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Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand

factors,  notably  the  completion  of  the  Comprehensive  Development  Plan  2006-2025  (CDP),  24  blueprints  and  the  Iskandar  Regional Development  Authority  (IRDA)  created  through  an  Act  of  Parliament  (Act  664),  which is  solidly  guiding  the  development  1.  The  economic  region’s  transformation  from  mainly  manufacturing,  agriculture  and  food  processing  to  advanced  services  and  high  value-added  industries  is  rapid  by  world  standards,  and  is  seen  today  as  one  of  the  fastest  growing  regions  not  only  in  Malaysia  but  in  East  Asia  1. With  such  rapid  land  use  and  other  developments,  driven  by  a  major  influx  of  Foreign  Direct  Investments  and  significant  local  investments,  it  became  even more  critical that  such  developments  are  closely  monitored  so  that  the  plans,  policy  and  programs  stated  in the  CDP  are  carried  out  in  a  sustainable  manner.  IM’s  transformation  clearly  adheres  to  its  vision  of  a  ‘Strong  and  Sustainable  Metropolis  of  International  Standing’.  Therefore,  a  few  steps  were  taken  to  ensure  the  sustainability  of the  development  in  IM  such  as  the  instalment  of  an  Environment  Division  in  IRDA,  the  production  of  the  Low  Carbon  Society  Blueprint for  Iskandar  Malaysia  2025  and  finally  all  the  efforts  taken  have  established  RCE  Iskandar  in 27  November  2014. In  2012,  the  Low  Carbon  Society  Blueprint  for  Iskandar  Malaysia  2025  (LCSBPIM)  was  produced  and  endorsed  by  the  Malaysian  Prime  Minister  3.  The  blueprint  was  edited  to  the  third  edition  in  2014  4.  In  the  blueprint,  12  actions  were  drawn  under  triple  bottom  pillars  namely  Green  Economy,  Green  Community  and  Green  Environment.  Under  the  Green  Community  comes  two  actions  which  are  Low  Carbon  Lifestyle,  and  Community  Engagement  &  Consensus  Building.  There  are  five  sub-actions  under  the  Low  Carbon  Lifestyle  action  where  “Awareness  through  Education”  is  the  core  of  this  paper  since  one  of  the  measures  of  this  sub-action  is  to  enhance  school  children  awareness  through  various  programs  drawn  in  the  blueprint.  The  programs  are  Low  Carbon  Society  (LCS)  education  across  curriculum,  school  clubs  for  LCS &  3R  (Reduce,  Reuse,  Recycle)  programs, Children  Eco-life  Challenge  project,  interschool 3R  project  competitions,  3R  measures  at  schools, LCS  measures  at  schools,  collaboration  with  relevant  government  agencies  &  NGOs,  and  students  to  collect  reusable &  recyclable  wastes  from  home  and  neighbourhood.  The  details  of  the  programs  can  be  found  in  the  Road  Map  3.  This  paper  illustrates  how  the  blueprint  was  drawn  up  and  later  put  into  action. II.  DRAFTING  THE  BLUEPRINT In  order  to  draw  a  Low  Carbon  blueprint for  a  sustainably  developed  IM,  an  international research  project  sponsored  by  Japan  International Cooperation  Agency  (JICA)  and  Japan  Science and  Technology  Agency  (JST)  were  started  in  2010  2.  The  project  combined  researchers  from  Malaysia  and  Japan  to  draw  policies,  actions,  measures  and  programs  to  ensure  IM  achieve  the  reduction  of  carbon  by  year  2025,  in  line  with  Malaysia’s  voluntary  commitment  to  reduce  the  country’s  carbon  intensity  by  40%  by  year  2020  (based  on  2005  levels).  The collaborative  effort  involved  a  big  group  of  Malaysian  researchers  from  Universiti  Teknologi Malaysia  (UTM)  and  IRDA,  and  Japanese  counterparts  from  Kyoto  University,  Okayama  University  and  National  Institute  for  Environmental  Studies.  The  project  started  in  July  2011  and  this  five-year  long  project  has  achieved  all  the  objectives  of  the  project  before  the  end  of  the  project. The  research  project  began  with  a  pilot study  in  IM  and  showcased  best  practice  in  LCS  for  Asian  Regions.  It  was  a  hands-on  project  where  researchers  and  government  officials  of  Asian  countries  work  together  in  implementing  research  outputs  within  the  cities or  regions  involved,  leading  to  the  eventual  330 Proceedings  of  the  International  Conference  on  Climate  Change,  Biodiversity  and  Ecosystem  Services  for  the Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDGs):  Policy  and  Practice  27-29  June  2016,  Cha-am,  Phetchaburi,  Thailand


Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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