I have a bachelor’s degree from the University of Malaya in Environmental Engineering and started my career as an environmental consultant in a global sustainability consultancy. In 2014, I was offered a Commonwealth Shared Scholarship to read a Master’s degree in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford. Upon my return, I joined an intergovernmental organization, and am now working on climate change and energy issues in Malaysia.

You were recently at the Bonn Intersessional in May 2017 as part of the Malaysian Delegation. Which tracks were you following?

I was in Bonn for the Bonn Climate Change Conference (Bonn Intersessional) which went on from the 8^th to the 18^th of May 2017. The meeting comprised of the 46^th sessions of the Subsidiary Body of Implementation (SBI 46), the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 46) and the third part of the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA 1-3). The Malaysian delegation to the Bonn Intersessional consisted of fourteen people. 

While in Bonn, I was tracking the agenda items on capacity building, technology, the Nairobi Work Programme, and public registries on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Adaptation Communications.  I also participated in the in-session workshop to develop possible elements of the gender action plan under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This year, Malaysia was one of the countries invited to present the results from our Biennial Update Report in a process called the facilitative sharing of views. The Biennial Update Report is a report submitted by developing countries to the UNFCCC which contains the country’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans and progress. In the facilitative sharing of views process, countries have to explain and defend their climate plans which are open to public questions from all countries. I was also following closely on this.

Any progress on the tracks that you followed?

For capacity building issues, we discussed about the fourth review of the implementation of capacity-building framework for economies in transition, and on the implementation of the framework for capacity building in developing countries. There were quite a few informal consultations whereby the co-facilitators had already prepared the draft conclusions and decision text. However, at the end, parties were unable to agree on the text proposed. Thus, the discussions will be restarted at COP 23. The outcome of this agenda item reflects the nature of the negotiations process at the UNFCCC, whereby decision-making is by consensus, and getting more than a hundred countries to be on the same page is often a complex and lengthy process.

I also followed the agenda items on the modalities and procedures for the operation and use of public registries for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and adaptation communications. These two agenda items had significant progress with countries agreeing to common elements of the registries, emphasizing on the user-friendliness, public accessibility, security and searchability of the web-based registries.

There were two agenda items under technology: the Technology Framework and the scope and modalities for the periodic assessment of the Technology Mechanism. During the consultations on the technology framework, parties discussed about the possible principles and structure of the technology framework, and the functions of the technology mechanism, among others. Possible headings of the Technology Framework were agreed upon, and the item will be further discussed in COP23. For the agenda item on the periodic assessment of the Technology Mechanism, parties gave their views on how the process should be: cost-effective, results oriented, aligned with the technology framework, and inclusive of stakeholders.

As for the Gender Action Plan, the in-session workshop was held to develop possible elements of a gender action plan to support the implementation of gender-related decisions and mandates under the UNFCCC. Parties and NGOs provided views on key result areas and possible activities of the gender action plan.

In Paris almost two years ago, a landmark agreement was agreed upon by almost 200 nations to cut global emissions in the effort to limit climate impacts. However, many of the details on rules, accountability, transparency and governance were left for future negotiations. Put simply, there were questions left unanswered on who should do what, by when, and with what kind of financial support. Drafting these details, collectively known as the “Paris Rulebook” was the top agenda item in Bonn, and people attended the negotiations with the expectation that the Paris Rulebook will be discussed and there will be a draft negotiating text. Discussions focused on the global stocktake, on how reporting can be made more transparent, on how climate finance will be mobilized.

The overall progress for the Bonn talks were incremental. Discussions on the “Paris Rulebook” captured the different views of parties in informal notes, but there was no consensus making yet. If the expectation before the Bonn talks was that a draft text will be prepared, this would mean that we did not achieve what was expected. But progress, no matter how incremental, is still important.

You mentioned on the Global Stocktake. Any updates on that?

In Paris, parties agreed that they will come together for a global stocktake in 2023 and every five years following that to measure collective progress. A similar process, called the “facilitative dialogue” was also agreed to be undertaken in 2018 to measure progress and inform the next round of national determined contributions (NDCs) which are due in 2020. . During this intersessional, the Facilitative Dialogue was discussed, but concrete guidelines and rules as to how the facilitative dialogue will be carried out has not yet been agreed upon.

Is there anything for Malaysia to prepare for COP23? What is there to expect?

Under each topic for the “Paris Rulebook”, parties are invited to submit their views during ahead of COP23, with the aim of setting out options for the draft text of the rulebook. That will be the immediate actions for Malaysia.

What are the differences between the Intersessional and COP?

The intersessional talks take place in Bonn every year, midway between the annual COPs. While the COP is at the ministerial level, the intersessionals are the working level, the backbone supporting the UNFCCC. The intersessional talks move negotiations forward, ahead of the larger COP meetings which take place at the end of the year. In my opinion, the intersessionals are not being given as much attention compared to the COP, but they have very significant contributions in terms of getting down to business.

Was there anything interesting that happened during the Intersessional?

As the US took a step back in the negotiations this year while the Trump administration contemplated a decision on whether the US should withdraw from the Paris Agreement, there seemed to be an interesting geopolitical shift where other developing countries were starting to become climate leaders. In Bonn, we saw other countries like China and India stepping up and reinforcing their commitment to the climate change agenda. In their Facilitative Sharing of Views, India shared how their renewable energy is growing so quickly that it is on track to be about 8 years early in reaching its 2030 goals to have 40% of the nations installed electricity supplied by clear energy. China also gave statements that reaffirmed its commitments towards the Paris agreement. The news that Trump administration might pull the US out from the Paris Agreement (which was confirmed to be true after Bonn) did not affect the negotiations at all, but negotiators we all the more determined to move ahead.

