Iskandar Malaysia has been recognised by CDP Asia-Pacific as one of the 88 regions and cities across the globe that continues to lead on environmental action despite the pressures of tackling COVID-19 pandemic. These cities, representing a combined global population of almost 125 million, reported their environmental data to the CDP-ICLEI Unified Reporting System for 2020.
“I am very pleased to acknowledge that Iskandar Malaysia has been recognised as one of the global climate leaders, as this honour is reflective of our continuous efforts in mitigating climate change at all levels. While climate change is a global issue, the solutions to the adverse impacts it has on our every day life must start at the local level. With its active commitments in implementing and monitoring local climate actions, Iskandar Malaysia’s recognition as one of the 88 on the 2020 CDP Cities A List is due to its leadership and transparency on climate action especially for its efforts to reduce Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and build resilience against the impacts of climate change,” said Datuk Ir. Haji Hasni Mohammad, Menteri Besar of Johor and also the Co-Chairman of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).
Designed to drive and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s A List is based on environmental data disclosed by hundreds of cities in 2020. To score an A, a city must disclose publicly and have a city-wide emissions inventory, have set an emissions reduction target, and published a climate action plan. It must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have completed a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards now and, in the future, among other actions.
Five years since the Paris Agreement was signed, the latest climate science tells us that global emissions must be halved by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to avoid catastrophic climate change.