Proposed climate change bill needs more ambition, more bite

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 24, 2025 - March 2, 2025

Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM) recently submitted feedback to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on the climate change bill (RUUPIN or Rang Undang-Undang Perubahan Iklim Negara).

Malaysia’s proposed climate change bill seeks to establish a framework for national climate action in alignment with the Paris Agreement. In our submission, CGM outlined key concerns and recommendations regarding RUUPIN’s scope, governance, emissions management, climate resilience and data transparency, and took into account regional considerations.

General observations on RUUPIN

RUUPIN is intended to be Malaysia’s overarching climate legislation, granting the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRES) authority to oversee and regulate climate actions.

CGM acknowledges the importance of a legal framework but stresses the need for urgency in language, recommending the term “climate crisis” instead of “climate change” to reflect the severity of environmental threats. We argue that adaptation should be central to the bill, ensuring proactive measures against extreme weather, rising sea levels and food insecurity.

Businesses and industries are not able to make informed decisions on adaptation measures and increasing resilience without access to datasets. To this end, CGM has been engaging with multiple key stakeholders for almost two years to propose a National Climate Risks Dashboard. A group of CGM volunteers have demonstrated the initial design of an aggregator platform, utilising business intelligence software, but access to datasets has proved challenging.

We emphasise the need for policy coherence, urging alignment with multiple strands of initiatives including Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) legislation, biomass strategies, protection of our mega-biodiversity (including marine coastline) and land use regulations. We also highlight the importance of soil and land use management in safeguarding carbon sinks and enhancing long-term environmental resilience.

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