Road to Net Zero: Energy Transition and Business Synergies in ASEAN Webinar 2022

ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Malaysia organised a Green and Sustainable Economy (GSE) Webinar 2022 on 18 August 2022, moderated by the Chair of ASEAN-BAC GSE Working Group, Ms Jukhee Hong. The webinar was attended by more than 70 attendees and discussed the energy transition and business synergies in ASEAN.

Datuk Seri Takiyuddin bin Hassan urged the general public and private sector to fully support the Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap (MyRER) in translating its strategies into meaningful actions. “The MyRER is a forward-looking document outlining related strategies in accelerating renewable energy (RE) deployment until 2035 to enable Malaysia to increase its RE capacity with a balanced approach while fulfilling Malaysia’s climate change commitments. The roadmap is expected to generate an economic spillover of about RM20
billion by 2025 and RM33 billion by 2035. It is also projected to create an estimated 47,000 employment opportunities in the RE-related field”, said the minister.

Dato’ Seri Ir. Dr Zaini Ujang, Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment and Water in his presentation, informed that the ministry has outlined a few policies and initiatives to achieve Malaysia’s climate targets, including the Malaysia Climate Change Council chaired by the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia and the development of the National Low Carbon Cities Master Plan approved by the cabinet in 2021.

Mr Raja Singham cautioned that SMEs are facing various business challenges and need government support to transition to a low-carbon economy. He believes that greater awareness of education among the smaller companies is critical to getting people on board and making lifestyle changes. “We need to be mindful that not all businesses are in a position to carry out the demands of climate actions and energy transition. Existing RE alternatives cannot fill the gaps of energy demand and no single solution such as energy, regulation or digital transformation can get us to Net Zero targets, therefore, a multipronged approach is needed especially considering the needs of the private sector.