The Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW) 2023 which was held in Johor Bahru, came to an end on Friday, 17th November 2023.
The event acted as a catalyst for transformative action, with Johor launching a slew of ground-breaking initiatives aimed at reshaping the state’s environmental landscape and ushering in a new era of growth and prosperity.
At the closing ceremony of APCW 2023, Lee Ting Han, Johor Investment, Trade, and Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman, said, “The initiatives we have unveiled during APCW 2023 are not merely environmental commitments – they are the foundation for a new era of growth and prosperity in Johor.”
By embracing sustainability, Lee added, Johor would be creating new economic opportunities, fostering innovation, and enhancing the quality of life for its citizens.
“We are positioning Johor as a global leader in sustainable development, demonstrating that environmental stewardship and economic progress can go hand in hand,” he said.
Johor is set to take a leading role in Malaysia’s sustainability efforts with the launch of a range of green initiatives aimed at addressing climate change.
The initiatives were outlined by Menteri Besar of Johor, Dato Onn Hafiz Ghazi, at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW) 2023 on Monday, 13 November 2023.
Among them are the Johor Green Deal, Johor Sustainability Centre, and Diverse Partnerships, a series of collaborations and partnerships between the Johor government and the private sector via 14 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and collaboration agreements worth RM180 million, to leverage collective expertise and resources in accelerating the sustainability agenda.
“With the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Climate Week, I hope to see Johor keep up the momentum and further its ambition to scale sustainable and climate resilient endeavours,” said Edey Suresh, Board Member and Johor State Director of UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB). Meanwhile, UNGCMYB had also organised a CEO roundtable, themed ‘Energising Change: Robust reporting frameworks as strategic pathways to transition’, in collaboration with PwC Malaysia (Johor office) as a side event for APCW 2023.
A total of 3,643 participants and delegates, including heads of governments, policymakers, and experts, from 108 countries attended APCW 2023 to discuss best practises, the development of partnerships, and the advancement of regional climate priorities and expectations, leading to the first global stocktake concluding at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in December this year.
Present at the APCW 2023 closing ceremony were Donald Cooper, Director of Transparency at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Alejandro Kilpatrick, Climate Finance and Capacity Building Team Leader at the UNFCCC Secretariat.
The APCW 2023 was organised by UNFCCC and hosted by the Government of Malaysia in Johor at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Johor Bahru.
The APCW 2023 brought this year’s series of Regional Climate Weeks to a close, following the Africa Climate Week in Nairobi, Kenya; the Middle East and North Africa Climate Week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week in Panama City, Panama.
