems as life support systems to sustain development.

Selangor can, and must, play its part in a global solution to climate change by

introducing sustainable development policies that incorporate mitigation and adaptation

activities. It is estimated that global warming is likely to cause rice yield potential to

decline by up to 50% on average by 2100. We can do more to tap the wide array of

global, regional and bilateral funding sources and initiatives that exist to help

Selangor respond to climate challenges. Among these are ADBs Energy

Efficiency Initiative and Carbon Market Initiative, as well as global-level programs such

as the Clean Development Mechanism and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

It is with this mind that we are establishing Selangor Green Council. It will a forum

consisting of entrepreneurs, the civil society, scientists, educators to help us to

formulate green policies and initiatives. Selangor is the most industrial part of Malaysia,

by that reckoning a substantial emitter of green house gases. As such Selangor must

take the lead in in realizing Malaysia's pledge at Copenhagen in October to reduce the

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intensity of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by up to 40 per

cent compared to with the level of 2005.

The council will undertake activities to raise public awareness on climate change and

the need to undertake policy shift with regard to our approaches to development. We

are fully aware of the need to create jobs and business opportunities to increase the

prosperity of Selangor. As such the Council in collaboration with entrepreneurs and

businesses will recommend to the state pro-growth green initiatives. Far from

hindering development our efforts to address climate change should open new window

of opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses, not only entrepreneurs in the

conventional sense but also social entrepreneurs whose prime motivation is to provide

social goods to the community.

We know that in the top league of industrial economy Germany is the most advance in

pioneering green technology and innovation. But today we will listen more aboutgovernance which is also of great interest to me personally and our audience. Thank

you.