In Malaysia, the Environmental Quality Act 1974 is considered to be the most comprehensive piece of legislation promulgated to deal with environmental protection and pollution control. The Act also forms the basic instrument for achieving environmental policy objectives. As a developing country that strives for economic growth, Malaysia’s rapid development activities especially since the early 1980s have unveiled new dimensions to environmental concerns. Since its introduction more than 30 years ago, the scope and strategies of this Act have been constantly amended, altered or improved in the pursuit of environmental policy objectives. Thus, in the context of environmental protection, the Environmental Quality Act 1974 needs to be pro-active and flexible enough to accommodate new measures for facing challenging environmental problems. These changes provide an indication of the increasing complexities of environmental issues facing Malaysia. This paper examines the development of environmental strategies that has taken place within the framework of the Act, based on Malaysia’s environmental policy directives particularly on sustainable development.

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The impacts of climate change and degradation are increasingly felt in Malaysia. While everyone is vulnerable to these impacts, the health and wellbeing of children are disproportionately affected. We carried out a study composed of two major components. The first component is an environmental epidemiology study comprised of three sub-studies: (i) a global climate model (GCM) simulating specific health-sector climate indices; (ii) a time-series study to estimate the risk of childhood respiratory disease attributable to ambient air pollution; and (iii) a case-crossover study to identify the association between haze and under-five mortality in Malaysia. The GCM found that Malaysia has been experiencing increasing rainfall intensity over the years, leading to increased incidences of other weather-related events. The time-series study revealed that air quality has worsened, while air pollution and haze have been linked to an increased risk of hospitalization for respiratory diseases among children. Although no clear association between haze and under-five mortality was found in the case-crossover study, the lag patterns suggested that health effects could be more acute if haze occurred over a longer duration and at a higher intensity. The second component consists of three community surveys on marginalized children conducted (i) among the island community of Pulau Gaya, Sabah; (ii) among the indigenous Temiar tribe in Pos Kuala Mu, Perak; and (iii) among an urban poor community (B40) in PPR Sg. Bonus, Kuala Lumpur. The community surveys are cross-sectional studies employing a socio-ecological approach using a standardized questionnaire. The community surveys revealed how children adapt to climate change and environmental degradation. An integrated model was established that consolidates our overall research processes and demonstrates the crucial interconnections between environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change. It is recommended that Malaysian schools adopt a climate-smart approach to education to instill awareness of the impending climate change and its cascading impact on children's health from early school age.

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Two national parks in Malaysia have been recognized by the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World"s Cultural and Natural Heritage as the world heritage sites; the Gunung Mulu National Park and Kinabalu Park. None of the forest in Peninsular Malaysia has achieved that status but four have made it through the nomination list. The Malaysian government"s recent initiative was to list three reserved areas, namely the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), the Royal Belum National Park and the Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge. The nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site is indeed a good move in protecting the Malaysian forest. Even though there is no direct mention of "forest" stated under the Convention, it tacitly indicates the importance of the conservation of natural forest habitat for flora and fauna and a heritage for humankind. An outstanding forest site shall be conferred a world heritage status when it possesses at least one of the criteria of an Outstanding Universal Value or OUV. Ten criteria are listed as OUV in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention and it is divided as a cultural or natural heritage. This paper explores on the OUV of Malaysian forests, either included in or nominated to the World Heritage List. It describes the different OUV opted by different forest and that exemplifies the diversity and uniqueness of Malaysian forest.

Abstract-This paper discusses sources of marine pollution in Malaysia and examines existing provisions under the law relevant to the control of such pollution. Being a maritime nation as well as one of the top biodiversity-rich countries in the world, it is important for Malaysia to give its full commitment in conserving her mega-diverse ecosystems, including that of the richly endowed seas. At present, the well being of Malaysia's marine biodiversity is facing increasing threat from various sources, notably that of land-based and vessel-based pollution. Malaysia takes pollution issue seriously, and joins other key maritime nations in enhancing her legal regime in dealing with marine pollution. This paper seeks to highlight Malaysia's continuous effort towards marine pollution control through the application of both domestic and international law. Significantly, such effort can be used as a reference by other maritime nations for the purpose of collective marine environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.

Malaysia introduced Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in 2004 to incentivise renewable energy projects through the implementation of the National Renewable Energy Policy and Action Plan 2009 and the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (Act 725). Nevertheless, this FiT system failed to assist the country in increasing electricity generation from renewable sources. Later, auctions were introduced to boost the renewable shares, particularly solar photovoltaic power generation, after the quota for solar under the FiT were taken up. The tenders incorporated standard form of the contract along with a long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) which induced for the lowest price for power generation and guaranteed access to the national grid. This measure is considered as an excellent instrument to expand the renewable energy sector. There has always been a question: whether abandoning FiT for auctions is a feasible choice in the interest of sustainable clean energy for sustainable development? The main objective of the present article is to investigate the implementation of auctions to support renewable energy development in Malaysia and to examine whether auctions could replace FiT. This study adopted a doctrinal and comparative approach. It concluded that competitive bidding is preferable to support mature technology and large-scale generations, while FiT should be sustained to support new technologies. The article has also identified several countries such as Germany and India, who have successfully implemented competitive bidding systems to support the aspiration to expand the renewable energy sector.

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