Nithi during the talk
“At the rate we’re going, we’ll need 1.6 earths to sustain humanity,” said the President of the Environmental Protection Society Malaysia (EPSM) Nithi Nesadurai in his talk titled “Living within the Ecological Limits of One Planet”, which was held at Sungai Long Campus on 28 June 2017. The talk was organised by the Department of Modern Languages (DML), in collaboration with the Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Social and Policy Studies(TCLC).
Present at the talk were TCLC Chairman Dr Chin Yee Mun, DML Head Yogesvary Alahakone, UTAR staff and students. The talk aimed at creating an institutional framework to mainstream sustainable development in Malaysia, as well as highlighting how certain initiatives, even though positive, do not adequately address the fragile state of the planet reflected by the ecological footprint analysis.
Nithi explained the definition of sustainable development at the beginning of his talk. He said, “Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. At the rate that resources are being used up, our Earth will need 1.6 years to regenerate what humans have used in a year.”
Stressing that the Earth is our only home, he illustrated the importance of having sustainable development, or else the generations to come will suffer the consequences of our ‘over-use’ of the natural resources, what he terms as ‘ecological overshoot’. He added, “If we do not take heed, by 2030, we will be consuming the resources of 2 planets, that is, our resources will be consumed to the point of no return within 13 years, with a disastrous impact for our future generations.”
“Already, the present generation is suffering the consequences of climate change such as global warming, heavy rainfall, and flooding,” he pointed out. He also urged the attendees to integrate environmental concerns into their everyday lives. Attendees were requested to fill up an ecological footprint survey form which showed them the size of their respective ecological footprints, based on how much resources they consume and the waste they generate in their daily activities.
He also showed a table on the Ecological Footprint Ranking of countries in the world based on 2012 data. The audience noted that out of 188 countries, Malaysia ranked 64 with an ecological footprint of 3.71, which means Malaysians are using more than three times the natural resources and producing more waste than the Earth can regenerate and absorb. It was clear to the audience that there must be more to resolve in order to implement sustainable development in Malaysia for the future of this planet as we all depend on it.
An accredited Public Relations Consultant by profession, Nithi has a Postgraduate Certificate in Development Planning in Urban and Regional Environmental Management from University College London, and a Master’s of Arts in Communication Management as well as a Master’s of Advanced Business Practice from the University of South Australia. He has served in EPSM’s Executive Committee since 1983. Nithi also represents EPSM in the Malaysian Climate Change Group, a coalition of NGOs involved in climate change. Between 2001 and 2009 he served as Editor of ECO, the daily news bulletin of the Climate Action Network (CAN) at these COPs. In 2017, Nithi took on the role of Regional Coordinator, CAN South East Asia.
Packed audience at Multi-Purpose Hall
Dr Chin (central) presenting a token of appreciation to Nithi (left), while Yogesvary (right) looks on
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