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'We are at war with nature' – and we urgently need to make peace



I wrote last month about the outcome of COP27 – the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention in Egypt. Earlier this month the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity met in Montreal. Ten thousand people were registered for this COP and more than 30,000 attended the one last month. That’s a lot of people – so why is progress so difficult?  

At this COP a chilling warning was issued by the head of the UN’s Environment Programme, “As far as biodiversity is concerned, we are at war with nature. We need to make peace with nature. Because it is what sustains everything on Earth … the science is unequivocal.” 

The outcome of the Montreal meeting will need to tackle “the five horsemen of the biodiversity apocalypse”: land-use change; overexploitation; pollution; the climate crisis; and the spread of invasive species.  The draft targets included in the global biodiversity framework involve proposals to protect 30 percent of land and sea, repurpose billions of dollars of harmful subsidies for nature-friendly investments and tackle invasive species.  

Here is clear recognition that planetary health is essential to human health. Make no mistake, these global processes, big and ponderous as they appear, are an essential element of our collective effort to ensure the health of the planet is protected and, in turn, that human health outcomes are improved. But they are only part of the equation – and the targets are only targets unless and until they are met.  

Governments have never met UN biodiversity targets in full and climate change commitments went into reverse at the Egypt gathering last month. So the question must be who is responsible for this backsliding? Who is responsible for the fact that here in Malaysia we are emitting almost three times more carbon per head today (7.9 mt/capita) than in 1990 (3 mt/capita) and are in the top 30 global emitters per capita?  And what can we do about it?  

My sense is that while we are all worried and concerned by the state of the planet and the negative repercussions a combination of factors is having on our collective health, we’re also at a loss about what we can do. The arrival of a new government provides the opportunity for a reboot of our collective ambition. The newly created and warmly welcomed Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry has its work cut out and so it is gratifying to see the words “climate change” in its title – a recognition of the reality of our predicament and the urgent need to up our game.  

It should also be encouraging for all of us that the Prime Minister has included climate change as a policy priority. Minister Nik Nazmi has articulated four areas of focus: floods, energy use, climate change and environmental protection. I would also request the Prime Minister and his cabinet to focus on several more specific issues as well:  

  • Firstly, the government should continue to support the elaboration the National Planetary Health Action Plan, which is being coordinated by Akademi Sains Malaysia. Recasting the relationship between people and planet will help us all to understand our respective roles in addressing the current multiple challenges that we face.  
  • Secondly, this work must be linked to the health white paper that was started under the previous administration, providing a huge opportunity for a now urgent realignment of our health system following the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  
  • Thirdly, in September 2021, the 12th Malaysia Plan promised legislation on climate change to increase coordination and enhance the effectiveness of climate change actions, with a new law expected in 2024. Getting our commitments codified in law as soon as possible will help us to move forward and provide all sectors of society with what we all crave - clarity on what we are supposed to do.  
  • Finally, as we gear up to take our turn as chair of ASEAN in 2024 our administration needs to know it is going to be a fairly momentous year and one where Malaysia can and should play a leading and transformative role.  
  • The new ASEAN Vision covering the period 2025 to 2035 will be elaborated during 2023 and 2024 with Malaysia holding the pen. Ensuring that the document is rooted in a recognition of the need for sustainable development, aligned with concrete actions to address the climate and biodiversity crises, and identification of a way to bring the three ASEAN pillars – political-security, economic, and social-cultural - together will be vital. It will prepare a pathway for our region to lead global efforts on developing a planetary health-oriented post-2030 agenda.  
  • The attention of the UN will be turning towards the likely unfinished business of the Sustainable Development Goals and considering what comes next. Already the UN is planning a Summit of the Future in September 2024 that will involve Heads of State. Malaysia, both in its own right, and as incoming Chair of ASEAN, working closely with Indonesia as 2023 Chair, can play a key role here in laying out our plans and those of the ASEAN region.  

Time is short, but opportunities for our country to exert leadership domestically, regionally and internationally in the fight to turn things around has never been greater nor more urgent while at the same time providing us with potential for a collective sense of optimism - if we all work together 

 

Dr Jemilah Mahmood, a physician and experienced crisis leader, is the Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University. She is the founder of MERCY Malaysia and has served in leadership roles internationally with the United Nations and Red Cross for the last decade.  

As published in The Star on 29 December 2022, at https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2022/12/29/039we-are-at-war-with-nature039---and-we-urgently-need-to-make-peace

 

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