Green economy models and energy policies towards sustainable development in Malaysia: a review

Rapid population growth, industrialisation and an enhanced quality of life lead to high energy demand. This demand for energy exerts pressure on non-renewable resource and environment. Classical economic philosophy emphasises either the demand or the supply side of the market, which exacerbates the issue. Furthermore, the traditional notions have some limitations in promoting the sustainability of resources and the environment for the well-being of the next generation. However, models of sustainable development do address both the demand and the supply aspects of resources simultaneously. In order to realise the goal of sustainable development, an inclusive and comprehensive policy element is needed. Accordingly, different policy elements were introduced in order to address the sustainability issue of energy and environment. The paper reviews the potential of these energy policy elements introduced by the Malaysian government in order to enhance energy efficiency as the nation moves towards becoming a developed and high-income country by 2020. Additionally, the paper discusses a plausible inter-temporal sustainability pathway which applies an economic growth model, which reveals that adhering to the sustainability notion could enhance the economic production and efficiency of energy resource utilisation.