The United Nations Climate Change Conference held in December 2009 in Copenhagen left little to cheer about. On the bright side, the accompanying uproar over its failings signals a growing global focus on environmental concerns. How should Malaysian urban centres position themselves on such issues?
MUCH MORE could and should have been accomplished at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Accord that was finally signed by major economies including the United States and China, committing them to limit the rise in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, did not specify caps on emissions to achieve this objective. Neither were there legal conditions to keep this in check.
Climate change and environmental issues have been the buzzwords of the past two years, partly thanks to Hollywood documentaries such as An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour, which address growing concerns about carbon emissions and climate change.
According to the International Energy Agency, Malaysia emitted 6.68 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita in 2007, more than twice the world's average, thus ranking it the fourth highest in the region after Brunei, Taipei and Singapore. However, compared to these three countries, Malaysia's emission per capita percentage change between 1990 and 2007 was the highest - it grew by a massive 14.3%.