No vaccine or cure for climate change, says Dr Jemilah

No vaccine or cure for climate change, says Dr Jemilah

Special adviser to prime minister says knowledge about climate change needs to begin in school to increase the level of awareness about the challenge.

Dr Jemilah Mahmood says environmental destruction causes wildlife to lose their habitat and this will affect humans.
PUTRAJAYA:
Every pandemic that threatens the lives of humans has a vaccine to prevent the loss of life, but not so for climate change, the Prime Minister’s special adviser on public health Dr Jemilah Mahmood said.

Using the Covid-19 pandemic as an example, Jemilah said the vaccine for the pandemic was successfully created by Messenger RNA technology which is safe for humans.

“Now we are faced with Covid-19, which can be fatal, but the vaccine has been found. There is no vaccine, however, for climate change, even if it has similar effects.

“Climate change is caused by uncontrolled development till it destroys the environment. This is a bad sign as environmental destruction causes wildlife to lose their habitat, which will affect humans,” she said at a webinar entitled “Malaysia’s Role to Combat Climate Change”, today.

The virtual session was organised by the environment and water ministry in conjunction with the 2021 Earth Day, with the participation of its secretary-general Zaini Ujang and Bursa Malaysia chairman Abdul Wahid Omar.

Therefore, Jemilah said knowledge about climate change needs to begin in school to increase the level of awareness about the challenge.

Meanwhile, Zaini invited Malaysians to adopt 10 practices towards a sustainable environment, including recycling, using electricity and water prudently, planting 12 trees a year, and adopting a green lifestyle.

All these practices would reduce the impact of climate change, which will pave the way towards an effective solution in the long term, he said.

He added that his ministry was developing the Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategies that is to be tabled at the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change.

He said a low emissions pathway approach is among the country’s strategies to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions target in the long term.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.