KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said a special focus on a sustainability agenda will be included in the 2021 Budget with an important announcement on it to be made on Nov 6.

Describing the Covid-19 pandemic as a wake-up call for the world, Muhyiddin said Malaysia, just like any other country, needed to rethink its development agenda particularly in regard to sustainability and green technology, which played a vital role in driving the economy.

He admitted that it was hard to find positives amid the consequences of Covid-19, but as an ardent optimist, he said he was sure there would be a silver lining.

“Lockdowns across the world made us reflect, made us think and we started to realise that we need to change our ways,” he said when opening the International Greentech and Eco-products Exhibition and Conference 2020, held virtually, today.

“We need to rethink our relationship with the planet. Due to all of us being at home, we also noticed we had better air quality, and Mother Earth had time to reinvigorate.

“But this was short-lived as we went back to our old ways once the lockdowns were lifted. But the lesson is, there is a promising path of green recovery as we wade through this pandemic.”

Muhyiddin noted that Covid-19 and climate change – the “twin Cs” – were proving to be the engines for concern and despair, with both being global threats that required a common global solution.

“Just as we need a vaccine for Covid-19, climate change requires urgent solutions that can’t wait for a generation,” he said.

He explained that a green recovery approach would not only spur the economy and social well-being, but will also drive the nation’s development trajectory on a low carbon and climate resilience pathway.

In this context, he said, Malaysia, blessed with natural resources, should leverage on this for a stronger green recovery agenda.

With the 11th Malaysia Plan for the period 2016 to 2020 entering its final phase, he said, the pandemic had challenged the government to build its resilience. “The road ahead has to be on a green recovery pathway.”

Source : Free Malaysia Today