Name: Teo Jia Sing

Change for the Better

One concept which confounds many of us in discussions about global climate change is that
an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius could be significant. Not a day goes by where a normal daily
temperature fluctuation isn’t higher than that, so it’s no wonder that the idea of an average increase
of just 1.5 degrees results in a disaster that is difficult to come to grips with. Over the last 140 years,
the average global temperature has already risen by 1 degree Celsius. However, two-thirds of that
has occurred since the year 1975. We’ve seen the 20 warmest years on record since 1981, and the
warmest 5 years between 2014 and 2018. With the current increase, we’ve already seen massive
changes in our environment: increasing in droughts, melting of glaciers and polar ice caps, sea-level
rise and biodiversity loss. We’re experiencing reduced ability for agricultural success and the
increasing large-scale migration due to climate change. If no further actions were taken to flatten the
anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, our current trajectory sees us hitting 1.5 degrees
Celsius of warming by about 2040. If we are to prevent an overshoot of this, greenhouse gases
emissions must be reduced by 45% of 2010 levels by 2030 and be actually net-zero greenhouse gases
emissions by 2050. What can we expect then, from an additional average global temperature rise?
Nothing good as a half degrees rise in global temperature would be catastrophic.

To prevent grave environmental problems, companies and organisations have been making a
lot of promises. Amazon: “We’re going to reduce our carbon footprint to net zero.” Unilever:
“Unilever is committing to net zero emissions.” Shell: “We can achieve a net-zero emissions world”
Yes, many companies are on board in the effort of achieving net-zero emissions. Now, the million-
dollar question, what does net-zero mean? At the most basic level, net-zero means not putting any
more carbon into the atmosphere than you’re taking out. But, how can a company achieve net-zero
carbon emissions? Well, let’s take a look at Workday, a software company. In 2016, they made a
bold commitment to our planet — to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and power all their business
with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2021. They started by measuring their carbon footprint
and increasing energy efficiency in the offices and data centres. Even their customers and partners
are involved in building a solar farm together. They also built a new green to its core Workday
headquarters complete with a solar array the size of a football field. As a result, they managed to
reduce their carbon usage by one-third. They also continue to invest in high-quality carbon offsets
that are not only good for our Mother Earth but good for the people too. Clearly, one company’s
climate plan can ripple out across the whole economy. Still, it might not be possible for some
companies to eliminate all of their emissions by 2050. Alternately, they could achieve net-zero
emissions by investing in ways to suck that carbon back up and store it so that no new carbon
accumulates in the atmosphere. Thus, Malaysia should urge all local companies and organisation to
put net-zero plans into actions.

The most common environmental problem escalating now especially in metropolitan areas
will be the urban heat island effect. It accounts for the higher temperatures in cities, often by several
degrees compared with their surroundings. It’s becoming an enormous risk to human health as
growing urban populations exacerbate the heating effects of climate change. And this is where
population control comes in necessary. Although population growth may cause a decline in
greenhouse gas emissions per capita, the population bulge will continue to contribute to a drastic
increase in carbon footprint. Rapid population growth at the same time would cause a severe
shortage of resources. For example, scientists warn us repeatedly that there is a time of severe food
shortage on the horizon. Food production, however, is increasing very slowly compared to the rapid
increase in population. It is feared that there will come a day when there may be insufficient food to
go around. The question may be asked if it would be possible to have more food production.
Unfortunately, this will unleash another series of serious problems. To increase food production,
farming land has to be improved. This means the destruction of precious forests. This is an extreme
sacrifice as it will lead to adverse environmental and economic outcomes ranging from the impacts
of over-farming, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, and ozone layer depletion and the most worrying
one, global warming. Additionally, in present times, life is getting better for humanity, with better
living conditions, everyone wants a better lifestyle and their life expectancy increases as well. But,
due to the limited resources on our Mother Earth, it is only enough for each one of us to take exactly
as much as needed. No more, no less. As the maxim goes, the luxuries of today are the necessities of
tomorrow. Mahatma Gandhi quoted “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not
every man's greed”. Hence population control is necessary for the environmental survival of the
human race.

Moreover, mountains of research have shown that climate change provokes longer, more extreme
and more frequent heatwaves. Worsening heat waves ravage more lives than any other extreme
weather. Thus, immediate corrective actions should be taken by all parties. As pointed out by Tony
Robbins, “The path to success is to take massive, determined actions.” For example, in Singapore,
urban heat island mitigation strategies are being studied researchers. The government-backed project
which is known as Cooling Singapore is currently in the process of combining everything they've
learned to create a digital tool that can fight climate change and improve lives starting with
Singapore. For instance, the Gardens by the Bay is located in Supertree Grove in Singapore. It’s not
just any nature park. It’s awarded the distinguished World Building of the Year award at the World
Architecture Festival. With its award-winning cooled conservatories, Bay South has make Singapore
proud. The underlying concept of Gardens by the Bay is environmental sustainability principles,
which I call the greatest thing since sliced bread. What can we expect then, if the building all around
the world implement this system? The greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced, not just by a little.
This is because this system can save up to forty percent in terms of electricity usage compared to our
traditional air conditioners. And with Singapore relying on natural gas for most of its power, this new
system means emissions savings equivalent to removing ten thousand cars from the city’s road. That
has big implications for the rest of the world. If things stay as they are, more than a third of the
world’s electricity could end up being used to cool buildings and vehicles by 2050. As the world gets
warmer, there is a greater demand for air conditioning and refrigerators, for instance, which results in
more and more people buying these household appliances. This means that energy usage would
increase and at the same time, more heat is released. This will exacerbate climate change. It’s a
vicious circle. So, since 2017, researchers at Cooling Singapore have been identifying design
solutions that reduce our need for so much cool air in the first place. Thus, with Singapore being the
role model for sustainable development, we Malaysians, especially the youth should take on the
responsibility to combat climate change by developing diversity skills to deliver global
environmental benefits, building local livelihoods, and contribute to low emissions development on
the ground. As the saying goes, the youth of today is the future of tomorrow.

In short, Malaysia should play a role and benefit from COP26 and accelerates net-zero
ambition. As youth are the pillars of tomorrow’s nation, climate action should be addressed to all
students in order to increase their environmental awareness so that they could start committing to
making changes and start carrying out good environmental practice at a young age or even contribute
more in environment conservation like Greta Thunberg who is known for challenging world leaders
to make immediate action for climate change mitigation. To end, change begins with me and it is to
make the world a better place.

1372 words