[COLUMNIST] The intensifying climate crisis: Are we doing enough?

California, in the United States, has started 2025 by fighting two of the most destructive wildfires in its history (CNN, 2025). Now, Japan is in the midst of battling the largest wildfire since the late 1980s (The Guardian, 2025).

The climate crisis is not just about bigger and more dangerous wildfires. Extreme weather patterns have created havoc across the globe, some of which we have unfortunately experienced in the form of severe monsoon floods in Peninsular Malaysia in late 2024, and in East Malaysia this January, where more than 5,000 families were affected in the two states as of 31st January 2025 (ReliefWeb, 2025).

Furthermore, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mohamad Sabu, stated that while we have enough rice stocks for at least six months, these weather patterns are so unpredictable due to climate change that no one knows what will happen in the future regarding paddy production (Free Malaysia Today, 2025).

Rest assured, paddy production would not be the only agricultural product affected by an ever-worsening climate. Studies from across the globe and various time frames have repeatedly found evidence that climate change will have a profound impact on food production, including rice, wheat, corn, and animal produce, with some suggesting that doubling carbon dioxide emissions would result in losses of 10 to 50% of agricultural croplands, which could effectively translate into 10 to 70% losses in global yields of key food crops (Dunchenne-Moutien & Neetoo, 2021; Malhi et al., 2021; Cheng et al., 2022).

It is clear that the world needs to act on this as quickly as possible. Yet, it seems we have slowed down in the fight against climate change, as scientists suggest that the 2-degree Celsius target is “dead”, and that the pace of global warming has been underestimated by many (The Guardian, 2025a).

Furthermore, ever since President Donald Trump of the United States (US) assumed office again, the US has rolled back several initiatives and collaborative efforts to combat climate change, including pulling out of the Paris Agreement for the second time.

Notwithstanding how other countries are faring in their efforts to combat climate change, has Malaysia achieved any significant progress in slowing it down?

Unfortunately, while we might have made progress on paper, in reality, things might be very different.

For one, although we are actively pushing for an expansion of renewable energy in our energy mix and even have the capacity to export some energy to Singapore starting December 2024, we are still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, as a recent report showed the relevant ministry justify the proposed electricity tariff hike by citing rising fossil fuel prices (New Strait Times, 2024; Malaysiakini, 2025).

Additionally, despite the government setting a deforestation deadline for all oil palm plantations on 31st December 2019, 12 new projects were approved by the Department of Environment (DOE) between 2020 and 2023 (Malaysiakini, 2024).

Deforestation is not the only project affecting our environment that has been approved despite public knowledge of a moratorium, or operating without prior approval—such as the bauxite mine in Kuantan, as EMIR Research explored in a previous publication titled “Make EIA Credible: Enhance Transparency, Strengthen Enforcement”. These issues persist despite multiple calls to improve the process.

In one of the recent parliamentary sessions, the lower house approved the Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) Bill 2025 on its third reading (Malaysiakini, 2025a).

CCUS technology aims to capture carbon dioxide emitted by heavy industry and permanently store it in designated sites, most likely depleted oil wells previously used for extracting oil and gas. Passing the bill could drive waves of investment opportunities and economic growth in the form of job creation, as well as create an avenue to impose carbon tax.

While CCUS technology, if it works as intended, would help mitigate carbon emissions, effectively bringing us closer to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, it is also a risky venture in the fight against climate change.

Apart from the possibilities of leaks that could put the entire storage site in ecological crisis and undo the progress made in protecting the environment, CCUS could stall efforts to shift away from fossil fuels to green and renewable energy. In fact, it might even encourage more fossil fuel firms to expand their oil and gas extraction ventures for a foreseeable future.

In another previous EMIR Research publication, it was highlighted that our projected energy mix in 2050 still comprises 29% natural gas, which is a form of fossil fuel (refer to “Nuclear Power As An Option in Malaysia’s Energy Mix”).

Whether we like it or not, the fossil fuel industry is one of, if not the biggest, contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In fact, a most recent study found that 36 fossil fuel firms are responsible for half of the world's carbon dioxide emissions (The Guardian, 2025b). Hence, we should be actively investing in alternative forms of energy—including nuclear energy—to replace fossil fuels, as we mentioned in the article.

Carbon capture and waste recycling are quite similar.

While it is vital to recycle as much waste as we possibly can so that less ends up in landfill, a more effective approach would be to curb excessive consumption that eventually turns into waste.

It is vital to capture carbon dioxide and prevent it from entering our atmosphere, but the most effective path is reducing the number of operations that actively emit carbon dioxide, be it from fossil fuels, coal power plants, or the number of cars on the streets.

Reducing emissions by capturing them is great, but it is not the only way for us to progress in combating climate change.

One of the first things we could do is ensure that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is credible and hold relevant parties accountable. That involves strengthening EIA implementation as we have outlined, and expanding the scope of which projects should be submitting an EIA.

Another step we should take is to expand our investment in alternative energy sources, as mentioned before. Providing a substitute that is as accessible as fossil fuel would definitely help reduce our GHG emissions.

We need to step up our efforts in fighting climate change now, to avoid further disaster—not only intense floods and heatwaves, but also food shortages caused by irregular production due to a changing climate.