Breaking out of Carbon Lock-In: Malaysia's Path to Decarbonization
Breaking out of carbon lock-in: Malaysia’s path to decarbonization The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Susskind, Lawrence, et al., "Breaking out of carbon lock-in: Malaysia’s path to decarbonization." Frontiers in Built Environment 27 (Mar. 2020): doi 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00021 ©2020 Author(s) As Published 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00021 Publisher Frontiers Version Final published version Citable link https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/124895 Terms of Use Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license Detailed Terms https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fbuil-06-00021 March 25, 2020 Time: 17:7 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 27 March 2020 doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00021 Breaking Out of Carbon Lock-In: Malaysia’s Path to Decarbonization Lawrence Susskind*, Jungwoo Chun, Selmah Goldberg, Jessica A. Gordon, Griffin Smith and Yasmin Zaerpoor Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States Malaysia has made an ambitious commitment to reduce the intensity of its carbon emissions, notably a 40% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2020 and a 45% reduction (compared to 2005 levels) by 2030. As with other developing countries, Malaysia’s challenge is to decarbonize its energy-centric economy in the face of population growth pressures and substantial levels of poverty. Drawing on extensive interviews with both public and private stakeholders, we examine how Malaysia has launched its transition to a decarbonized development path. Based on our multi- year analysis, we identify key breakout factors, including behavioral transformations, institutional shifts, and action by a broad network of actors that have allowed Malaysia to begin decarbonizing its economy.
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