Keynote 4

Sustainability criteria demand that economic decisions incorporate environmental stewardship and social justice. Given that the energy sector is critical to the functioning of most economies, and is often linked to impacts on the environment, issues related to the latter are pertinent and identifying solution to them should be a high priority. Insofar as hydropower is concerned, water management is the key to its sustainable development and operations. In Malaysia, one of the major management issues that need to be addressed is the quantity and quality of water at both the feeder and downstream systems of hydropower installations. Water resource related issues of major concern in Malaysia include those of quantity and quality of water at both the feeder and downstream systems of some of its hydropower installations. Large scale land conversions, particularly in the environmentally sensitive headwater areas for example, have been identified as adversely affecting the quality and safe supply of water to most hydropower and water supply reservoirs. In terms of EIA implementation, although the basic procedural requisites have now been better defined, concerns on the post-approval state of affairs remain. These include contentious issues related to offsite impacts, the specificity of recommended mitigation measures as well as the effectiveness of monitoring and auditing (M&A) processes.