Malaysia’s Commitment to Advancing Tangible Climate Action Towards a Sustainable, Net-Zero Future

BYLINE ARTICLE FOR COP30

11 NOVEMBER 2025

Over the past year, our focus has been on defining the ‘Shift for Sustainability’. This includes building foundational ecosystems like the National Climate Change Policy 2.0 (NCCP 2.0), NDC Roadmap and Action Plan, Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) and National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) which anchors our mission to balance the critical energy trilemma of security, affordability and sustainability. Beyond our local efforts, we also advanced regional efforts like the ASEAN Power Grid, which serves as the physical infrastructure that transforms our ambition into reality by facilitating cross-border renewable energy trade. These frameworks and policies were developed to help us transform our national targets into actionable blueprints.

Having successfully established these foundational pillars, Malaysia is now holistically prepared to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Through both local and international collaboration, we believe this action-oriented mission transcends geopolitics or trends. It is a matter of national responsibility and economic prudence, ensuring a secure and sustainable future for our people and nation.

Malaysia has long been committed to climate action. In line with its commitments under the Paris Agreement, through the latest update of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), NDC 3.0 which submitted in October 2025, Malaysia strives to peak its emissions by 2030 and intends to achieve an absolute reduction of 15–30 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (MtCO₂eq) by 2035 from the peak level. This commitment is bolstered by a range of mitigation actions that have advanced Malaysia’s progress toward its NDC targets.

Some notable initiatives include those related to renewable energy policies, energy efficiency improvements, rail-based public transport, biofuel adoption, waste recycling, and sustainable forestry management. Furthermore, Malaysia has set its sights on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, a visionary goal that calls for strong public-private collaboration and long-term policy clarity.

The recent Budget 2026 reaffirms Malaysia’s commitment to a greener and more resilient economy, with a stronger emphasis on energy transition, carbon regulation, and sustainable living to safeguard long-term security, affordability, and sustainability for the rakyat (all Malaysians). A key measure under this commitment is the planned introduction of a Carbon Tax, which serves as a critical carbon pricing instrument to incentivize the private sector and industry players to adopt low-carbon technologies, enhance energy efficiency, and integrate sustainability into their operations. Beyond supporting Malaysia’s commitments under the Paris Agreement, the Carbon Tax also positions domestic industries to remain competitive under emerging global carbon pricing regimes, particularly the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Importantly, revenues generated through carbon pricing will be reinvested domestically, ensuring that the economic benefits are channelled towards national decarbonization efforts, technological innovation, and capacity building for a sustainable and inclusive transition.

On the regional front, as the ASEAN Chair in 2025, Malaysia continues to drive leadership in sustainability. Under the Chairmanship, Malaysia hosted the 18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME-18) and related meetings in Langkawi early in September emphasising the importance of climate change cooperation amidst pressing environmental challenges.

A core achievement of AMME-18 was ASEAN’s agreement on the ASEAN Joint Statement on Climate Change for COP30. The unified statement was endorsed by the ASEAN Environment Ministers and will be delivered at COP30, following its formal approval at the 47th ASEAN Summit on 26 October 2025. The joint statement not only serves as a critical opportunity for ASEAN to collectively influence global climate action but also articulates ASEAN’s common positions on key issues including climate finance, adaptation, loss and damage, technology transfer and implementation of the Paris Agreement.