A/HRC/44/40/Add.1 VIII. Climate change 83. Surface temperatures, sea level and extreme weather events are all increasing in Malaysia and climate change will exact a high toll.128 It is all the more alarming then that officials at the state level, who are responsible for land and natural resources management, and officials at the federal level who handle social protection, rural development and vulnerable groups, seem to be paying almost no attention to the risks facing poor people, who will be particularly affected. The Special Rapporteur was provided with no evidence that they are factoring climate change into their poverty and social protection policies. 84. The consequences for Malaysia in the coming decade and beyond will be dramatic, and the worst hit will be those already living in poverty (see A/HRC/41/39). Climate change threatens to undo decades of development progress in Malaysia, especially for poor households dependent on agriculture who may be stuck in a “vicious cycle of poverty, inequality and disasters”.129 85. Current economic planning appears to be blithely proceeding as though climate change is a matter of community education, rather than requiring deep changes in government policies. The Malaysian economy is dangerously reliant on industries linked to high carbon emissions: in 2019, petroleum provided 30.9 per cent of fiscal revenues and the country reportedly accounts for 28 per cent of global palm oil production.130 In addition to the impact of climate change itself, the economy and fiscal revenues will presumably be greatly affected by any meaningful global actions to reduce carbon emissions and deforestation, with potentially severe implications for public expenditure. 86. The proposed climate change act, national adaptation and mitigation plan and new National Council of Climate Change Action must address the rights of people living in poverty, given their extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The Government should also ensure sufficient expertise and authority is brought to bear on major issues such as rapid reductions in emissions and fiscal sustainability. IX. Key recommendations 87. In addition to the more detailed recommendations above, the following list recalls some of the most important steps the Government can take to improve the situation of those living in poverty. 88. The Government should urgently adopt a meaningful poverty line, consistent with international standards and including vulnerable non-citizen populations. Policies in key sectors should be adjusted to specifically address the needs of the lowest 15–20 per cent of the income distribution, who are widely considered to live in poverty. 89. The Government should adopt a comprehensive data transparency policy and make anonymized microdata available to researchers. 90. Overall spending on social protection needs to be significantly expanded. The existing social protection programmes spread over many ministries are poorly coordinated, heavily siloed and often ineffective. They should be replaced by a social protection floor reflecting the ILO approach. 128 129 130 18 Daniel Tang Kuok Ho, “Climate change in Malaysia: trends, contributors, impacts, mitigation and adaptations”, Science of the Total Environment, vol. 650, part 2, (February 2019). Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, The Disaster Riskscape across AsiaPacific. Pathways for Resilience, Inclusion and Empowerment, (2019), p. v. Ministry of Finance, “Fiscal outlook and Federal Government revenue estimates 2019” (2 November 2018), section 2, available from www1.treasur y.gov.my/pdf/budget/budget_info/2019/revenue/ section2.pdf; Malaysian Palm Oil Council, “Malaysian palm oil industry”, available from mpoc.org.my/malaysian-palm-oil-industry/; Union of Concerned Scientists, “Palm oil and global warming” (December 2013).