AN environmental group has backed the possibility put forward by an expert that parts of Seberang Prai, Penang, and other areas in the peninsula may soon be claimed by the sea if nothing is done to address climate change issues.
Acknowledging that we are already in a climate crisis, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) said a holistic effort must be made to address the issue before it is too late.
However, its president, Meenakshi Raman, said this was not the case right now as even though the federal government had identified the need for holistic and comprehensive plans to tackle climate change, it was being let down by state governments, which were moving too slowly to address the issue.
She said the government at all levels — federal, state and local — must act with greater accountability, urgency and awareness of climate change as the time had come to better adapt and prepare for all eventualities.
"While the (federal) government has identified the need for a holistic and comprehensive national adaptation plan (NAP) that also integrates elements of disaster risk reduction, the progress in making the NAP a reality is far too slow, raising concerns that our current planning and development approaches are not only not integrating climate concerns, they also undermine our resilience to climate change.
"States should do all they can to strengthen climate resilience by protecting forests, rehabilitating degraded areas, not destroying mangrove ecosystems, promoting more sponge cities and urban parks, and discouraging the construction of 'hot houses'.
"Many civil society groups have been promoting agro-ecology and agro-forestry, which all help contribute to mitigating climate change and its impact, as well as supporting community livelihoods. There are many activities that can be undertaken with the support of the local government, working with civil society and local communities.
"But all this requires the big recognition and realisation that we must act now before it is too late. We have to stop thinking it is 'business as usual' and begin to truly understand that massive transformation is needed in the way we produce and consume."
Meenakshi said while there is more awareness of climate change now than before, still "the feeling we get is that we are not dealing with climate change problems with the urgency it needs".
She pointed out that the government's own National Communications (NC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change had identified many gaps and constraints, which needed to be addressed.
"For instance, in the area of adaptation to climate change, the NC has acknowledged that 'increasing weather extremes have posed challenges for Malaysia to maintain its level of development'. It also called for an urgent need to assess more accurately the country's vulnerability in key sectors and enhance its resilience to protect its development gains."
Meenakshi said there was hardly any serious attention to look at preventive actions and on how to put climate change at the centre of planning and development.
For instance, she said, in Penang, Kedah and Melaka, land reclamation was being promoted without any concern about how much they actually contributed to greenhouse gas emissions and how they could undermine climate resilience.
"In fact, some government leaders in Penang even tout such reclamation projects as being climate friendly. This illustrates how ignorant they are as they greenwash such projects."
Instead of reclamation work, Meenakshi said Penang should look at Singapore, which had been investing in strengthening its coastlines and making them resilient to climate change.
She was responding to the New Straits Times' exclusive interview with Universiti Sains Malaysia's Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies honorary professor Datuk Dr Zulfigar Yasin, in which he said rising sea levels due to the climate crisis could lead to parts of Peninsular Malaysia, including Seberang Prai, being lost to the sea within a decade.
She said there was a need to integrate climate change and the environment into the school curriculum.
"We need to use all forms of communications to heighten peoples' awareness, and this is not just the job of civil society.
"Planners, developers, architects, engineers, the construction sector — all must be made aware on the impact of climate change and how to ensure climate-resilient development.
"We have to act before it is too late. The clock is ticking and the temperature is rising globally. The impacts are already on us (heat waves, water stress and flash floods) and they will only get worse.
TOMORROW: Farmers and fishermen in Seberang Prai say the signs of climate change are here. And the Penang Green Council, a state agency tasked with coordinating environmental causes, details what is being done to resolve the issue.