Resident Coordinator's speech: Kuala Lumpur Sustainability Summit (KLSS) 2025

Selamat Pagi and Good morning. 

Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, Acting Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability and Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities

Yang Berhormat Dato Hajah Hanifah Hajar Taib, Deputy Minister of Economy,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps, distinguished guests, partners, sustainable thinkers, and change makers,

It is a great pleasure to join you at this inaugural Kuala Lumpur Sustainability Summit 2025.

I commend the Government and people of Malaysia - and in particular the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, the Ministry of Economy, and the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation - for convening this important platform at such a decisive moment.

As Malaysia assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship under the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability,” this Summit sends a powerful message: that Malaysia is ready to lead by example - to translate vision into action, ambition into results, and words into the reality of a greener, fairer future.

We have just heard Assistant Secretary-General Selwin Hart remind us that the Decade of Action is entering its defining stretch. Around the world, we are running out of time but not out of options.

Here in Kuala Lumpur, the task before us is clear: to turn global commitments into local progress - for Malaysians, for ASEAN, and for our shared planet.

Malaysia’s Leadership and Vision

Malaysia has shown that sustainable development and economic growth can and must go hand in hand.

• Malaysia’s forthcoming revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC3.0), to be announced ahead of COP30, will reaffirm its commitment to align national action with the world’s climate goals.
• The First Biennial Transparency Report submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) already demonstrated your dedication to transparency, accountability, and evidence-based policymaking.
• The National Energy Transition Roadmap sets a bold path to net-zero by 2050, aiming to mobilize over RM600 billion, create green jobs, and ensure affordable, secure, and inclusive energy for all.
• With the upcoming Climate Change Act and 13th Malaysia Plan, Malaysia is set to make sustainability the backbone of its development—embedding resilience, equity, and low-carbon principles across all policies, investments, and communities.

Taken together - the NDC, NETR, Climate Change Act, and RMK-13 - reflect a coherent national vision: to grow Malaysia’s economy while safeguarding its natural capital and social cohesion.

This is leadership.  This is what a just and inclusive transition must mean. 

It means growth that safeguards the planet, empowers people, and secures prosperity for generations to come.

The Role of the United Nations

The United Nations stands shoulder to shoulder with Malaysia — as a trusted partner, a source of expertise, and a bridge for global solidarity.

Together with our national counterparts, we are focusing on three overarching outcomes:

• A more sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon economy;
• A more inclusive society where no one is left behind; and
• Stronger institutions and partnerships to drive the SDGs forward. 

Across our agencies, we are helping to turn national goals into measurable outcomes:

• UNDP through the Climate Promise, supports Malaysia’s NDC 3.0, and its related strategies on Just Transition, Gender, and Financing and Investment, and through the Nature Finance Lab, is unlocking private capital for renewable energy and biodiversity conservation.
• UNICEF amplifies the voices of young Malaysians - the true stewards of tomorrow - empowering them through initiatives like the Langkawi Declaration to co-lead climate action.
• UNEP promotes circular-economy models, nature-based solutions, and sustainable consumption to reduce waste and emissions and together with WHO, FAO and WOHA, is promoting a One Health approach that links human, animal, plant, and environmental health.
• UN-Habitat - under Malaysia’s Presidency of its Assembly - is advancing the vision of climate-resilient, inclusive, and livable cities across the world.

Together, these efforts are woven into one purpose: to help Malaysia achieve a prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable MADANI Economy.

Malaysia and ASEAN: Catalysts for Regional and Global Change

As Chair of ASEAN, Malaysia can transform sustainability into a driver of regional progress. 

The forthcoming Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Climate Resilience has the potential to be a landmark - a bridge between the Paris Agreement and ASEAN priorities on energy, biodiversity, and adaptation finance.

At the global level, 2025 will be a pivotal year. 

At the Climate Summit in New York last September, leaders admitted that current NDCs fall short of keeping global warming below 1.5°C this century.

Leaders expressed strong support for the gaps in NDC ambition and implementation to be addressed at COP30 in Belem.

In this critical window, Malaysia’s leadership can carry the voice of the Global South - calling for fairness, inclusivity, and equitable access to finance.

Because sustainability is not a luxury. It is a lifeline. And the transition to a green economy must be just - one that leaves no worker, no farmer, no community behind.

A Call to Action

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The science is clear. The solution exist. The financing can be mobilized. And the partnerships are here - in this very room.

But what we need most is political courage and collective will.

Let us make 2025 the year we turn the tide - the year Malaysia, ASEAN, and the world choose cooperation over complacency, ambition over apathy, and solidarity over silence.

The United Nations will continue to stand with Malaysia - every step of the way - to translate policies into progress and commitments into change.

As we move toward COP30 together, let us build a future that is sustainable, resilient, and just - for every Malaysian, for every ASEAN citizen, and for every person on this planet we share.

Terima Kasih.