Proposed Climate Change Bill is a Bold Step Forward with Nature-Based Solutions

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) — Alliance for a Safe Community, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), has welcomed the government’s move to introduce a long-awaited Climate Change Bill, which will compel industries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in accordance with Malaysia’s commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Its Chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said in a statement recently that the legislation must serve not only as a tool for emission control but also as a blueprint for long-term environmental sustainability and resilience, especially as Malaysia began to feel the real impacts of climate change — extreme weather, biodiversity loss, and threats to food and water security.

“The Alliance urges the government to ensure the Climate Change Bill is inclusive, enforceable, and forward-looking — one that puts nature, people, and planet at the heart of its design.

“Let this Bill mark a turning point in our nation’s journey toward environmental justice, economic resilience, and climate leadership,” said Lee.

Last Friday, in Kuala Langat, Acting Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said

the proposed National Climate Change Bill will include incentives for companies that successfully reduce their carbon emissions.

He said, among other things, the bill may also include provisions for the implementation of carbon credits, which would further support the national agenda to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The bill is still in the drafting stage and has yet to be presented to the Cabinet.

Lee also proposed, the Bill should explicitly incorporate the following elements:

Protection and Expansion of Carbon Sinks, Legal protection for remaining tropical rainforests, peat swamps, and coastal ecosystems, Large-scale reforestation and afforestation programmes in degraded areas.

He suggested the bill should also include Incentives for community-based forest management and indigenous stewardship, Restoration of Critical Ecosystems, Funding and legal framework for mangrove restoration, river rehabilitation, and coral reef conservation and collaboration with NGOs, local councils, and universities in monitoring and maintaining ecological health.

— BERNAMA