Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and PN must not turn Malaysia into a climate change denier!

DAP Secretary-General, Lim Guan Eng has called out Perikatan Nasional (PN)’s Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man as being inadequate to the task of providing required leadership and expertise on climate change action. In a statement released today, Lim lambasted Tuan Ibrahim’s unacceptable explanation as to why Malaysia was not invited to the Leaders’ Summit on Climate in the United States on April 22 and 23.

Previously, Tuan Ibrahim claimed that our country was excluded from the summit because we are ‘not climate-vulnerable like Vietnam and Indonesia’. Furthermore, the PAS Minister also said that we are not a contributor to 80% greenhouse gases (GHG) to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Lim labelled the excuses given by the Environment and Water Minister as dishonest, unacceptable and even compared him to former US President Donald Tump who is infamous for being ignorant about climate change activism. Lim, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bagan asserted,

“Such Trump-like reasoning is unacceptable and dishonest when Singapore is also invited, even though Singapore should not come under either of the categories of GHG production or being climate-vulnerable.”

Lim further rebutted Tuan Ibrahim’s excuses by iterating that all countries are climate-vulnerable and that the differentiating factor is the degree in which the other countries have contributed towards promoting climate change action in their respective regions. With PN openly accepting the so called ‘clean’ plastic waste import onto our shores, Malaysia is now seen as just a favoured dumping ground for US and have clearly fallen behind as a strategic environmental partner in the global scene.

The DAP Secretary-General also urged PN and Tuan Ibrahim to not live in a state of denial but instead react responsibly to the snub by the US. Lim stressed,

“[PN must] react responsibly and positively by seeking assistance on how to restore Malaysia’s previous leadership on climate change activism.”

The Bagan MP also lamented how MPs are no longer able to make suggestions during Parliamentary meetings to improve the country’s reputation due to PN’s illegitimate suspension of the Legislative body.

Moreover, Lim also warned how failing to treat climate change seriously will have an adverse economic effect. According to a study by a group of UK universities including Cambridge, it is forecasted that due to climate change:

• 63 countries, including Malaysia could see their sovereign credit ratings cut by 2030.
• Malaysia is also forecasted to downgrade six notches by the end of the century.

Therefore, the DAP Secretary-General calls upon Tuan Ibrahim and PN to convene a National Climate Change Conference in order to flesh out fresh ideas on how to move forward and restore Malaysia’s activism and leadership. In fact, Lim stressed DAP is even willing to assist and contribute to help the PN government on achieving the matter.

Lim asserted,

“DAP is willing to assist and contribute, especially former PH Minister Yeo Bee Yin, who gained international recognition for her efforts on environment and climate change action.”

Malaysia must urgently restore our reputation as a regional leader in climate change activism for the sake of the rakyat. Unfortunately, currently, this PN administration has turned our country into being nothing more than just a waste dumping ground for developed countries. – The Rocket.