After COP26: Malaysia’s road forward

The Edge Malaysia interviewed Malaysia’s COP26 lead delegate Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang, secretary- general of the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) and several civil society organisations to get their opinions on where Malaysia should go from here. According to Zaini, the Malaysian delegation achieved the four mandates that it was given by the cabinet for COP26. This includes negotiations on rules governing international carbon markets, transparency of emissions reporting, common timeframe for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and climate finance. “We are not involved in the other matters that are not part of our mandate. (For instance) Loss and damage is not in our mandate (this time) and we have no position on it. We just listen. If we need to have a position, we will ask the cabinet,” he says.