By Sarah Hafizah Chandra
SAMARAHAN: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) has allocated RM100,000 for its sustainability initiatives, says Prof Datuk Mohamad Kadim Suaidi.
The Unimas vice-chancellor said that the launch of the University Sustainability Initiatives was in support of the university’s ongoing commitment towards environment sustainability on campus.
“This is part of our continuous efforts and commitment in integrating the culture and awareness of environment sustainability on campus. We are always committed to operating sustainably in order to preserve the environment and socioeconomic for the wellbeing of today’s society and future generations.
“Some of our sustainability practices include Low Carbon Campus, Say No to Single-Use Plastics, Reuse and Recycle Papers as well as Water and Energy Savings. We also have experts in the field of sustainability as well as programmes and courses related to sustainability particular on the impacts towards local ecosystem and community.
He said this during the launching of the university’s New Strategic Plan 2021–2025 and University Sustainability Initiative at Arena Gemilang, Detar Putra on Monday (Oct 19).
According to Prof Kadim, the university’s sustainability initiatives were in line with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) and Malaysia, as a member of the United Nations (UN), had planned for the implementation of SDG in three phases to accommodate the five-year period for each Malaysia Plan.
“In the first phase, Malaysia incorporated SDG in the sustainable development agenda which is being implemented in the 11th Malaysia Plan (RMK-11) 2016– 2020. Our university has formulated community development strategy and research as well as other sustainability initiatives based on SDG in order to be parallel with the RMK-11.
“All of our achievements in sustainability initiatives have been reported in Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings in 2018 and 2019. This has awarded our university with the ranking of 201 best universities in the world and the fifth ranking for the best public universities in Malaysia.”
Prof Kadim added that Unimas was also recognised in the top 100 universities worldwide in several SDG categories namely Climate Action, Gender Equality, Life Below Water and Peace and Justice Strong Institutions.
Meanwhile, Unimas through the university’s sustainability centre (USC) and the establishment of a sustainability committee would undertake several measures to ensure that the cause would have lasting impacts.
“Among the objectives and roles for the committee are to draft a holistic plan for the university to fulfil the criteria in SDG, to strategise and manage the process for the sustainability initiatives in the four focused domain namely community, research, curriculum and institutional management along with to review and recommend the key policies and guidelines for the university’ sustainability plans.
“Furthermore, to monitor the university’s progress and achievements towards SDG 2030 as well to prepare a periodic report on the implement of the university’s sustainability plans for report submission to Times Higher Education University Impact Ratings as well as to any relevant body.”
