Royal Address by Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah at the Climate Talks for a Green Future in Dubai

Your excellencies, ladies and gentleman

I would like to thank my dear sister, Her Excellency Madam Emine Erdogan, the First Lady of the Republic of Türkiye for her invitation to speak at the Turkish pavilion today on why the youth should lead climate action.

I am grateful to Allah SWT that I am here today with you and It is indeed an honour to attend the United Nation’s 28th Climate Change Conference and to have this opportunity to share my thoughts on why the youth should be at the forefront of climate action.

We are in the midst of a climate crisis. The world is getting warmer, resulting in natural disasters, weather extremes, food insecurity and global anxiety. This is why it is important that we are here together to discuss these issues and how we can save our planet.

Today I would like to talk about a young man, a man who believes in Unity for action and delivery , A man so passionate about climate action, presevation and conservation ! He is my son, HRH The Crown Prince Hassanal of Pahang, who has much inspired me . He is here today and has been coming and participating since COP26 at Glasgow, then privately , so he can learn, and he returned inspired. He has been on this path since his early years. When he was much younger, he used to tell me how he wanted to protect his surroundings, the jungle and the animals. He has been hard at work protecting our State’s environment and addressing the issue of food security by modernising traditional agricultural practices. In his forward vision for climate action, he produced a blueprint for conservation for Pahang. On the ground, he is preserving a large peat swamp. He is also focused on protecting our Malayan Tigers, a critically endangered species. I’m so glad to share that he has persuaded the State to gazette a large area of land to be the first tiger reserve in Southeast Asia.

Most significantly, with the support of His Majesty The King , my beloved husband and the father ,who understood my son s vision ...he has persuaded our State Government of Pahang, to commit to be Net Zero by 2030. He says that Pahang will be net surplus by 2050 due to our high forest cover and low emissions industries so 2030 is a realistic aspiration. I am proud of him not just because he is my son but because he is young and represents our country’s youth. Insha’Allah he will achieve his vision.

I am not only inspired by his vision but also by his activism, which I want to share here as it reminds us of the role the youth can play in climate action. At COP27,he was invited by the Singapore government to speak at their Pavilion on Youth & Sustainability. He was also invited to be a member of a roundtable by the Thunderbird School of Business with government and corporate leaders. He also spoke at the Malaysian Pavilion on peat protection. In addition, he spoke at Project India about his efforts to protect the Malayan Tiger.

This year will be his third COP. He will be giving keynote speeches on the 2nd of December at both the malaysian and singaprean pavilion on “Forging Green Economy” and again on the 6th of December at the Malaysian pavilion on “Biodiversity and Water”. He tells me that he is excited to share the progress which he has made in the last twelve months. He does his Mother and country proud.Even I have to say that is pretty amazing progress to happen within one year.

He reminds me that my generation did not do enough for the environment. And sadly, many of the negative impacts to the global climate have been a consequence of my generation. There is hope in our youth. He tells me that it’s the responsibility of the young generation to address the negative impacts of climate change. As he is blessed to be in a position of some influence, he sees it at his responsibility to try to lead the youth of Pahang to address climate change and achieve NetZero by 2030. This is a young man who has been talking about recycling and making Pahang a garden state since his young days. He is walking the talk and has made many angry and unhappy but he stands firm and is not swayed by them. I am so proud of him and stand by his side for our planet’s future.

I hope that his efforts will encourage the other youth in the rest of Malaysia and hopefully the rest of the world to do their part in climate action.

So this is my call – let’s call on our governments and parents to listen to our youth. I listened to my son, and I am so grateful. My eyes are wide open, and I have learned so much from him and his peers. Perhaps it’s true that my generation did not pay attention to climate change, but it is not too late for us. Alhamdulillah, we have our youth who have the energy and vision to make those changes to save our planet.

Let us encourage and support them and make their future sustainable, bright, and hopeful.