A new report warns cars bought in Malaysia last year could release 3.4 million tonnes of CO2 annually, matching the emissions of a small country.
PETALING JAYA: The cars Malaysians bought last year could release 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, which is as much carbon as a small country, a new report warns.
In its report “The Contribution of Malaysia’s Automotive Sector to Climate Change”, environmental group RimbaWatch found that over 825,000 petrol cars were registered in Malaysia in 2025.
Over their lifetimes, these vehicles are expected to burn 24.65 billion litres of petrol – enough to fill more than 9,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools – and release around 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) into the atmosphere.
“That is about 3.4 million tCO2e every year, the same as the total emissions of (Southern African country) Lesotho,” said RimbaWatch director Adam Farhan.
“This shows just how much emissions private car use adds to Malaysia’s carbon footprint,” he noted.
The report also challenges the common belief that switching to electric vehicles (EVs) automatically makes things greener.
Adam explained that if all 825,000 new cars last year had been EVs, Peninsular Malaysia’s annual emissions would actually be slightly higher, at 3.66 million tCO2e.
By contrast, in Sarawak, where most power comes from renewable sources such as hydropower, EVs produce far less carbon – 68g CO2e per kilometre compared with 166g for petrol cars, he said.
He warned that EVs alone cannot solve Malaysia’s transport problem.
“We need fast, reliable and affordable public transport, not just in Kuala Lumpur, but alslo across the country.
“Better bus services, walkable streets, and first and last-mile options such as e-scooters are essential to reduce reliance on private cars,” he stated.
The report also calls for road tax reforms that reflect a vehicle’s real environmental impact, rather than just engine size.
It urges the government to set interim carbon targets for vehicles, gradually reducing emissions to reach near-zero by 2050.
