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The climate is changing.

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Low carbon development
is an approach

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to reducing carbon
dioxide emission

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and mitigating global warming.

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Human activities
in cities produced

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78% of global carbon emission.

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This is because most
cities rely heavily

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on fossil fuel-based energy.

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Low carbon development
refers to ways

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of shaping economic growth
so that greenhouse gas

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emissions can be kept to levels
that can be absorbed by nature.

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Low carbon development
involves a push

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towards simpler lifestyles
that rely on environmentally

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friendly technologies.

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Hello, my name is Isiaka
Adeyemi Abdul-Azeez,

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and I'm a research scholar
with the MIT-UTM Malaysia

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Sustainable Cities Program.

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In this video, I will discuss
why and how low carbon

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development is proceeding
in the second largest city

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in Malaysia, Johor Bahru.

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The city is in the
Iskandar Malaysia region,

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which has announced a goal of
reducing carbon emission by 58%

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by year 2025.

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I will reflect on some of
the city's achievements

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and the challenges it faces
in meeting that target.

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Johor Bahru is one of the
five local authorities

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in Iskandar Malaysia region.

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It is an important flagship
for low carbon development

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in the region.

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The city is a regional
transport manufacturing hub

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and a main shopping
destination for tourists

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from Indonesia and Singapore.

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At present, it very
disorganized and much

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messier than its glitzy
neighbor Singapore.

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In an effort to
compete with Singapore,

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the Malaysian government
announced a commitment

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to sustainable
urban development.

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Its goal was to attract
foreign investment

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in Johor Bahru's industrial,
commercial, and real estate

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activities.

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Economic investment
usually means

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more construction of
buildings, more manufacturing

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and industrial development, more
retail and shopping activities,

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more concentration
of human activities,

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and more energy consumption
for transport and electricity.

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Under normal
circumstances, all these

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would increased carbon emission.

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However, the
government is trying

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to promote economic growth while
reducing the carbon intensity.

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How can this be done?

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And how is low
carbon development

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being practiced in Johor Bahru?

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Two key organizations are
leading the low carbon

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initiative in Johor Bahru.

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The first is the Office
of Low Carbon Society,

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at the University of Technology
in Malaysia, also called UTM.

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Professor Ho Chin Siong, the
head of the Low Carbon Society

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office at UTM explains
some of their practices

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he has been trying to
encourage in Johor Bahru.

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We use the concept
of [INAUDIBLE], where

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they have already some form of
[INAUDIBLE], or [INAUDIBLE],

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and then other thing is
the climate change policy.

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How can be integrate them
together in such a way

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that urban planning
can decarbonize?

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That plan basically guided
us how to be low carbon.

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And then, from
there, we prepared

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another plan called
the Road Map, that

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is the [? implementation ?]
of the plan.

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And then at the moment, we are
now going into more detail,

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working with the local
authorities, with the mayors,

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with the engineers.

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The second
organization concerned

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with promoting low carbon
development initiatives

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in Johor Bahru is the Iskandar
Regional Development Authority,

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also known as IRDA.

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Together with UTM, IRDA, is
helping local authorities

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prepare actions plans for
reducing carbon intensity.

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Mr. Boyd Joeman
explains what IRDA

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is doing along these lines.

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The process of getting to
that point is very important.

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So municipal, critical.

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And that's why we are working
with the five local authorities

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to prepare their own
low carbon action

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plan at the municipal level.

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Through that
process, we can then

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say we have done one step
further from regional

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to municipal.

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They can then look
at it from the point

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of view of how they developed
their respective areas.

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So we bring them
to Japan and let

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them see a bigger picture-- how
it is being done in a developed

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country.

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And then they bring back, and
then the disseminate and share

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the information.

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So through that process,
IRDA can play a big role

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in terms of making sure
that everyone is connected,

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as it were.

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Regarding what has been achieved
thus far in Johor Bahru,

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Professor Ho has this to say.

