CALD Strategizes on its Climate Change Programmes

The year 2014 has been declared by the United Nations as the Year for Climate Action.  It seems appropriate, therefore, for the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) to begin the year with a climate change strategic planning meeting.  Last 14-17 March 2014, delegates from 8 CALD member-parties convened in the historic city of Malacca in Malaysia to strategize how to make CALD’s climate change programmes more effective.  Hosted by Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM), with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), the event also exposed the delegates to the environmental initiatives of the Malaysian federal government and those of the state of Malacca.

The national initiatives were elaborated in the presentation of Mr. Jaya Singam Rajoo, Under Secretary of the Sustainable Energy Division, Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water (KeTTHA) of the Federal Government of Malaysia.  He dealt in particular with how Malaysia is addressing climate change by promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.  Furthermore, he noted the commitment of Malaysian Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, in the 15^th Conference of Parties (COP-15) in 2009: “…Malaysia is adopting an indicator of a voluntary reduction of up to 40 per cent in terms of emissions intensity of GDP (gross domestic product) by the year 2020 compared to 2005 levels…”

Mr. Rajoo’s briefing was followed by a presentation on the state of climate change in Asia by Dr. Neric Acosta, CALD Secretary General and Philippine Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection.  After presenting the most updated information and data on the impacts of climate change in the region, he reminded the delegates of the purpose of the workshop: “This workshop should behoove and challenge us all to see where we must begin in our political parties and in our communities as regards climate change.  Whatever we generate amongst ourselves here, we can elevate to our respective mother parties, and hopefully, to the legislative policy directions of our countries as well.”

An overview of CALD’s climate change programmes was also provided in order to orient the delegates to the key outputs of these programmes.  The three programmes are: Climate Change I (2011-2015) – Formulating the Liberal Climate Change Agenda; Climate Change II (2013-2016) – Identifying Best Practices in Climate Change Adaptation; and Climate Change III – Promoting Best Practices in Climate Change Response and Adaptation (2014-2018).

With the objective of harmonizing these programmes and formulating a consolidated action plan, the workshop had been divided into three (3) workshop sessions.  In session 1, the delegates were grouped per country and asked to make their own assessment of their country and party initiatives on environmental protection, sustainable development and climate change.  Drawing from this self-rated assessment, session 2 then identified key priority areas for the delegates to work on namely: water-related issues; pollution; ecosystem management and biodiversity; alternative energy, and forest protection and rehabilitation.http://cald.org/site/cald/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/1890542_675102665870016_2096201755_o1.jpg

The last session encouraged the delegates, grouped per priority area, to act as if they are a delegation in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convincing other delegations to vote for their action plan.  This method developed a sense of friendly competition amongst the members of the different delegations, as the delegates tried to be as substantive and creative as possible in their respective presentations.  The proposal of the winning delegation will be calendared for discussion in the next CALD Executive Committee meeting.

With this event, 2014 promises to be a fruitful year for CALD’s climate change initiatives.