Malaysia to prioritise sustainable production, consumption practices across sectors

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will prioritise sustainable production and consumption practices across sectors by targeting economic activities that contribute much of Malaysia's carbon emissions, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

The government will develop policies to make the country more carbon-efficient, particularly in the areas of electricity, transportation, and cities, he added.

According to BP's research, Malaysia's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were 250.3 million tonnes last year, up from 241.6 million tonnes the previous year, with energy (electricity consumption), mobility (vehicles), and waste the primary sources of emissions (municipal solid waste that ends up in landfills).

"Malaysia is moving in the right direction, we have mapped all our budget initiatives to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), allowing us to better match the national landscape of financing programmes with SDG-related projects," he said during a keynote interview on Malaysia's sustainability agenda today.

"As a result, we are actually among the 10 countries in the world which have fully aligned our national budget to SDGs based on the United Nations' assessments."

The interview was held in conjunction with the three-day Sustainable Finance Week Virtual Conference at Expo 2020 Dubai starting today.

Malaysia's Budget 2022 includes sustainability measures such as a transition to low-carbon practices, environmental and biodiversity protection, and community empowerment.

"We are also planning to issue our first government sustainability ringgit-denominated sukuk bond. This will enable Malaysia to not only meet its commitment as a responsible nation and signatory to the Paris Agreement but also further its efforts to advance its people and socio-economic well-being. So it's actually a testament to our efforts in combating climate change, as well as accelerating the transition to a more resilient and inclusive economy.

"So moving forward, the government plans to issue more bonds and sukuk that focus on eligible social and nature-friendly projects," he said, adding that this shows that Malaysia is taking a whole of nation approach towards sustainability and that the financial sector has also played a key role in complementing the government's strong leadership in sustainability.

The finance minister noted that every stakeholder is now demonstrating a shift towards sustainable finance, which will be an impetus to economic transition.

The Sustainable Finance Week, hosted by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), is expected to attract participants from around the world, comprising an audience that will include regulators, financial sector intermediaries, fund managers, and private market investors.

Themed "Enabling Sustainable Development Through Islamic Finance", the conference will highlight the role of Islamic finance as an enabler to achieve the UN's SDGs and Malaysia's position as an early mover in aligning sustainable development with Islamic finance.

-- BERNAMA