In 2020, Central America has been battered by 30 named storms and 13 typhoons destroying crops and small businesses. The impoverished people in Central America are fleeing their homelands to the United States to look for jobs. This will worsen the immigration crisis at the Mexico-United States border.

New developing countries (NDC) and least developing countries (LDC) are the most prone to climate crisis damage. These nations lack of domestic capacity, capital and technical ability to reduce the impact of natural disasters and rebuild from them.

Closer to home, nine typhoons and two tropical depressions in just two months have battered Vietnam. The increase of natural disasters in last 2 months have killed 132 people and caused RM1.1 billion in damages, more than the whole year of 2019.

Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Pacific island nations continue to be battered with a series typhoons, storms and mega floods. Malaysians are complacent about the climate crisis as these nations are acting as a natural disaster buffer for Malaysia.

Global capitalism’s hunger for infinite growth by exploiting nature is unsustainable and burning fossil fuel is hurting the world’s poorest. Historically, the United States and European Union had taken up the largest carbon budget due to their dependence on coal during the early phase of their industrialization.

Malaysia is among the world’s top 30 biggest lifetime emitters due to rapid petroleum exploitation and an addiction to private cars. Malaysia has been clinging onto “developing nation” status and has thus avoided scrutiny on its contribution to the climate crisis.

Malaysia needs to plan for a carbon neutral economy, and eventually become carbon negative.

SHARAN RAJ
Bureau for Environment & Climate Crisis
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
&
State Secretary
Parti Sosialis Malaysia Negeri Melaka (PSM Melaka)