Young voice, green voice

Count on today's youth to carry the torch of sustainable development in Brunei Darussalam. That is, if we are to rely on survey results. Recently released results of the second survey on the Bandar Seri Begawan Development Masterplan showed a growing "green outlook" among Bruneians, and under half of the poll respondents or 44 per cent were 17 years old or younger.

This is a positive indication of how the voice of today's generation will help shape future policies that have direct bearing on the environment. It is a source of optimism because, as the old saying goes, the youth are the nation's future. One important point that can be derived from the survey results is that the overwhelming majority or 96 per cent of respondents agreed that Brunei Darussalam has the potential to become internationally renowned for its efforts in sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. And they said they were of the opinion that caring for the environment was an important component of Brunei's national identity.

This bodes well for the environment movement at a time when the Sultanate is headed for further industrial development as part of efforts to diversify economic activity and reduce our reliance on the oil and gas sector.

As the country moves forward, we foresee challenges in keeping the environment shielded from the negative impact of development approaches that tend to highlight growth at the expense of the very resources that have kept us in a better state than neighbours who have had to deal with the harsh consequences of environmental degradation.

We need to remind ourselves that it is not by pure luck that the Sultanate remains in the league of a few countries that are heavily forested. Our grandfathers and their leaders held on to values and embraced the wisdom of serving as stewards of the environment. With the advent of communication technology that has made information, good or bad, accessible to today's generation at the touch of their fingertips, no one could easily say those values could live on unscathed for generations to come. But we have reason to be hopeful at least.

More than nine in every 10 poll respondents or 95 per cent favoured the building of a legislative framework for the protection of forests and mangroves. This is another aspect of survey results that point to better chances for Brunei's rich biodiversity to remain in good hands.

Recently a scholar talked about how attractive Brunei's peatlands are to entrepreneurs looking for sources of so-called carbon credits. While there should be no pressure for the Sultanate to engage in carbon trading, the attention it is receiving for the health of its peatlands and other natural features further highlights the imperative for Brunei to continue to be sensitive to its environment. There have been no concrete instances that have in any way raised alarm bells of how development would likely harm our environment. We nevertheless find ample reason to stress that the voice of today's generation is a voice that deserves our attention. Regardless of the many occasions that we have heard of incidents magnifying the social ills affecting young people today, we have reason to believe that many of them are cognizant of what role stewardship of the environment plays in our national identity.