PETALING JAYA: The long-delayed Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act (EECA) will only be tabled for debate in the Dewan Rakyat later this year.

Natural resources, environment and climate change minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said the government has been pushing hard to get it through parliament.

“Other countries already have some form of energy efficiency legislation in place, but in Malaysia, it has been on the drawing board for several years now,” he said at the sidelines of the third International Green Building Conference (GBC) here today.

He said that an important component of the EECA was to achieve net zero emission. “As such, it does not just mean renewable energy but also energy efficiency, which means reduced usage of energy,” he added.

Nik Nazmi said the recent heat wave in many Asian countries as well as rising sea levels and regular floods showed that political leadership had become even more critical now in addressing climate change.

“We have to make some adjustments to government policies as well,” he said.

For instance, he said, many hospitals, schools and clinics have installed solar panels on their own initiatives to reduce energy costs.

As a result, he said, the Treasury would allocate a smaller sum of money for their utilities bills.

“While it is commendable that the government can now save some money, the leadership in these health and educational facilities should also be rewarded for their effort by being given some of the savings to improve their infrastructure,” he added.

Earlier, in his keynote address, Nik Nazmi urged businesses to start playing a bigger role in the fight against climate change by embracing environment, social and governance (ESG) principles.

He pointed out that adopting these sustainability-oriented guidelines are now imperative for trade and investment.

As such companies, along with the government, would have to work hard to accommodate these demands.

“Our efforts would be futile without the support of the (real estate) industry. We need strong commitment and close coordination between the government and industry stakeholders to catalyse (this) transformation,” he said.

Nik Nazmi pointed out that energy efficiency and sustainability “cannot simply be legislated into existence”.

He agreed that not only consumers, but big companies and builders as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would also find the challenge daunting.

Nik Nazmi said efforts previously launched in Malaysia to address climate change have already brought positive results.

He said the Low Carbon Cities 2030 Challenge (LCC2030C), a collaboration between his ministry and the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) saw the participation of 32 local authorities last year.

“More significantly, their efforts have led to a reduction of 209,214 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent,” he said.

The minister said the programme would last until 2030 to build on the momentum for climate action.

Source: FMT