National Policy to Secure Ocean Wealth Must Address Plastics Pollution

  by Professor Dato Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim,

The country is surrounded by seas. Major ones include the Straits of Melaka and the South China Sea. As a maritime nation, we have thus far only harvested marine fish and extracted petroleum resources from the seas. The marine fishes are under threat from overfishing and pollution. Whilst the petroleum reserves are slowly depleting through constant drilling. The truth is the seas do offer many more potential treasures just waiting to be tapped. But we need to craft the right policy to sustainably harness such untapped wealth. A recent letter posted by academics from University Malaysia Terengganu, UMT, made a strong case for the country to formalise the implementation of a comprehensive National Oceans Policy, NOP.

The call is not entirely new. There were attempts before. But looking at the aggressive efforts taken by many similar maritime nations, there is no time to waste if we are to look to the seas as another source of economic wealth. The situation is made more urgent knowing that some of our traditional drivers of wealth including palm oil, rubber and petroleum are slowly reaching their limits. We must strategize to develop new ones. The strategy must be inclusive and sustainable. We need a workable framework to profit from the ocean. What we have now is more sectoral approach which is not healthy. It has led to jurisdictional and legal disputes. A coordinated effort is critical to strike a balance between a sustained economic development and the need to protect the environment.

We should refer to those earlier attempts to formulate NOP as we develop a new one. No doubt the NOP should be guided by principles including the right to develop equitably with inclusiveness, deploying an integrated and holistic ecosystem approach, and giving due respect to culture and indigenous heritage. Public participation in the design of the NOP is important. The polluter pay approach has been suggested as a precaution. There is no denying the need for international cooperation since much of the issues are transboundary.

The NOP must be clear on the goals, which encompass conserving the ocean environment, opening economic opportunities, practising good ocean governance, while promoting participatory, responsible, and sustainable development for islands and coasts. It has also been proposed that the NOP will have the right strategic thrusts and key actions. These are productive ocean economy, healthy ocean environment, good talent for marine management, constructive ocean governance, and using reliable ocean data in decision making. The experts have also suggested that the NOP should consider the existing law enforcement aimed to protect vulnerable resources and ecosystems from pollution.

Pollution will prove to be a major obstacle to the sustainable economic development of the seas. The signs are already there. Plastics pollution has been flagged as one which has raised much international concern. Their negative impact not only on the marine ecosystem but also on our food chain through the ingestion of microplastics by marine fish has led to active international dialogues seeking viable solutions. UCSI university recently anchored one such symposium where APEC economies shared their different approaches and experiences. The symposium deliberations would form part of a white paper which will be tabled for consideration of the countries in the APEC grouping.

It became clear from the discussions, held through the online platform, that the answers to the dilemma are hard to come by. Talk about alternatives including bioplastics does not appear practical, though many agreed that research should continue. Plastics recycling remains the optimal option. And changing human behaviour is critical if the idea of plastics recycling is to work. But how can the population be motivated to segregate the plastics at source? One idea which gained currency during the symposium was for the authorities, especially in the urban areas, to create and manage a transparent market mechanism where plastics, especially the single use ones, can be openly bought and sold at a regularly informed pricing. At present, there is a black market for such trade, but the prices are more exploitative than conducive. If we are to gain from the ocean wealth, resolving the pollution by plastics debris must form part of the policy equation.       

 

 

Water Research Needs Beefing Up

  by Professor Dato Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim,

Klang Valley folks face water disruption again. The water supply stoppage, which keeps recurring, is not a good sign for a nation aiming to in the developed nation league. Bad smell is again the reason for the stoppage. What is disturbing is that, why are we not investing in better treatment technology to automatically remove the smell and therefore minimise disruption? We know fully well that it is almost impossible to completely remove odour contamination from our water intake point. There are many unscruplous factory operators out there who lack the civic consciousness to not discharge untreated stuff into the river. Disregard for the environment is still rampant.       

We should be mindful that water resources throughout the world are under constant threat. The World Bank has reported that water scarcity, made worse by climate change, could cost some regions up to 6% of their GDP. It could spark conflict. The combined effects of growing populations, rising incomes, and expanding cities will see demand for water rising exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain. Unless action is taken soon, water will become scarce in regions where it is currently abundant like ours, and scarcity will greatly worsen in regions where water is already in short supply. These affected regions could see their growth rates decline by as much as 6% of GDP by 2050 due to water-related impacts on agriculture, health, and incomes. We are still in the water rich regions of the world. But we already see signs of water supply disturbance because of pollution and the poor management of our river basins.

The report further warned that water insecurity could amplify the risk of conflict in the region. Food price spikes caused by droughts can inflame otherwise dormant conflicts. Where economic growth is impacted by rainfall, episodes of droughts and floods have generated waves of migration and spikes in violence within countries. The negative impacts of climate change on water could be neutralized with better policy decisions, with some regions standing to improve their growth rates by up to 6% with better water resource management. Improved water stewardship pays high economic dividends according to the report. When governments respond to water shortages by boosting efficiency and allocating even 25% of water to more highly valued uses, such as more efficient agricultural practices, losses would decline dramatically and, in some regions, losses may even vanish.