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The first thing, I
think, awareness.

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Awareness of the [INAUDIBLE].

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Low carbon strategy
is not a new term

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anymore in this Iskandar
area or in [INAUDIBLE] area.

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People are talking about
low carbon society.

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And people believe that,
actually, low carbon society

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will improve the
quality of life.

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Another achievement
is the creation

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of environmentally
friendly rural communities.

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One of these
villages, [INAUDIBLE],

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has been supported by
the government as a model

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for low carbon lifestyle.

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The village has
implemented a series

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of action plans in
various sectors,

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such as agricultural
and waste disposal, that

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demonstrates how a community
can live more sustainably.

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[INAUDIBLE] project was
adopted by the residents

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of [INAUDIBLE] and shows how
the population can benefit

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socially, environmentally,
and economically

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through various low carbon
development efforts.

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Among the key obstacles
to promoting low carbon

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development is
changing the mindset

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of those who have
not embraced the need

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to reduce carbon intensity.

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Professor Ho offers some
suggestions regarding ways

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of changing local thinking.

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The [INAUDIBLE]
approach is actually

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focusing on co-benefits.

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I think it's too early stage
for the [INAUDIBLE] country,

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when they tell them, OK,
let's go for low carbon.

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Let's save the planet.

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Let's cut down CO2, it may not
make sense to many of them.

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But if you tell them that there
is a co-benefit-- for instance,

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by going low carbon,
you can save money.

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By having low carbon
you have a co-benefit

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of better air quality, better
health, better quality of life.

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By having even going
green, or low carbon,

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you can do composting,
or you can do recycling,

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and then by doing
that activities,

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you can generate certain
extra income for the family.

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Those are co-benefit,
I believe strongly,

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that help us to promote it.

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Measuring and monitoring carbon
emissions from electricity

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and the transport sector
is carried out for IRDA

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by UTM and Japanese researchers,
as Mr. Boyd Joeman explains.

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Through the Low Carbon
Society blueprint,

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which was prepared by UTM in
Japan, [INAUDIBLE] University

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and [INAUDIBLE]
University and the NIS.

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Through that, they did
the homework, i.e.,

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what are the existing emissions
or the output of electricity,

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for example, or transport.

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So from then on, we have
a base figure, 2005.

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At this point, it's
being monitored

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through the project, i.e.

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by UTM in Japan.

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But eventually, IRDA needs
to sit down and monitor

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it ourselves.

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One cannot manage what
one cannot measure,

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and monitoring is only possible
once there is agreement on what

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to measure.

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Emissions from transport
and electricity production

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must be measured and monitored.

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MOSFET is an emissions
measuring tool

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that is being used to assess
carbon dioxide emission

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from transport and electricity.

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The tool measures fossil
fuel-based energy use

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by category, type, and sector.

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It inventories electricity use
in kilowatt hours and liters

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of fuels.

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These are automatically
converted into carbon dioxide

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equivalents.

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The emission
reduction goal can be

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achieved using MOSFET
to monitor the carbon

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reduction from transport and
electricity in Johor Bahru.

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The Malaysian economy is
growing at almost 2% per year,

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so reducing carbon
intensity will not be easy.

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The way forward is
to create support

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for the world we
want to live in.

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Reducing carbon intensity
and promoting low carbon

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development in Johor
Bahru and elsewhere

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would require a change in
the mindset of many people.

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It will also be necessary
to agree on what to measure

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and how to monitor
changes in carbon

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intensity in each sector.

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More low carbon
model villages should

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be created to show how low
carbon development can meet

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the needs of the population.

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Other experiments and
prototype living arrangements

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will be necessary to convince
people that change is possible.

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Shifting to clean energy will
undoubtedly be important.

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Along these lines, Johor
Bahru will probably

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need to implement
financial incentives

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to encourage investment
in renewable energy,

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along with multiple changes
in consumer behavior.

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City planners will
need to explain

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what less energy intensive
patterns of development

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might look like.