ENVIRONMENT Day was celebrated worldwide on June 5 and the sad reality is in Malaysia we are still very much backward in protecting the environment. It is time for some reflection.

As a nation we have moved from a commodity-based economy to manufacturing but have failed over the years to strategically plan for a greener economy that was sustainable for future generations.

Malaysia, ruled by the Barisan National government over the decades, has embarked on industrialisation policies rooted in the neo-liberal economics, executed extensively during the Mahathir years in the 1980s.

There were national car projects and privatisation of social services. These created a context where there was accumulation of wealth without a sense of love for nature and common good.

Jobs were created in many industries where the preservation of environment was not a major criterion. Large acres of forest were cleared for palm oil plantation contributing to greenhouse gases.

The concept of industrialisation was to get rich without much thought about its sustainability.

Instead of a national car of false pride we should have created an efficient public transport system that would have brought down pollutions in our cities and safeguarded the health and wellbeing of Malaysians.

While politicians and intellectuals take pride that Malaysia has created a strong middle class over the years, the question is: in what direction?

Was it based on the holistic understanding of creating a culture of love for nature and society, that loves to experiment various initiative to protect the environment? The answer is clearly no.

What we see is a lot of littering by Malaysian consumers over the decades, who do not know to distinguish between material that is environmentally damaging or friendly.

The extensive use and disposal of plastics is an example of this.

We do not have a single leader in the Malay polity who has a vision on protecting the environment that covers areas of politics, economy, governance and policy, especially among government leaders.

The PH government was no better since it was made up politicians who prefer to work within the frame of new-liberal economics with improvement here and there.

According to BP research, Malaysia’s CO2 emissions amounted to 250.3 million tonnes in 2018, up from 241.6 million tonnes in 2017.

The main sources of the emissions were energy (electricity consumption), mobility (vehicles) and waste (municipal solid waste that ends up in landfills).

Malaysia has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 40% by the year 2020.

The government is duty bound to explain to the Malaysian public whether such reduction has been made.

Currently, in the context of Covid-19, it has been a tough time for many business entities to reorganise themselves as the nation waits for the right timing to lift the movement control order (MCO).

Business owners are ensuring operations are as lean as possible to mitigate loses by laying off workers, retrenchment and unpaid leave.

The question is: could there have been be a better and sustainable alternative where the laying off and retrenching workers is seen as a last resort?

It is obvious profit maximisation has been the main focus of business elites over the decades, instead of embarking on sustainability of processes and operations by upgrading human capital skills and preserving the environment.

For example, there should been an initiative a decade ago to build the concept of sustainability –by ensuring sustainable profits and strategically plan to ensure operations ultimately become green and lean.

Embarking on energy efficiency projects, green procurement, better management of water resources and upgrading to digital technology would have saved substantial costs for business operations.

The cost savings could have been used to survive the current economic crisis and train or retrain workers for higher value jobs.

Therefore, it is obvious there is a systemic failure on the part of Malaysian political and business leaders over the decades to chart an economic progress that would have been sustainable for the future generation.

Malaysia needs a green revolution that should be helmed by the young. There is a need for strong labour-linked environmental base movements and political parties in this country to bring about significant cultural change on how Malaysians should view the environment.

It has to start from multi-ethnic community leaders reflecting a bottom up approach to bring radical change.

I would like the young to take up this challenge to bring about a green revolution in Malaysia that would help preserve the environment for future generations.

We should learn from the Scandinavian countries who made a remarkable progress in making their economy green. – June 7, 2020.

* Ronald Benjamin is secretary at the Association for Community and Dialogue.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.