KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 – Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Tuesday called on world leaders to inculcate a new respect for the environment, saying the people and the future generations depend on it.
The prime minister said this would require a change, not just in organisational culture but also mindset.
“Our local Cengal tree, like California’s Redwoods, may take centuries to reach its humongous size. But it can be felled in less than a few hours by an unscrupulous timber contractor with a chainsaw.
“Until we understand instinctively that sacrificing such resources for short-term benefit undermines our long-term aims, we cannot hope to achieve truly sustainable development.
“This same principle applies in regional and global policies, too,” he said when opening the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries, in the capital.
-BERNAMA
