Of all threats that may obliterate civilisation, the most conspicuous is climate change.
United States President Joe Biden's first order of business was to sign an executive order to re-admit the country into the Paris climate agreement.
After a four-year absence, climate change was once again a US foreign policy priority.
In October last year, world leaders met in Glasgow to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Washington and Beijing, the two biggest carbon dioxide emitters, have agreed to increase cooperation on climate issues over the next decade.
The future is bleak for Asean countries.
Based on the sixth assessment report by the intergovernmental panel on Climate Change, Southeast Asia is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change.
The archipelago's inhabitants, which comprise 8.5 per cent of the world's population, are prone to rising sea levels, intense heat waves and droughts throughout the year.
With global temperature increasing by 1.5°C, most Southeast Asian countries are expected to suffer major coastal area loss.
If this happens, it may disrupt the global food supply and trigger human displacement in the region. Are we ready for these crises?
In Malaysia, calls for climate change sound hollow.
On April 6, 2021, the environment and water minister said Malaysia was not a climate-vulnerable country.
Unfortunately, the recent floods have shown the opposite result.
Based on Climate Central's coastal risk-screening tools, at least nine cities in Malaysia will be sunk underwater by 2050.
In 30 years, Malaysian shores will shrink and pose a geopolitical issue for the country.
To lobby the government to respond to this issue, the Office of the Leader of Opposition, in collaboration with Parliament, organised a Symposium on Climate Change last month.
Many experts were invited to the symposium. Eventually, the environment and water minister announced the government's intention to table a bill on climate change by next year.
Initially, I noticed the government positioning climate change in its foreign policy priorities.
On Sept 23, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
While most analyst praised his speech in Bahasa Malaysia, I thought his comments on climate change and sustainable development were more salient than the language in which he conveyed the speech.
He addressed climate change by referring to our bitter experience with floods resulting in losses of about RM6.1 billion.
He reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent based on gross domestic product by 2030.
As one of 17 bio-diverse countries in the world, Malaysia is keeping a pledge made at the Earth Summit 1992, to maintain 54 per cent of forested areas through aggressive reforestation efforts.
Nonetheless, as a middle-power state, we must rely on cooperation between like-minded states, particularly in Southeast Asia.
With the launch of the Asean State of Climate Change Report, I urge every member state to position climate change as a foreign policy priority.
Only then can we achieve the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, thus preserving hope for the next generation.
The writer is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