In the world’s extremely dry regions, the report said more far-reaching policies are needed to avoid inefficient water use. Stronger policies and reforms are needed to cope with deepening climate stresses. Policies and investments that can help lead countries to more water secure and climate-resilient economies include better planning for water resource allocation, adoption of incentives to increase water efficiency, and investments in infrastructure for more secure water supplies and availability. Effective water research is a prerequisite. These would include research on water treatment systems, wastewater management, water saving technologies in manufacturing and households, governance of water resources and development of new water sources including the marine water.

In order to gain from water research the ecosystem must be robust. The linkages between government, academia, applied research entities and the water industry must be strong. Such linkages are rather weak in the country at the moment. Much of the water research are done by the academia, especially in the universities. But most such research are driven for academic publication in journals. Few reach the commercial industry sector. Government policies are also lacking in inputs from the water business. Such unhealthy disconnect warrants change. The applied research on water conducted by NAHRIM, for example, should be industry driven. NAHRIM is a powerless government department. It should be more empowered to coordinate the nation’s water research programs. Water research at the universities must also be strongly linked to NAHRIM. The board of NAHRIM must have strong industry representation, so that research topics have industry relevance. More applied water research groups should be established in the nation’s water research alliance. Failure to create such ecosystem would not augur well in safeguarding the countrys water resources. We need to beef up our water research.    

Labour Challenges of Plantation Industry Worsening

  by Professor Dato Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim,

The government has just announced a cabinet reshuffle. The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities now has a new leader, as the industry continue to struggle with issues. Few envy YB Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin in her new portfolio. The plantation industry is saddled with multiple challenges. Notwithstanding, many view this as the opportune time for her to bring positive change to the industry. Many see institutional reform to address the many structural challenges facing the plantation business as one area of priority for her. As many are aware, the last few years have witnessed some chronic problems of the industry, which unless properly addressed, may worsen in the coming years.

It is not all doom though. Many in the palm oil industry, for example, welcome the recent jump in the palm oil price, which has exceeded RM4000 per ton. For a long time, the price was at very depressive levels, dipping for a period below RM2000 per ton. Thanks to the price jump, big plantation companies now report record rise in profits. The small farmers are also celebrating after years wollowing at the low price. But is the good fortune sustainable? The price jump, experts say, is all related to the movement in supply and demand of not just palm oil but all the 17 competing oils, especially the two big ones, palm oil and soyabean oil. Market watchers would always focus on those two, to make their investment decisions. The supply side is constantly monitored. On the demand side, China, India and the EU are the three major markets always under the radar, since they form the largest net importers of oils and fats.

According to analysts, the high price we are seeing is driven more by a supply shortfall rather than a balooning demand. Demand is very much suppressed by the pandemic. This is where the palm oil industry worries a lot. There are opportunity costs on the supply shortfall. As a result of acute labour shortage, experienced for years now, billions of ringgit have been lost because of the unharvested crop. The pandemic has made the situation worse since the movement of labour is severely restricted. The industry has long been dependent on cheap immigrant labour.

There is also another side to the labour issue. Some importers now pay more attention to labour in their import decisions. They constantly monitor how workers are treated and compensated. This is becoming more common now. Any report of poor labour standard including the use of child labour is used as excuse to deny imports. There have been reports of cargoes stopped because of the negative labour report. The labour shortage issue is not new though. It was first alerted years ago. It is not that we have become addicted to such cheap foreign labour, there is just no viable alternative. Efforts to mechanise oil palm harvesting have not met with much success, especially on the prohibitive costs.

Labour is also an issue in the rubber sector. Nowadays, rubber smallholders increasingly employ immigrant labour to tap. Different from palm oil, our rubber shortfall does not affect the market very much, because many other countries produce more rubber than us. From a leading producer, we have dropped to number 8 in the world on rubber production. The labour issue is more a concern in the downstream glove manufacturing, where the operation is also labour intensive. Attempts to automate have been slow. That explains why many glove companies have ventured overseas into Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to continue their trade. Our supply of latex concentrate, the raw material for making gloves is also small. Most have to be imported.

Admittedly the palm oil business faces more issues than rubber. The sustainability conundrum continue to haunt the palm oil business. Meeting the many certification systems is not difficult. But clearing up import restrictions on account of sustainability remains problematic. The EU market is especially complicated. Now the sustainability issue is creeping into rubber growing as well. What is worrying is that both rubber and palm oil are significant contributors to the nation’s coffers. Palm oil consistently brings in about RM80 billion a year, while rubber generates about half of that. With all such threats to the two plantation businesses, the ministry will no doubt have a lot on its plate to resolve. The industry is looking to the new leadership for answers. There is need for more aggressive R&D in digitalisation and automation to resolve the labour issue.