BY NATASHA JEE & NURIN PATRA
KUCHING: Leadership approaches today must evolve in line with the changing global landscape.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said today’s challenges faced demand a new paradigm — not only to address current issues but also to anticipate future complexities.
He related the matter with unpredictable circumstances, including decisions such as withdrawing from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and disregarding agreements on climate change by certain countries, which could undermine global efforts to address critical issues affecting humanity.
“Today, we have no certainty. It is almost that you cannot predict what will happen. Suddenly, a country withdraws from WHO, that will undermine the human aspect of helping people.
“Once you withdraw (from WHO), there is no feeling of humanity. People who need medical care, and those who require research on new diseases must be solved.
“So, the circumstances have changed. Not only withdrawing from WHO, it seems that they don’t acknowledge the issue of climate change and the Paris Agreement (an international treaty on climate change),” he said when delivering his speech during the Contemporary Leadership International Summit 2025 (CLIS2025) held at Riverside Majestic Hotel today.
Abang Johari said climate change is already happening and people faces natural catastrophes.
“In January, our temperature reached a record high, increasing by 1.75 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, even though the Paris Agreement sets the threshold at 1.5 degrees.
“In Bintulu, we experienced the biggest flood in history, with one-day rainfall reaching 900 millimetre (mm). This has never happened before, and this is the result of climate change,” he said.
Yesterday, when delivering a public lecture at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, Abang Johari said climate change is no longer a distant threat, but disrupting economies, straining ecosystems, and reshaping the way people live and work.
The Sarawak government, he said, has taken several initiative and programmes to tackle climate change, such as the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.
He also said the state has reinforced environmental governance through key policies such as the Land (Carbon Storage) Rules 2022 for Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS), the Greenhouse Gas Emission Ordinance 2023, and the Natural Resources and Environment Bill 2024 to enhance resource governance.
Other initiatives and projects, he said, included Sarawak’s transition to renewable energy, such as hydropower, solar power, and wind power, as well as hybrid renewables, such as solar-hydro and solar-wind systems.
