KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — The government is formulating a national adaptation plan to address current and future vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change.
According to the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) Mid-Term Review (MTR) released by the Ministry of Economy today, the plan will consist of adaptation measures in five priority areas, namely public health, agriculture and food security; forestry and biodiversity; water resources and security; as well as infrastructure and cities.
“These measures will bolster adaptive capacities in the priority areas and strengthen climate-resilient society. Strategies to manage heat-related impacts, such as heat stress, heat stroke and heat exhaustion will be incorporated into the national adaptation plan.
“Among the initiatives to be implemented include increasing green spaces and tree coverage, improving urban planning to reduce urban heat island effect as well as evaluating all activities in managing heat-related impacts,” the MTR noted.
Formulating a national adaptation plan is under Increasing Resilience Against Climate Change and Disaster, the 4th strategy under the Accelerating the Implementation of Low Carbon, Clean and Resilient Development focus area in 12MP.
According to the MTR, the national adaptation plan will also cover heat action plans and early warning systems to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities.
On the topics of strengthening flood management, mitigation programmes will be given greater emphasis to cover more flood-prone areas in which, a study to assess the effectiveness of nature-based solutions will be conducted to identify alternatives to structural-based approach as well as alternative and sustainable financing will be explored for the purposes.
The MTR further noted that disaster management by the government will also be strengthened, of which an assessment of the impact of disasters on affected groups will be conducted with the additional development and sharing of flood and slope hazard maps will continue, to cover more critical areas.
“In this regard, a landslide early warning system for federal roads will be developed to improve disaster management. Meanwhile, a national geological disaster centre will be established by expanding the roles of the existing institution.
“Strategies to enhance community preparedness will also be developed to complement the national disaster risk reduction. Additionally, the capacity of the community response team will be enhanced to assist in the post-recovery process,” it said.
— Bernama
