Embedding
Environmental Sustainability for the 2030 Agenda in Malaysia
National Population Conference on Sustainable Development Goals. Dewan Perdana Nur, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Putrajaya. 20 July 2016
Dr Hezri Adnan, FASc
Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia
Three Key Messages
1. SDGs is a goal-based instrument
2. By design, the environment underlies each of SDGs ambition
3. Malaysia is not a population hotspot, but the environment-population nexus features peculiar dynamics
Sustainable Development Goals
Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an intergovernmental set of aspiration of
17 Goals with 169 targets. The SDGs build upon the success of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
People. Planet. Prosperity. Peace. Partnerships
SDGs: Goal-Based Development Agenda
“By defining our goal more clearly – by making it seems more manageable and less remote – we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it”
J.F. Kennedy
Source: Waage et al 2015. The Lancet Global Health
Internationally agreed
goals and target have
both a political value
and an instrumental
value.
From global goals to
country-specific targets?
Key Message # 2
By design, the environment underlies each of SDGs ambition. In the past, issues concerning the environment have always been treated in isolation, underpinned by the discourse of environmental protection
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and
those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related
extreme events and other economic, social and
environmental shocks and disasters
End hunger, achieve food security …
Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production
systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity …
Target 2.5: By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed
and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly
managed and diversified seed and plant banks …
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being …
Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and
illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and
soil pollution and contamination
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education …
Target 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed
to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through
education for sustainable development and sustainable
lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of
a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and
appreciation of cultural diversity …
Ensure availability & sustainable management of water and sanitation…
Target 6.1: ..achieve universal & equitable access Target 6.3: ..improve water quality by reducing pollution.. Target 6.4: ..increase water-use efficiency .. Target 6.5: ..implement IWRM at all levels.. Target 6.6: ..protect water-related ecosystem.. Target 6.a: ..expand international cooperation.. Target 6.b: local community
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience/adaptive capacity Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising Target 13.a: Implement the commitment to mobilise $100 billion annually Target 13.b: Promote mechanisms for raising capacity
Conserve & sustainably use oceans, seas & marine resources
Target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine
pollution of all kinds.. Target 14.7: By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small
Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine
resources..
Promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems..
Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration
and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland
freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular
forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands..
Target 15.9: ..integrate ecosystem and biodiversity
values into national and local planning..
SDGs as a Network of Targets
The goals and targets of the SDGs are highly interconnected.
Example SDG 12, SCP is linked to 14 other goals. SDGs provide stronger incentives than in the past for cross-sector,
integrated work.
Source: Le Blanc 2015
Key Message # 3
Malaysia is not a population hotspot, but the environment-population nexus features peculiar dynamics
• The central idea of sustainability revolves around the convergence of three main pillars of development namely economic, social and environmental.
• The said convergence is yet to take place in Malaysia. Decoupling necessary
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Year
Poverty Rate
GDP Per Capita
Growth with Equity Balanced Development Performance Development Laissez-faire
Ecological Footprint
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erson
per h
a
MALAYSIA Population of 31 mil (2015)
Natural resources under state jurisdiction Area of 330,396 km2
Upper middle income with GNI per capita of USD10,196
Malaysia’s Development Profile
A Snapshot of Malaysia’s SDGs Performance
Source: ISIS Malaysia 2015
SDGs requires strong efforts in meeting higher order goals.. Unlike MDGs, basic needs were already a national priority since the 1970s
Population Change-Environment Nexus
Rising per capita consumption of resources - water resources; minerals; biodiversity loss;
food security Pollution and environmental degradation
- Greenhouse Gases; pollution; municipal solid waste
“Malaysia is not a population hotspot of the scale of Indonesia and the Philippines”
The interplay of population-environment nexus
Encroachment into environmentally-sensitive areas Displacement of forest-dwelling peoples High-density urban living
Policies and Link to Population Issues
National policy Implications for environment-population nexus
National Environmental Policy, 2002
Its goal is a clean, healthy, safe and productive environment for the current and future generations involving active participation of all sectors of society through conservation and sustainable consumption and production.
National Urbanisation Policy, 2006
The policy links the high rate of population increase to the need for the development of new areas for housing, social amenities, commercial and other urban land uses. It also stated that the lack of clear urban limits has led to the creation of urban sprawl encroaching upon environmentally sensitive areas and major agricultural areas.
National Water Resources Policy, 2012
One of the guiding tenets is ‘Water for People’, providing for universal access to safe, adequate and affordable water supply, hygiene and sanitation.
Recommendations
Establish a holistic land use policy which is based on river-basins rather
than state administrative boundaries to ensure water, energy and food
security for all;
Strengthen the pricing mechanism for water and electricity supply to control
unnecessary wastage by consumers;
Synergize urban development especially for new housing and industrial
estates with the carrying capacity of respective water catchments to avoid
future water shortages.
Empower the federal government to enforce environment-related
legislations at the state and local levels especially in protecting
environmentally-sensitive areas from illegal or legal-but-lethal
encroachments;
Unpack the gender dimension in environmental sustainability – e.g. during
floods disaster
Develop policy intelligence on the nexus between migrant workers
dynamics and environmental change to understand the effects of their
migration on Malaysia’s human-environment systems, be they on
socioeconomic stratification, and urban livability
Thank You for
Listening
Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso