NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE BILL TO BE TABLED IN 1Q25

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- The National Climate Change Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament in the first quarter next year, said Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

He said currently his ministry, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry (NRES) is conducting stakeholder engagement sessions as well as producing consultation papers for public comment until Nov 18.

"For Malaysia to thrive and maintain climate resilience, governance plays a crucial role, and we are now currently working on a Climate Change bill.

"You can actually go to our website and see the draft on some papers so that you can get your views from the private sector, from the public. We hope that we are able to introduce it for the Parliament session by the first quarter next year," he said in his speech at the launch of IOI Sustain Roadmap 2030 (ISR 2030), here today.

Also present were IOI Property Group chief operating officer (Property Development) Teh Chin Guan and IOI Property Group chief operating officer (Property Investment) Chris Chong Voon Fooi.

The bill on climate change is aimed at enhancing environmental sustainability while creating new opportunities for the business sector, where it could enable businesses to access markets that emphasise sustainability.

Nik Nazmi said the government is serious in tackling issues on climate change where at the National Climate Change Action Council chaired by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in June, has agreed to confirm the country's aspirations to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

"This is a very ambitious target, which will require a lot of radical changes by the government, from the private sector, as well as society at large.

"But we believe that this is necessary if we are to have a fighting chance to fight climate change," he said.

Meanwhile, Nik Nazmi said NRES has submitted a plan with a development budget of RM140 milion, to the Ministry of Economy, to construct a Malaysia Biodiversity Centre (MBC) building, which would also consist a Natural History Museum.

"Since 1998, the government has been talking about having an MBC to manage scientific collections and biodiversity databases; to coordinate scientific research for the science and policy interface; establishment of centres for advanced training, as well as our need to have our own Natural History Museum to showcase this strength of ours. 

"So, I'm pleased to report that the desire to establish an MBC and Natural History Museum is increasingly becoming a reality," he said, adding that during a town hall session in July, more than 30 local universities and research institutions expressed strong support for the establishment of the MBC.

He also said the government is looking to have a private-public partnership on the establishment of MBC building.

"The state-of-the-art biodiversity centre, is in line with what we can showcase to the world, with the collections that we have," he said.

-- BERNAMA