The climate is changing.
Low carbon development is an approach
to reducing carbon dioxide emission
and mitigating global warming.
Human activities in cities produced
78% of global carbon emission.
This is because most cities rely heavily
on fossil fuel-based energy.
Low carbon development refers to ways
of shaping economic growth so that greenhouse gas
emissions can be kept to levels that can be absorbed by nature.
Low carbon development involves a push
towards simpler lifestyles that rely on environmentally
friendly technologies.
Hello, my name is Isiaka Adeyemi Abdul-Azeez,
and I'm a research scholar with the MIT-UTM Malaysia
Sustainable Cities Program.
In this video, I will discuss why and how low carbon
development is proceeding in the second largest city
in Malaysia, Johor Bahru.
The city is in the Iskandar Malaysia region,
which has announced a goal of reducing carbon emission by 58%
by year 2025.
I will reflect on some of the city's achievements
and the challenges it faces in meeting that target.
Johor Bahru is one of the five local authorities
in Iskandar Malaysia region.
It is an important flagship for low carbon development
in the region.
The city is a regional transport manufacturing hub
and a main shopping destination for tourists
from Indonesia and Singapore.
At present, it very disorganized and much
messier than its glitzy neighbor Singapore.
In an effort to compete with Singapore,
the Malaysian government announced a commitment
to sustainable urban development.
Its goal was to attract foreign investment
in Johor Bahru's industrial, commercial, and real estate
activities.
Economic investment usually means
more construction of buildings, more manufacturing
and industrial development, more retail and shopping activities,
more concentration of human activities,
and more energy consumption for transport and electricity.
Under normal circumstances, all these
would increased carbon emission.
However, the government is trying
to promote economic growth while reducing the carbon intensity.
How can this be done?
And how is low carbon development
being practiced in Johor Bahru?
Two key organizations are leading the low carbon
initiative in Johor Bahru.
The first is the Office of Low Carbon Society,
at the University of Technology in Malaysia, also called UTM.
Professor Ho Chin Siong, the head of the Low Carbon Society
office at UTM explains some of their practices
he has been trying to encourage in Johor Bahru.
We use the concept of [INAUDIBLE], where
they have already some form of [INAUDIBLE], or [INAUDIBLE],
and then other thing is the climate change policy.
How can be integrate them together in such a way
that urban planning can decarbonize?
That plan basically guided us how to be low carbon.
And then, from there, we prepared
another plan called the Road Map, that
is the [? implementation ?] of the plan.
And then at the moment, we are now going into more detail,
working with the local authorities, with the mayors,
with the engineers.
The second organization concerned
with promoting low carbon development initiatives
in Johor Bahru is the Iskandar Regional Development Authority,
also known as IRDA.
Together with UTM, IRDA, is helping local authorities
prepare actions plans for reducing carbon intensity.
Mr. Boyd Joeman explains what IRDA
is doing along these lines.
The process of getting to that point is very important.
So municipal, critical.
And that's why we are working with the five local authorities
to prepare their own low carbon action
plan at the municipal level.
Through that process, we can then
say we have done one step further from regional
to municipal.
They can then look at it from the point
of view of how they developed their respective areas.
So we bring them to Japan and let
them see a bigger picture-- how it is being done in a developed
country.
And then they bring back, and then the disseminate and share
the information.
So through that process, IRDA can play a big role
in terms of making sure that everyone is connected,
as it were.
Regarding what has been achieved thus far in Johor Bahru,
Professor Ho has this to say.
The first thing, I think, awareness.
Awareness of the [INAUDIBLE].
Low carbon strategy is not a new term
anymore in this Iskandar area or in [INAUDIBLE] area.
People are talking about low carbon society.
And people believe that, actually, low carbon society
will improve the quality of life.
Another achievement is the creation
of environmentally friendly rural communities.
One of these villages, [INAUDIBLE],
has been supported by the government as a model
for low carbon lifestyle.
The village has implemented a series
of action plans in various sectors,
such as agricultural and waste disposal, that
demonstrates how a community can live more sustainably.
[INAUDIBLE] project was adopted by the residents
of [INAUDIBLE] and shows how the population can benefit
socially, environmentally, and economically
through various low carbon development efforts.
Among the key obstacles to promoting low carbon
development is changing the mindset
of those who have not embraced the need
to reduce carbon intensity.
Professor Ho offers some suggestions regarding ways
of changing local thinking.
The [INAUDIBLE] approach is actually
focusing on co-benefits.
I think it's too early stage for the [INAUDIBLE] country,
when they tell them, OK, let's go for low carbon.
Let's save the planet.
Let's cut down CO2, it may not make sense to many of them.
But if you tell them that there is a co-benefit-- for instance,
by going low carbon, you can save money.
By having low carbon you have a co-benefit
of better air quality, better health, better quality of life.
By having even going green, or low carbon,
you can do composting, or you can do recycling,
and then by doing that activities,
you can generate certain extra income for the family.
Those are co-benefit, I believe strongly,
that help us to promote it.
Measuring and monitoring carbon emissions from electricity
and the transport sector is carried out for IRDA
by UTM and Japanese researchers, as Mr. Boyd Joeman explains.
Through the Low Carbon Society blueprint,
which was prepared by UTM in Japan, [INAUDIBLE] University
and [INAUDIBLE] University and the NIS.
Through that, they did the homework, i.e.,
what are the existing emissions or the output of electricity,
for example, or transport.
So from then on, we have a base figure, 2005.
At this point, it's being monitored
through the project, i.e.
by UTM in Japan.
But eventually, IRDA needs to sit down and monitor
it ourselves.
One cannot manage what one cannot measure,
and monitoring is only possible once there is agreement on what
to measure.
Emissions from transport and electricity production
must be measured and monitored.
MOSFET is an emissions measuring tool
that is being used to assess carbon dioxide emission
from transport and electricity.
The tool measures fossil fuel-based energy use
by category, type, and sector.
It inventories electricity use in kilowatt hours and liters
of fuels.
These are automatically converted into carbon dioxide
equivalents.
The emission reduction goal can be
achieved using MOSFET to monitor the carbon
reduction from transport and electricity in Johor Bahru.
The Malaysian economy is growing at almost 2% per year,
so reducing carbon intensity will not be easy.
The way forward is to create support
for the world we want to live in.
Reducing carbon intensity and promoting low carbon
development in Johor Bahru and elsewhere
would require a change in the mindset of many people.
It will also be necessary to agree on what to measure
and how to monitor changes in carbon
intensity in each sector.
More low carbon model villages should
be created to show how low carbon development can meet
the needs of the population.
Other experiments and prototype living arrangements
will be necessary to convince people that change is possible.
Shifting to clean energy will undoubtedly be important.
Along these lines, Johor Bahru will probably
need to implement financial incentives
to encourage investment in renewable energy,
along with multiple changes in consumer behavior.
City planners will need to explain
what less energy intensive patterns of development
might look like.