To me, the key message that came out from Bonn is that the world is committed to climate action, whether or not the US remains in the Paris Agreement.

What are your views on Malaysia’s progress?

Malaysia has shown lots of progress in last few years on climate change. We have embarked on efforts to move towards a low-carbon pathway, increased the deployment of renewable energy through incentives, and have implemented various programmes in reducing energy demand and increasing energy efficiency. Our technical skills, including that of calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions have increased dramatically. Our capacity in implementing climate change activities have also improved.

However, we still need to put concerted effort in making sure that our economy is being decarbonized, that renewables play a larger role, and that we design things to be more energy efficient. Energy is the biggest sectoral contributor to GHG in Malaysia, accounting for about 76% of our GHG emissions. The best way for us to be on track to achieve our Paris Agreement target is to look at the energy sector. There is much to be done in reducing emissions from electricity, transport and buildings in Malaysia, which should be our priority areas.

Additionally, Malaysia’s focus thus far has been on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions- we have had little work done on adapting to the effects of climate change, which is still necessary.

Some would argue there is not really a need for Malaysia to carry out adaptation plans just yet.

It is true that Malaysia has not been suffering from the worst impacts of natural disasters yet, but we are still vulnerable to extreme weather events like flooding and droughts. Having a plan in place to adapt to climate change would mean that we would be better prepared to face any current and future impacts of climate change towards health, ecosystems and water resources.

Do you have any advice for MYD and Youth interested in climate change and negotiations?

I believe that it is important to keep the dialogue on climate change going between youth, decision makers from the government and NGOs. Youths are often able to bring new and innovative solutions to difficult issues, and being able to see things from a new perspective and learn from other stakeholders who are passionate in the same issue is always good. Most importantly, always remind yourself of the reason you became interested in climate change in the first place, and use it to keep yourself motivated and accountable!

What’s next for you?

I still see myself going on the climate change and environmental path in the future, as this is something that I can relate to very much. I hope that I can to be of much greater service to Malaysia one day and to contribute much more in the future.

Feel free to add any final comments.

It’s great to see MYD playing such an important role in bringing young people together to learn, discuss and act on climate change issues. Keep up the good work!

 

 

Kelly’s Diary: My first MYD journey

by admin | Jun 14, 2017 | #MYD, Event, MYD2017

With only a few more months left for COP23, MYD organised it second training series on 21st May, which focus on how to put the FUN in fundraising 

2 climate experts from Paris were invited to help us better understand what crowdfunding is all about and the strategies involve in it, but our venue is what made this whole training series even more special.

We held it in Taman Rimba Kiara, where an Earth Day event and a protest to stop the diminishing of this park were held consecutively.

When Art meets Activism

Many other booths relating to the ‘green’ topic too were set up, including us as well. We get to enjoy ourselves with Zumba in the morning (Sorry guys, i am too busy dancing, no time to take picture), then petition signing and also get to witness the protestants chanting “Save Taman Rimba!”.

People mountain people sea

A successful crowdfunding campaign uses the theory of communication circles to determine if the crowdfunding is successful or not. So, when your close friends and family starts talking about your campaign, their friends would eventually help you raise funds too if they agree with your campaign’s idea itself, and that is when you know your campaign has been a success!

Besides that, we get to be the first trial group for the 2 Parisians to test out their ‘game’ involving us to plan our own crowdfunding campaign (on any topic) on that spot and to present it after 30 minutes, to determine if it will help us gain better insights regarding crowdfunding on that topic.

Anne and Tienot are the founder of Wānanga Trek and we are happy to be able to invite them to be our trainers

With that, different ideas, strategies and also rewards idea ( for the sponsors) were given feedback from the 2 Parisians and it had proved how much creativity the MYD’s members had in them in terms of crowdfunding as ideas such as giving ‘seed’ as a reward for the sponsor to reduce carbon emission, or even setting hotel booths to collect leftovers to reduce food wastage, were the discussed ideas on that day itself.

Our team, were thinking of publishing a photo book regarding the MYD- Making You Donate, idea as a reward for sponsoring us to COP23, to help publicize and educate Malaysians about climate change policies during UNFCCC itself.

Why so serious !

To end the day, MYD along with its partners, #PowerShiftMsia and Kem Solusi, held a BIG-PIE( Peer Integration Exchange) meeting effectively using the fishbowl method where we, as MYD Members get to witness it too! *hence the term BIG*

As the fishbowl method involves a circle within a circle, where only the interior circle was able to talk and voiced out their opinion and the exterior circle is the observant and could only be voicing out only upon tapping the interior participant’s’ shoulder, this method was beneficial as the meeting was held in the park itself, and minimal disruption would be beneficial.

As part of the MYD member, I believe that the next coming months would involve an increment in knowledge absorbed and also life skills learned, as we will be organizing our own training series the next time round!

So, see you guys next time!

 

-Kelly Heng, MYD17 member

PRESS RELEASE: MYD Statement made it to The Star

by admin | Jun 12, 2017 | #MYD, In The News, MYD2017, YouthStatement

We, the Malaysian Youth Delegation have produced a youth statement in response to US withdrawal from Paris Agreement on last Monday.

Moreover, THE STAR spiced up our statement by giving us media exposure in the news today. You can read the full text below

Americans have more to lose from getting out – Letters | The Star Online

THE Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD), a group of young passionate Malaysians who represent the local youth climate movement at international climate conferences, expresses its deepest disappointment in the United States’ decision to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement.

We would like to express our gratitude to the editor as well as The Star for including our statement in the newspaper. We appreciate your willingness to publish a candid response. Ultimately, we are also grateful to The Star for allowing the voice of the youth to be heard.