The clean energy initiative in Malaysia has taken a steeper upward curve recently through the various action plans and programmes by Government agencies as well as various private initiatives. An example of such an initiative is clean energy deployment by mandating the adoption of a renewable energy feed-in-tariff( FiT) mechanism under the country’ s 2011 Renewable Energy Act. This effort was supported by the Clean Energy Ministerial( CEM) service, which facilitated a partnership between the Malaysian Sustainable Energy Development Authority( SEDA) and the Clean Energy Regulators Initiative( CERI), in collaboration with the CEM’ s Clean Energy Solutions Center, Leonardo Energy, and 21st Century Power Partnership. Ire-Tex Packaging Sdn Bhd announced that it had been granted the Feed-in-Tariff( FiT) approval by SEDA to develop and operate solar photovoltaics( solar PV) with 1MW power capacity to produce electricity for distribution to licensees in Malaysia under the new venture.
Renewables are now established around the world as mainstream sources of energy. Rapid growth, particularly in the power sector, is being driven by several factors, including improving cost-competiveness of renewable technologies, dedicated policy initiatives, better access to financing, energy security and environmental concerns, growing demand for energy in developing and emerging economies, and the need for access to modern energy. Consequently, new markets for both centralised and distributed renewable energy are emerging in all regions.
2015 was a year of firsts for high-profile agreements and announcements related to renewable energy. These include commitments by both the G7 and the G20 to accelerate access to renewable energy and to advance energy efficiency, and the United Nations General Assembly’ s adoption of a dedicated Sustainable Development Goal on Sustainable Energy for All( SDG 7).
Although many of the initiatives announced in Paris and elsewhere did not start to affect renewable markets in 2015, there were already signs that a global energy transition was underway. Furthermore, renewable energy provided an estimated 19.2 % of global final energy consumption in 2014, and growth in capacity and generation continued in 2015.
Employment in the renewable energy sector( excluding large-scale hydropower projects) increased in 2015 to an estimated 8.1 million jobs( direct and indirect). Solar PV and biofuels provided the largest numbers of renewable energy jobs. Large-scale hydropower projects accounted for an additional 1.3 million direct jobs. Considering all renewable energy technologies, the leading employers in 2015 were China, Brazil, the United States and India.
MAINSTREAMING RENEWABLES: GUIDANCE FOR POLICY MAKERS
The universal nature of energy was emphasised in the international political sphere in 2015. In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goal in ensuring access to sustainable energy for all( SDG7). Furthermore, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement to address climate change in December 2015, committing to increasing renewables and energy efficiency as part of the goal to limit global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
There is a clear link between environmental protection, poverty reduction, economic growth and technology development, and this work on cross-cutting issues cannot be done in silos. In order to meet the agreed targets, it will be necessary to work across the various domains, including increasing dialogue, using multistakeholder approaches and cross-cutting educational programmes, and supporting inter-ministerial collaboration. National budgeting structures must also contain crosscutting aspects; finance and potentially other Ministries must be included in climate and energy decision-making processes alongside energy Ministries.
Outside of the political sphere, civil society demonstrated its overwhelming support for a transition to renewable energy, including through the Pope’ s environmental encyclical and the Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist declarations on climate change, all of which called on
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