The weather used to be something we talked about to fill awkward silences. These days, it feels like something we genuinely worry and complain about. The summer of 2026 has made one thing difficult to deny; extreme heat is no longer a distant threat that future generations will have to deal with. It is already here, today, and is affecting how we live, work, and even spend our weekends. Across the world, heatwaves have taken lives, disrupted businesses, and exposed just how vulnerable we are despite all our technological advances.
Here in Malaysia, we are no strangers to hot weather. We have grown up with it, and yet many people would agree that standing under the midday sun today feels different from what it did 10 or 20 years ago. Whether you’re working on a construction site, playing football, attending a school sports day, or simply walking to your car, the heat feels more unforgiving. Perhaps we are getting older, but perhaps the climate is also changing faster than we would like to admit.
A Season of Tragedy
One thing the internet has done is make distant tragedies feel a little closer. News from the other side of the world arrives on our phones within minutes, and this year there has been no shortage of stories linked to climate change. In South Asia, temperatures climbed above 46°C in some areas. Reports emerged of heat-related deaths in India and Pakistan, although many experts believe the real numbers are higher because heat is often an invisible killer. Unlike floods or earthquakes, heat rarely leaves obvious evidence behind. Europe experienced something similar. Thousands of deaths have been linked to heatwaves across the continent. For many Europeans particularly those living in countries that traditionally enjoy mild summers, it was another harsh reminder that climate change is now a health hazard.
In Nepal, we were deeply saddened by the recent catastrophic flash floods that claimed more than 1,000 lives, with thousands more reported missing. In Indonesia, disturbing images emerged of vast areas engulfed in smoke from forest fires, many believed to be human-induced. Locals were forced to flee their homes, wildlife suffered burns, starvation, and suffocation, while neighbouring countries once again endured days of choking haze.
Malaysia has thankfully avoided large-scale heat-related fatalities, but that does not mean we have escaped unscathed. Farmers have had to deal with prolonged dry conditions, water levels in some reservoirs have dropped, and sectors that depend on predictable weather have begun feeling the strain. The government has responded with measures such as cloud seeding in several states to replenish water supplies, however for a trade-dependent nation, these impacts cannot be taken lightly. The burden falls disproportionately on vulnerable communities, particularly smallholders and lower-income households whose livelihoods depend heavily on stable weather conditions.
Why This Matters
Climate change often feels abstract because we tend to talk about it in terms of decimals and projections. A rise of 1.5°C, 2°C, or 2.5°C. The numbers sound small, but the consequences are enormous and deadly. Every additional fraction of a degree increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather; heatwaves become longer, droughts become more intense making crops harder to grow, and energy demand rises as more people rely on air conditioning simply to get through the day.
When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, there was a sense that the world was finally moving in the right direction. The international community of 194 countries committed to keeping global warming well below 2°C while striving to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Yet today, the world has already experienced periods exceeding the 1.5°C threshold, and current projections place us on a pathway toward approximately doubled the threshold by the end of the century, despite countless summits, declarations, and promises. What we are facing now is the result of decades of insufficient action, delayed commitments, and a persistent gap between a roadmap and implementation, and to put it simply, we are not doing enough.
The uncomfortable question then becomes: who should be held responsible?
Who is Responsible?
This is where the conversation becomes uncomfortable. Whenever climate change is discussed, there is often an expectation that everyone should do their part. That is true, but it is also true that not everyone has contributed equally to the problem. George Orwell captured a similar idea in Animal Farm with the famous line:
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
In the context of climate change, one could adapt this to say:
“All countries are responsible for tackling climate change, but some are more responsible than others.”
In Orwell’s novel, the pigs gradually consolidate power while maintaining the illusion of equality. Likewise, in climate negotiations, all nations are expected to contribute to emission reductions. However, the reality is that responsibility is far from equal. Historically, industrialised countries built their prosperity through centuries of carbon-intensive growth and collectively account for a disproportionate share of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, many developing nations that contributed relatively little to the problem are often the most vulnerable to its consequences and are expected to shoulder comparable adaptation and mitigation burdens. This imbalance lies at the heart of ongoing debates about climate justice.
The situation becomes even more complicated when current emissions are considered. Perhaps the greatest irony is that the world’s most powerful economy, the United States, has chosen to distance itself from key international climate commitments, sending a signal that climate action is no longer its priority and negotiations with regards to this is now off the table. To simplify what happens from the Animal Farm analogy, the world’s largest historical emitter helped write the rules of the farm, benefited from the harvest for decades, and then stepped away from shouldering the responsibility of the collective commitments when it came time to share the burden, and yet, the rest of the us are expected to just accept that this is how it would be.
All countries have a role to play in reducing emissions, but some countries bear a much greater responsibility because they became wealthy through decades, and in some cases, centuries of carbon-intensive industrialisation. Many developing countries contributed relatively little to the problem yet now find themselves on the front lines of climate impacts. They are dealing with floods, droughts, rising temperatures, and food insecurity while often lacking the resources needed to adapt. That frustration is understandable and very much justified.
In the aftermath of devastating climate-related disasters, including recent deadly flooding in Nepal, calls for climate compensation and greater accountability from the world’s largest emitters, specifically the United States, China and India, have grown louder. Such demands reflect a broader sentiment that those who contributed most to the problem should play a larger role in financing the solution.
The Role of Big Emitters
The numbers tell a compelling story. According to the Carbon Majors Database, 71% of industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 100 fossil fuel producers. Even more strikingly, only 25 corporate and state entities account for over half of those emissions. This highlights an uncomfortable truth that the scale of corporate emissions means that meaningful climate action cannot rely solely on consumer choices.
Stronger regulation is therefore essential. Governments must move beyond voluntary commitments and establish clear, predictable, and enforceable standards for emissions reductions. More importantly, policies must remain consistent across political cycles as climate action requires long-term certainty. Businesses are unlikely to make substantial investments in decarbonisation if policies constantly change direction. Large corporations carry a disproportionate share of responsibility, not only because of their historical emissions, but because they possess the capital, technology, and supply-chain influence necessary to reduce emissions at scale. Regulators, investors, and consumers are increasingly demanding accountability through comprehensive emissions disclosure and climate-related reporting requirements.
The European Union offers an example of this approach. Facing escalating climate impacts and economic risks, the EU has adopted increasingly stringent regulations that place a direct cost on carbon-intensive activities. The fundamental is simple in a sense that if emissions impose a cost on society, they should also impose a cost on those generating them. By embedding climate considerations into financial and operational decision-making, businesses are given a powerful incentive to decarbonise. Hit them where it hurts most; their bottom line, and the rest will follow.
What Can We Do?
It would be easy to end on a pessimistic note, but that would miss an important point. None of this means individual actions are irrelevant. Personal choices alone will not solve climate change, but they remain an important part of the broader solution. Individual actions shape consumer demand, strengthen community resilience, and create the social and political pressure necessary for systemic change. Voting for climate-conscious policies, reducing household energy consumption, using public transportation where possible, and supporting sustainable products and food systems all contribute to the transition toward a lower-carbon future.
Climate change may be driven by governments and corporations, but its consequences are ultimately borne by ordinary people. The heat we are experiencing today is not merely a warning about the future because the scary reality is already here today. Do we simply let go and let God, or do we act quickly enough to prevent today’s crisis from becoming tomorrow’s catastrophe?
Author:
Afiqah Mohamad
Associate Vice President
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