KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): Stronger global and regional cooperation is required to address energy transformation challenges and environmental crises, said Jeffrey D Sachs, renowned economist and president of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN-SDSN) at the Yayasan MySDG Impact Conference 2025 on Monday (Oct 27).
During his plenary session titled “The 2030 sprint: From global goals to local impact” at the conference, Sachs talked about Malaysia’s leadership and the importance of regional cooperation in achieving environmental objectives.
“This requires a green, digital and zero carbon energy system that stretches across all 11 of the Asean countries (with Timor Leste officially becoming part of Asean as announced in the Asean Summit 2025),” he said.
The push for a unified green transition must extend across all 16 member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which include the 11 Asean nations, as well as Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
Sachs stressed that succumbing to geopolitical rivalries or Cold War tactics would severely undermine this vital cooperation. Instead, he urged the region, especially China, Japan, Korea and Asean, to prioritise peace, unity and joint innovation.
“Old divisions between China, Japan and Korea, which date back a century, need to be ended. This is a region that will lead the world and will inspire the world on the basis of peace and cooperation, and I know that Malaysia will play a unique role in achieving that cooperation,” he said.
On the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sachs noted that while the world has made progress in nearly all 17 goals since their inception in 2015, the progress remains insufficient.
“Compared to the objectives that were set back in 2015 and the risks that we face in 2025, we are making progress. Life expectancy is rising, the world is making progress in transforming the energy system to a decarbonised energy system,” he said.
But the world has yet to bend the curve on greenhouse gas emissions, which are exacerbating global warming, even though two-thirds of global energy investments are going into renewable energy each year, he said.
“And as I noted, global warming is accelerating. We are in a very uncertain moment,” Sachs added.
Against this backdrop, he highlighted among the 193 member states of the United Nations, the US has broken ranks with the rest of the world.
“The US government is in open war against the SDGs right now. This is absolutely bizarre. We have an expression in the US, ‘motherhood and apple pie’ to mean something that is so unobjectionable, you can’t imagine anyone raising an objection,” he said.
“And yet, my government has somehow figured out how to raise an objection to the SDGs. They are actually leaving United Nations organisations like Unesco because they support the SDGs. I hesitated to bring up the bad news but I wanted you to be aware of this fact,
because I want you not to listen to the United States, truly. Not in this regard.”
Despite this setback, Sachs urged the international community not to be discouraged or swayed by the US’ position. He urged the other 192 countries to remain committed to the SDGs and to climate action.
On a related note, Sunway University executive director and professor of planetary health Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood said the world has breached seven out of nine planetary boundaries.
“The latest planetary boundary that has been crossed is ocean acidification. For us, this means more floods, more heat waves and haze. When the planet systems are destabilised, national development becomes risky and fragile,” said Jemillah.
“This evidence is sobering, but not hopeless. It’s a wake up call for systemic transformation, one that restores, rather than depletes and balances growth with regeneration. This is the purpose of the National Planetary Health Action Plan (NPHAP).”
The NPHAP is a blueprint mandated by the National Science Council in 2022 to integrate planetary health into national policies. Developed by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, it focuses on six key areas, including environment and health, food sustainability, research and education, energy transition, governance and values and cultural shift, behavioural change and communication.
“Malaysia is the first country in the world to develop it, an operational roadmap to accelerate SDG progress through a planetary health lens, led by ASM and Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation, [and] co-created with over 3500 stakeholders from government, academia, civil society, young people, indigenous people and industry,” she said.
Additionally, Jemillah highlighted a significant shift taking place in Malaysia’s education landscape, particularly in the area of sustainability and planetary health. Sunway University, she said, has become the first university in Malaysia to make planetary health and
sustainability subjects mandatory for all undergraduates.
“(Pertaining to) the National Higher Education Blueprint [which] will be released in 2026, I cannot give you more details, except [that] one of the pillars will be planetary health and sustainability, which means every institution in Malaysia will have that as a mandatory subject,” she added.
This move, she said, positions Malaysia as an example for other countries by making sustainability education compulsory, rather than an elective course of study.
The conference was also graced by Her Majesty Raja Zarith Sofia, the Queen of Malaysia.
In her royal address, Her Majesty underscored that sustainable development must be anchored in compassion and inclusivity.
“Our nation’s progress must be measured not by the wealth of a few, but by the well-being of all. Only when everyone living in Malaysia has the means to live with dignity, can we claim to have truly prospered.” said Her Majesty.