BANGKOK (March 28): Malaysia is making every effort to accelerate progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Malaysia’s Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said institutional frameworks have been set to ensure inclusive participation involving all level of stakeholders, to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic has reversed some of Malaysia’s gains in SDG progress earlier and has further exacerbated existing social and economic inequalities.
Out of the 146 indicators available in 2020, 49 (34%) have improved, 34 (23%) have not changed, while 41 (28%) have decreased, while the remaining 22 (15%) are non-statistical indicators.
“Malaysia remains committed to achieve the goals… We want to prove to the world that we are a serious global player to push for SDGs goals based on all initiatives, legal framework, and core national policies.
“We hope that by our commitment (and) determination, and by working with other countries, we will be able to make Malaysia an exemplary model of SDG goals,” he told Bernama here on Monday (March 27).
Nga is attending 10th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in Bangkok. He joined 1,300 representatives from 51 countries in the forum organised by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
The forum brought together a cross-section of key development actors, including senior government and UN officials, the private sector, youth and civil society representatives, to share their challenges and experiences to deliver a common goal.
At the forum, Nga also delivered country statement on “Towards the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit”, where Nga said his ministry is focused on seven key areas that will effectively accelerate the localisation of the SDGs.
These include enhancing Malaysia’s smart and sustainable cities agenda, developing and empowering the local government, strengthening municipal finance, developing a comprehensive housing plan, empowering communities, managing the country’s solid waste effectively and efficiently towards circular economy, and strengthening the readiness of Malaysia’s firefighters, he said.
Meanwhile, Nga said the government would enhance the quality of urban areas by providing social spaces that improve livability, reduce carbon emission and at the same time, conserve and protect the biodiversity of the city.
“We have to date, 11,773 parks and open spaces that are made accessible to the public. We have also planted 58.52 million trees to date and the target is 100 million trees by 2025, and provide 20 metre square of open spaces and green areas to every resident,” he said.
To spearhead the strategic initiative towards the development and deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) in Malaysia, Nga said his ministry has developed the Planning Guidelines of EV charging stations in the country.
Malaysia has also developed the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint (2021–2030), which are strategies and action plans for the land transport sector to achieve the objective of reducing energy consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by year 2030.
Nga said there are many more efforts undertaken to ensure Malaysia achieves the 2030 agenda.