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Sarawak leading the way in green initiatives
Posted on : 17 Nov 2018  Source of News: Bernama
 

KUCHING: Sarawak is a major player in Malaysia’s fight against global warming, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

He said 74% of Sarawak’s power is generated from three hydro-electric dams – Batang Ai, Bakun and Murum HEP.

“This surpasses Malaysia’s target of 2,080 MW in renewable energy by 2020, which will avoid seven million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually,” Abang Johari said in a speech read out by Assistant Minister of Entre­preneur and Small, Medium Enterprise Develop­ment Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais at a gala dinner held in conjunction with the Better Air Quality Confe­rence (BAQ) 2018 on Thursday.

BAQ 2018, held between Nov 14 to Nov 16, was organised by the Clean Air Asia and Clean Air Forum Society of Malaysia with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environment Board of Sarawak (NREB) as co-organisers.

Abang Johari said Sarawak was mindful of complex environmental issues that could derail its goal of becoming a developed high-income economy by 2030.

He also said Sarawak is the first state to draft its own environmental laws, the Natural Resources and Environment (Amend­ment) Ordi­nance 1993, and it also established the NREB in 1994.

For 24 years, the NREB was responsible for ensuring all development in the state did not severely degrade the environment and that all environmental issues were pro­perly addressed, he said.

Sarawak, he said, also aims to use hydrogen-fuel buses as public transport while the NREB has established a Centre for Remote Environ­mental Monito­ring which can detect illegal open burning using satellite images. — Bernama

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