Malaysia Calls For New Funds To Tackle Climate Change

September 25, 2007 10:20 AM

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, besides calling for easier access to existing world environment funds, has proposed the establishment of several new funds to help developing countries to effectively tackle climate change.Representing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at a one-day UN-sponsored high-level informal meeting on climate change here, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia also hoped to see the early operationalisation of the Adaptation Fund now being worked out under the Kyoto Protocol.The UN defines climate change as a change of climate attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere in addition to natural climate variations observed over comparable periods of time.The Kyoto Protocol builds on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and sets legally-binding targets and timetables for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by industrialised countries.The Kyoto Protocol's Adaptation Fund was established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol.Malaysia also called for a large fund, to be financed by developed countries, to be set up to help developing countries build up their defences against climate change, said Syed Hamid, who spoke at two special sessions in conjunction with the special climate change meeting.In the session on Financing The Response To Climate Change Investing In Tomorrow, he said Malaysia said another fund must be set up to help developing countries undertake reconstruction and rehabilitation measures following major disruptive climatic events.Syed Hamid said Malaysia also proposed appropriate funds to be expanded to help in the redesign of production and transport systems to be more climate-friendly.Developed countries, he said, must commit themselves to providing financing and technology to the developing world or else there would not be an effective climate regime after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol at the end of 2012.In the session among Tropical Rainforest Countries' Leaders, Syed Hamid said Malaysia was of the view that any proposal to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol beyond its 2012 expiry date and negotiations on climate change commitments should be done under the auspices of the United Nations.They should be under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF).Besides Malaysia, the Tropical Rainforest Countries at the special UN-convened meeting include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Cameroon, Congo and Gabon.Syed Hamid said Malaysia looked forward to working together with other Tropical Rainforest Countries as they all had a lot of commonalities in managing their forests.Malaysia, he said, shared the common concern of the international community that climate change was affecting the global environment and it was a matter that required immediate attention."This close bonding will give us better mileage in negotiating terms that are favourable to our respective countries," said Syed Hamid, adding that this would also help them close the gap in addressing the adverse effects of climate change among developing countries so that this would benefit the entire global climate system.He said although Malaysia had no obligations towards reducing greenhouse gases under the UNFCCC as it was only a Non-Annex 1 Party to the UNFCCC, the government had nevertheless taken and would continue to take steps to address challenges brought about by climate change.Syed Hamid stressed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions at source should be the primary focus in mitigating climate change.He said Malaysia, blessed with relatively large tracts of natural tropical forests covering almost 60 per cent of the country's land area, recognised the importance of tropical forests in mitigating the adverse impact of climate change.Malaysia has also managed its forests in accordance with Sustainable Forest Management practices, thus preventing its forests from sliding into the deforestation cycle, he said.Syed Hamid said given that forests played a significant role in Malaysia's socio-economic development, it would be to Malaysia's own interests to conserve and manage its forests on a sustainable basis.He said Malaysia, while recognising that deforestation may contribute to climate change, would still need to convert its forests to other land use like for development and agriculture.As such, he said, Malaysia, like other developing countries, should not be denied the rights of development, and in particular, in fulfilling its obligation to eradicate poverty.Syed Hamid also told the meeting that any initiative involving forests should not be limited to tropical rainforests but other forest types as well.The specially-convened meeting was part of several multi-pronged initiatives aimed at securing political commitment and build momentum towards the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Bali from Dec 3 to 14.Those responsible for facilitating the talks say that the inputs would help the proposed launch of a new international climate change agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.This is because the protocol's emission reduction targets for industrialised countries cover only a portion of global greenhouse gas emissions and these targets expire after 2012.Without a new agreement, they felt that it would be difficult to rein in both the emissions of highly industrialised countries and expanding emerging economies.-- BERNAMA