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Budget 2026: Strengthening Infrastructure and Capacity to Attract Green Investment
- CGM
- Oct 13, 2025
- 2 min read
As Malaysia approaches Budget 2026, climate scientist Dr. Gary Theseira, also the chair of CGM Council, has urged policymakers to move beyond policy rhetoric and focus on structural reforms that can unlock private capital for renewable energy (RE) and green technology.
According to Dr. Gary, attracting serious investment requires addressing “barriers, difficulties, and complications” within the RE ecosystem — particularly in infrastructure, transmission networks, and human capital. Upgrading these systems, he noted, would signal Malaysia’s readiness for large-scale implementation and build confidence among investors capable of accelerating the nation’s green transition.
Rather than direct handouts, Dr. Gary advocated for strengthening the enabling environment — ensuring that sustainability becomes the “path of least resistance” for businesses. He highlighted that Malaysia’s progress in aligning with global ESG standards, such as the Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) Taxonomy and the ISSB-aligned IFRS S1 and S2 standards, places the country among Asia’s front-runners in sustainable finance governance.
However, he cautioned that continued success depends on institutionalising international best practices within Malaysia’s policy and regulatory frameworks to safeguard competitiveness and market access.
On fiscal measures, Dr. Gary called for a balanced approach between tax incentives and carbon pricing to avoid distorting markets, recommending co-financing and blended finance instruments such as loan guarantees and interest subsidies to de-risk green investments.
Beyond renewables, he emphasized the need to embed circularity and cross-sector collaboration into economic planning — linking sectors such as agriculture, waste management, and energy. Budgetary support, he suggested, should also fund pilot projects that demonstrate transformative technologies, such as pyrolysis and gasification, which hold potential for sustainable fuel production and carbon storage.
“To build a resilient, low-emissions economy, we must strengthen the systems that connect people, data, and capital — and make sustainability the default path forward.”
This article was first published in The Malaysian Reserve on 12 October 2025. Read the full article here.
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