Malaysian minister urges strong climate finance commitment

He also pushes for more focus on adaptation instead of mitigation at COP29

- Shabana Begum

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Malaysia's environment minister hopes that the UN climate change summit (COP29) will close with a strong climate finance commitment that will be easy to access - with money allocated to help South-east Asian nations limit the impact of floods and heatwaves.

"Too often, adaptation is seen as the poorer cousin to mitigation. Both are crucial, and I think for South-east Asia, we are at the front lines of climate change, being a maritime (region). We should put more focus on adaptation," said Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

Two of Malaysia's severe floods in recent times - in Kelantan in 2014 and around the Klang Valley in 2021 - led to losses totalling more than US$2.2 billion (S$2.96 billion), and this was largely borne by the government, he said.

He was speaking to The Straits Times on Nov 20, several hours before a proposal on the main outcome of COP29 - climate finance for developing countries - was released.

Many developing countries are pushing for US$1.3 trillion per year in climate finance.

An updated draft was released on Nov 22, proposing that developed countries take the lead to channel US$250 billion per year by 2035.

This amount will come from a wide variety of sources, including public and private, multilateral funds and alternative sources of funding.

Ultimately, the aim is to raise at least US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035, with this amount achieved by scaling up finance from all public and private sources. The Nov 22 proposal on the goal did not explicitly mention grants.