The development of an environmental resilience index for Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Over the years, rapid urbanisation aided by advanced technologies and population increment has significantly altered the natural environment into concrete jungles resulting in adverse environmental degradation. In order to mould a sustainable, resilient and green future, global efforts and directives have been introduced, such as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, low-carbon cities, and others at international and local levels. Nevertheless, grassroots initiatives and actions are crucial in producing results. Presently, there is no mechanism to measure the relevant environmental components into a comprehensive system indicating Malaysia’s level of environmental resilience. Though the local governments have to report their development performance via MURNINET, a system developed by PLANMalaysia, this system does not include environmental resilience. As such, this study on the Environmental Resilience Index (ERI) was embarked on, proposing five environmental components that can be used by local authorities to assess environmental resilience. ERI covers environmental resources, built environment, climate conditions, natural disasters and environmental issues. On the other hand, this paper shares an ERI pilot analysis of the environmental resources of the study area, Selangor, Malaysia, consisting of 9 districts. The data used to analyse are majorly secondary data from official reports of responsible technical departments and agencies in Malaysia to ensure the validity and reliability of data. The output of this analysis was generated using ArcGIS software as it relates to the weightage of different components and sub-components. The results show that most districts in Selangor have an ERI level of moderate level, while three districts, namely Sabak Bernam, Sepang and Petaling, are categorised as having low ERI levels.