Aug 4, 2022 | CCHR, Statements
JAKARTA – Malaysia urgently needs political unity across the board to recognize and tackle the deleterious impact of climate change in the country, Members of Parliament (MPs) and representatives of civil society organizations said during an event hosted by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) at the Malaysian Parliament on 1 August 2022.
The “Interface for Members of Parliament and Civil Society Organizations on strengthening climate action in Malaysia” brought together 11 MPs and seven CSO representatives for an open discussion on the harmful impacts and causes of climate change in their communities, and the measures required to push for more coordinated and effective solutions.
To strengthen climate action in Malaysia, political unity across party lines is more urgent than ever because climate change is not a local or party issue. No single constituency is immune from its effects, as seen in the flood disaster in December 2021 that affected eight states, resulting in the loss of at least 54 lives.
All the participants recognized that the climate emergency affects all Malaysians, but not in equal measure: the rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups are often more adversely affected. Stronger protection measures for these groups are needed in any proposed national legislation and policy on climate. Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Shad Saleem Faruqi recommended parliamentarians to push for the recognition of the human right to a healthy environment in the Constitution of Malaysia, urging Members of Parliament to remember that “human rights do not belong to you and me only, they also belong to the next generation.”
“MPs must work together to use our budgetary oversight to ensure that the national budget is providing sufficient funding to address the adverse impact of climate change,” said Charles Santiago, Malaysian MP and Chair of APHR, as budgetary issues were identified as one of the critical gaps on climate action by the attendees.
The issues discussed included assessing to what extent enacted and proposed measures, such as improving the urban draining system to reduce floodings, contribute to climate adaptation or mitigation. MPs advocated for the adoption of a standardized index on “green tagging”, to measure whether the budget helps to attain, or hinder, climate objectives. They also supported a tax on carbon emissions from power producers in Malaysia, in order to raise the capital needed for a just transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.
For their part, CSO representatives suggested that their work could be improved if they are granted access to official data on the national budget allocation to climate measures. They also urged MPs to institutionalize and expand current budget commitments, including under the ecological fiscal transfer, to enable state governments to protect forest areas.
The representatives also detailed the need for stronger national legislation on key areas: to urgently cut down carbon emissions by stopping deforestation, a moratorium on building more coal power plants, and supporting ecotourism at the state-level. MPs agreed to develop a legislative roadmap that would help them to identify the climate legislation to push for, an institutional framework to make the fight against climate change a priority across all sectors, and an action plan to ensure the government’s accountability.
Both parliamentarians and CSO representatives at the event noted that, in the absence of an existing institutional mechanism for engagement on climate, it was necessary to widen and strengthen this kind of cooperation between CSOs and more MPs across party lines, and Mr. Santiago announced that a similar meeting between MPs and CSOs will be held in September, before the next Parliament session.
Jun 9, 2022 | CCHR, DFF, Internet Freedoms, Reports
JAKARTA – Anggota parlemen dari Asia Tenggara telah meminta Indonesia, satu-satunya anggota G20 di Asia Tenggara untuk menggunakan Presidensinya di G20 untuk “menyuarakan aspirasi Global Selatan” dan mengangkat isu-isu yang secara khusus mempengaruhi kawasan.
Dalam sebuah kertas posisi yang diterbitkan hari ini, Anggota Parlemen ASEAN untuk Hak Asasi Manusia (ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, APHR) telah mendesak Indonesia untuk mengadvokasi dalam Pertemuan Puncak tanggapan global yang lebih kuat dan lebih kreatif terhadap kehancuran ekonomi yang disebabkan oleh konflik seperti yang terjadi di Myanmar, peningkatan substansial dalam dukungan keuangan global untuk transisi energi yang berkelanjutan, dan untuk menemukan cara mengurangi dampak transformasi digital dunia terhadap hak asasi manusia dan demokrasi.
“Indonesia ada dalam posisi di mana, berbeda dari yang lain, sebagai satu-satunya anggota G20 di Asia Tenggara dan negara demokrasi terbesar ketiga di dunia, dapat mewakili kepentingan dan aspirasi Global Selatan. Negara ini telah menunjukkan kepemimpinannya di ASEAN dan sekarang memiliki kesempatan untuk melakukannya di tingkat global, di mana ia dapat secara kreatif mencari solusi untuk tantangan yang, dengan gaungnya yang khas di kawasan kita, mempengaruhi umat manusia secara keseluruhan, ”kata Charles Santiago, Ketua APHR dan Anggota Parlemen di Malaysia.
APHR berpendapat bahwa cara-cara kreatif baru diperlukan untuk menanggapi biaya manusia dan ekonomi dari krisis seperti yang menghancurkan Myanmar, Ukraina, Yaman atau Suriah, mulai dari kenaikan harga komoditas, kekurangan pasokan pangan dan energi, hingga meningkatnya perdagangan manusia dan produksi serta perdagangan obat-obatan terlarang dan senjata. Karena organisasi internasional seperti PBB, atau kelompok-kelompok regional seperti ASEAN, seringkali gagal memitigasi dan menanggapi dampak ekonomi dari krisis semacam itu, Indonesia harus mengusulkan sebuah Kelompok Kerja baru di G20 guna membahas respon dari perekonomian terbesar di dunia ini.
