KOTA KINABALU (UCAN): The Catholic Church in Malaysia kicked off a year-long campaign to protect the environment by tackling plastic pollution in the country. Bishop Joseph Hii Teck Kwong of Sibu launched the Protect Our Earth, Protect Our Children Campaign (PROTEC) campaign on August 31 which will run from September 2022 to August next year, the Catholic Sabah news portal reported on September 6.
The theme for this year’s campaign is Stop Plastic Pollution.
During the inaugural event at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kota Kinabalu, Bishop Hii, president of the Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice, called on people to shun selfishness and become more connected to the environment while listening to its voice.
The bishop said that Catholics need “the Spirit of the Lord to give us a heart of flesh to replace our heart of stone, moving us outward from ‘ego to eco,’ to be inter-connected to all creation and to listen to the voice of Creation.”
Bishop Hii also reminded the faithful of the God-given privilege “to participate in God’s creation as a co-worker.”
At the same event, the Season of Creation 2022, which will run from September 1 to October 4 this year, was also launched. The theme this year is Listen to the Voice of Creation.
PROTEC is a five-year campaign that takes inspiration from Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical, Laudato Si,’ and is endorsed by the Malaysian Catholic bishops.
PROTEC aims to “protect mankind from self-destruction” while ensuring intra and intergenerational justice for current and future generations. It will run from 2020 to 2025 with a different theme each year.
The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu and the dioceses of Keningau and Sandakan are jointly coordinating the campaign across the country.
The theme for years one and two were Use less electricity and Cut down meat, dairy and food waste respectively. Various dignitaries and activists attended the inaugural event.
“Reducing plastic consumption and its resultant waste has been a major challenge”
Deepika Singh, coordinator for the Climate Change Desk of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference and Clare Westwood, regional director Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice, who is also the co-chair of Laudato Si’ Action Platform-Asia, and representatives from Malaysia’s nine dioceses.
The Centre for Renewable Energy & Appropriate Technology, an NGO, gave a demonstration during the gathering of upcycling plastic, such as transforming durable plastic into new materials of economic, environmental, or artistic value.
Reducing plastic consumption and its resultant waste has been a major challenge for the Malaysian government.
A World Wildlife Fund report, released in 2020, states that Malaysia has the highest annual per capita plastic consumption, recorded at 16.78 kg, compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam
The report pointed at plastic as the second highest waste generated in the country with a low recycling rate of 20 per cent.
In 2021, The Ministry of Environment and Water launched the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap, 2021-2030 which governs plastic production, consumption, recycling, and waste management holistically.
This roadmap demonstrates the initiative of the ministry to shift the plastic economy to a circular one and offer new ways to mitigate emerging risks to allow the plastics industry to innovate.
