CWEH Activists Blog: 20 December 2019
Carol Yong

In my previous blog post I wrote about Venice, large cruise ships and the occurrence of more frequent and severe flooding exacerbated by many “little” things in that lagoon city.

In April 2013, continuous rains triggered unprecedented flooding in Siberut Island in the Mentawai Islands, severely affected the indigenous Mentawaians living in remote areas. (Photo © Carol Yong)

As it happens, just as Venice was being flooded between September-October 2019, I read about Vietnam, 50 years after Ho Chi Minh. Apparently, the country wants to 'celebrate' its economic progress by hosting a Formula One race during 2020.[1] This reminded me that besides the cruise ship industry, there are many other small causes that together greatly exacerbate the climate crisis. The Formula One or F1 Grands Prix (French: Grand Prizes) is a classic example.

Sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), F1 is widely considered to be the most prestigious form of motor racing globally and likewise has a massive following. However, I think F1 is an insane way of organising sports in terms of protecting the climate! Firstly, the F1 races take place globally so the drivers, their teams, vehicles, and equipment must be flown in and out of the various race locations, thus creating a huge environmental footprint! Secondly, the race cars produce comparatively high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Worldwide, many nations, including my home country Malaysia, are simply mad about F1. The races are held on purpose-built circuits that are costly to construct, and on tracks that have the highest grade-rating issued by the FIA. The obsession of hosting the Malaysian Grand Prix drove Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s then prime minister, to have Malaysia’s own circuit. The Sepang International Circuit was constructed between 1997-1999, as part of a series of major infrastructure projects in the 1990s under his government.

Then, in an unprecedented victory in the 2018 general elections that saw the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition take over the government from UMNO-BN, Mahathir became the prime minister for the second time. In the prevailing budget, Mahathir’s “pet”, the Sepang International Circuit got RM37.5 million compared, for example, to only RM15m for the independent Chinese schools (in the country) with 82,500 students!

Formula One is a multibillion-dollar industry for those who own or control the race circuits, the racing drivers, the car manufacturers, and others associated with the sport. It is also a sport that is highly dependent on large investments from sponsors with deep pockets. Presumably Malaysia is the “sponsor” for the British racing driver, Lewis Hamilton, since his jersey is imprinted with “Petronas”, Malaysia’s national petroleum company.

Given the current bad financial shape of the country (alleged corruption and money-laundering of the former prime minister, Najib Razak), why is big money not used for education, housing and health that would benefit the majority of the population? It would seem “other priorities” like “pet” sports with accelerated threats such as pollution and increasing levels of CO2 emissions that foster global warming have greater priority.

Impacts of increasing temperatures and rising sea levels on small island states

Let me reiterate my point: increasing environmental and ecological damage and current climate change are linked to small doses of little things such as F1, or the large ships in Venice, compromising the well-being of human populations, local environments and natural ecosysems.

The Mah Meri Orang Asli of Carey Island, Selangor are famous traditional woodcarvers and weavers, and the surrounding mangroves offer many raw materials such as barks and dyes. (Photo © Carol Yong)

As in Venice, the increased risk of storm flooding and varying degrees of rising sea levels constitute a serious threat to small island states in many regions. Sea levels rise as a consequence of global warming and extreme weather impacts, particularly on small local and indigenous communities, many of them poor women, men and children who live in harsh conditions and rely on the sea and natural resources for their livelihoods.

Many small fishing communities in Southeast Asia living at sea level are already in peril with rising water levels, for example, the accelerated loss of mangroves as I have seen in the Mentawai Islands (Indonesia) or Carey Island (Malaysia). Historically, mangroves have protected the local settlements from waves, storms and coastal pollution. Mangroves have traditionally been sources of fish and other food, timber, handicraft and construction materials for coastal communities.

Whilst the Venetians have their government’s promises to build the flood gates to protect Venice from the increased threat of rising waters, flooding, and storms, many poor coastal and fishing communities have very few or no resources at all to build flood gates, seawalls and breakwaters or coastal reinforcements. Inevitably, the exposure to risks among coastal or island indigenous and local communities can only dramatically increase  as a result of climate change. Does anyone care?