Opinion piece by Zakri Abdul Hamid, News Straits Time | September 4, 2023 On August 29, UCSI University established a new Centre of Excellence — the International Institute of Science Diplomacy and Sustainability (IISDS). The vision is to position the university as a leader in science diplomacy and sustainability for the betterment of Malaysia’s interests…
Every month, Baxter Healthcare (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd sends 120 dialysate bags to 4,000 patients who are undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home in the Klang Valley. The bags are made of PVC and filled with dialysis solution, which is essentially water with salt and other additives. The solution flows from the bag into the patient’s…
Over the next decade we need to unlock change in a way — and at a rate — that has so far eluded us. Creating a world in which more than nine billion people can live well and within planetary boundaries by 2050 will require leadership and perseverance across every part of society. Business has…
I WAS serving the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans — perhaps the most devastating storm in the United States on record, causing an estimated US$108 billion in property damage and 1,200 fatalities. It was also the year UNU called for recognition of those displaced by gradual…
Since 1995, WBCSD has worked with members to deliver pragmatic solutions for sustainable action and to advocate for policy levers to support their implementation. Part of WBCSD’s work for actions on the climate change front includes the Business Manifesto for Climate Recovery, which focuses on the most urgent actions needed now to combat climate change.…
As the global community prepares for November’s meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Convention, there has been a rising crescendo on how to manage this existential crisis for humankind. “We are on the verge of the abyss,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned starkly at last week’s launch of an authoritative State of the Global…
ASIA-PACIFIC nations account for half of all global marine capture fishery production, with Indonesia ranking fifth worldwide (5.1 per cent) and Malaysia 16th (1.5 per cent). This industry provides livelihoods and food for people, and feed for the region’s growing aquaculture sector. With each passing year, fishing in Malaysia gets more challenging due to dwindling…
PRIME Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s expressed wish to review the Environmental Quality Act, enacted in 1974, is refreshing to hear. There have been amendments to the act from time to time, but the moment has come for a comprehensive review of this country’s foremost instrument of environmental governance. Our awakening at the time and…
RECOMMENDED reading: a new United Nations synthesis of several major past scientific assessments of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The year-long effort was led by two leading experts and long-time friends, Ivar Baste of Norway and Sir Robert Watson of the United Kingdom. The report’s title, “Making Peace with Nature” (at bit.ly/UNEP-UNEA), is striking.…
International observers of biodiversity governance watch very keenly any action by the United States government. Remember the phrase, “when America sneezes, the world catches a cold”. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, for example, the world community watched in total exasperation when the late president George H.W. Bush personally declined to…