The importance of environmental diplomacy was underscored by Environment and Water Ministry Deputy Secretary-General Dr K. Nagulendran in a recent interview with the Global Environment Facility's newsletter.
He listed three of Malaysia's most pressing environmental concerns: First, as a fast-developing country, there is a need to balance development with sound environmental stewardship — a fragile balance in many developing countries.
"As a megadiverse country," he said, "we need to conserve our natural heritage while promoting the wise use of it.
"Malaysia is home to some of the most iconic, majestic species found on this planet, such as the Malayan tiger, the Malayan tapir, and the orangutan. About 18 per cent of our flora is endemic to Malaysia. Just like elsewhere, we are witnessing the numbers of these megafauna going down in the wild. This is a real concern. Because even an insect or microorganism in the forest plays a huge role in the functioning of our ecosystem."
From biodiversity he moved on to climate change, noting that, although Malaysia's greenhouse gas emissions constituted only 0.7 per cent of the global total, climate change impacts respected no borders.
"As a country with a lot of biodiversity, a lot of forests, Malaysia has huge potential to scale up nature-based solutions to climate change, including adaptation measures to minimise the impact of climate change. We are working to prioritise green and low-carbon growth."
Plastic pollution was the third issue cited in the interview.
"Ever since China closed its doors to importing plastics, we have seen much of the waste ending up in our country. We have zero-tolerance for plastic waste entering our country illegally. We have sent back 248 containers to more than 20 countries, and the bulk is to developed countries."
Of the three global problems, two were addressed by the world community in 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At that meeting, the world signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Almost 30 years later, there is no end in sight for either problem. And, as Dr Nagulendran said, we are faced today with a third environmental mega-problem — plastic pollution.
On average, it's said, the equivalent of a truckload of plastic is discarded into the ocean every minute — roughly five to 13 million tonnes a year. The conversation on how to solve this challenge continues to go on and may include introducing another legally-binding mechanism as with climate and biodiversity.
Science is fundamental to solving these challenges, in keeping with Dr Nagulendran's remark on the importance of environmental diplomacy and the need for international cooperation.
Eleven years ago in London, during the launch of the Royal Society "Science Diplomacy" report, the then British prime minister, Gordon Brown said "many of the challenges we face today are international. And whether it's tackling climate change or fighting disease, these global problems require global solutions".
One new international mechanism for collaboration is the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA), whose mandate is to create a collaborative platform for policy exchange, capacity building and research across diverse global science advisory organisations and national systems.
Recently, the South-East Asian Science Advice Network (SEA-SAN) was launched as a regional chapter of INGSA. It aims to structure and strengthen direct evidence-to-policymaking pathways in Asean, particularly on the areas of shared regional concern within the Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon in 2015. The SEA-SAN pilot study will focus on the Covid-19 pandemic and the "new normal".
Malaysia has great expertise as personified by the deputy secretary-general and decades of first-hand experience in environmental treaty negotiations and its subsequent implementation at the global and national levels.
And there are many others as well — former diplomats, civil servants and academics in the country — who are willing and able to teach the craft of environmental diplomacy and transfer valuable lessons learned to the younger generation of government officials. Let us take greater advantage of that opportunity.
The writer is one of the original negotiators of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and current chairman of SEA-SAN.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times