Berhadapan dengan perubahan iklim, telah terbukti bahwa janji saat ini dari negara-negara untuk mengurangi emisi karbon tidak akan cukup melambatkan perubahan iklim, dan kebutuhan untuk beralih ke sumber energi terbarukan menjadi lebih mendesak dari sebelumnya. APHR mendesak Indonesia untuk memimpin G20 menyetujui percepatan penghentian penggunaan batu bara dan bahan bakar fosil, tetapi juga harus secara substansial meningkatkan dukungan keuangan global untuk transisi tersebut.
Terakhir, berhadapan dengan tantangan akibat kampanye disinformasi, perpecahan dan ujaran kebencian yang tesebar secara daring, APHR mendesak G20 untuk membahas dan mengidentifikasi langkah-langkah yang dapat diadopsi untuk mengatur pasar digital agar sejalan dengan demokrasi, mengakhiri penggunaan data pribadi orang yang invasif, dan meminta pertanggungjawaban platform daring atas model bisnis mereka yang berbahaya.
Klik di sini untuk membaca kertas posisi.
Jun 9, 2022 | CCHR, DFF, Internet Freedoms, Reports
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia have called Indonesia, the only G20 member in Southeast Asia and its President this year, to “give voice to the aspirations of the Global South” and bring to the table issues that particularly affect the region, but also the world in general, at the group’s Summit which will be held in November this year in Jakarta.
In a position paper published today, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) has urged Indonesia to advocate at the Summit for stronger and more creative global responses to the devastation caused by conflicts like that of Myanmar, a substantial increase in global financial support for a sustainable energy transition, and to find ways to reduce the impact of the world’s digital transformation on human rights and democracy.
“We, Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia, are urging the Indonesian Government to use its preeminent position to promote at the G20 a form of collective and inclusive collaboration among nations to address challenges that, having a specific resonance to our region, affect humanity as a whole,” said APHR in the Position Paper.
APHR suggests that new creative ways are necessary to prevent the human and economic costs of crises such as those devastating Myanmar, Ukraine, Yemen or Syria. As international organizations like the UN, or regional groups like ASEAN, have often failed to prevent atrocities, Indonesia should propose a new Working Group at the G20 to discuss responses from the largest economies in the world to those crises.
On the climate change front, it has become evident that current pledges from states to reduce carbon emissions will not be sufficient to slow climate change, and the necessity to transition to renewable sources of energy is more urgent than ever. APHR urges Indonesia to lead the G20 to agree to accelerate the phasing out from coal and fossil fuels, but it must also substantially increase global financial support for such a transition.
Lastly, and in face of the challenges posed by the spread online of disinformation campaigns, divisiveness and hate-speech, APHR urges the G20 to discuss and identify measures that can be adopted to regulate the digital marketplace along democratic lines, put an end to invasive use of people’s personal data, and hold online platforms accountable for their harmful business models.
Click here to read the position paper.
Apr 22, 2021 | CCHR, Statements
JAKARTA 23 APRIL – Southeast Asian lawmakers today commended the United States and fellow countries for announcing, on the occasion of the “climate leaders summit”, enhanced action to tackle climate change.
“In this time of global climate meltdown and a devastating pandemic, the United States’ and fellow countries’ announcements are a welcome development to get the world one step closer to complying with the Paris Agreement.” said Wong Chen, member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and a Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia. “However the world must do more to tackle climate change. As for ASEAN, we deeply regret that parties like Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore did not use this opportunity to enhance ambition despite being invited to the summit and we urge all countries in the region to put maximum efforts to realise their climate plans. If we do not step up to meet our obligations, we will risk a destabilised region with catastrophic geo-political impacts, including rising food insecurity, conflicts and environmental disasters”, he added.
With the world on track for a temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius this century, MPs highlighted the critical need for more international action to address climate change and the lack of ambition of countries in the region.
Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam’s climate action plans submitted to the Paris Agreement process are still considered highly insufficient and Thailand’s upgraded plan has still made no improvement to mitigate the impact of climate change, added APHR.
“Ambition across the world is not just too low, it’s abysmal. 2021 is the final year for countries to submit meaningful plans before their first review at COP26 in November. More countries, including the United States, must still increase their climate targets this year if we are to avoid a critical situation, with rising numbers of pests and diseases and displaced populations,” said Ibu Mercy Barends, board member of APHR, and Indonesian MP.
APHR added that although the COVID-19 pandemic remains a challenge, it also creates a critical opportunity to decarbonize economies and ensure a green recovery.
“States can harness this critical disruptive moment caused by the global pandemic to restructure their economy at minimal costs so as to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This means committing to decarbonizing economies, stepping away from coal power and tackling countries such as Cambodia’s alarming rates of deforestation. Last year, APHR submitted a manifesto committing to promoting a sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19. We call on fellow MPs and member states to join us in achieving this objective” said Wong Chen.
The United States announced a 50 to 52% reduction in the country’s greenhouse gas pollution levels in 2030 compared to 2005. This comes as groups demanded a fair share reduction of at least 70% domestically. Japan and Canada announced plans to cut their emissions by 46% in 2030 as compared to 2013 and 40-45% as compared to 2005 respectively. This was followed by further countries’ announcements to increase climate ambition including by South Korea and South Africa.
