Gurmit Singh, its then Executive Director, was appointed to the Environmental Quality Council on 1 April 1997. In 1997, CETDEM was appointed to the National Steering Committee of the World Solar Programme and the National Climate Committee. In 1998, it became a founder member of the National Committee on Organic Farming.

Networking
CETDEM was a founder member of the Malaysian Environmental & Conservation Network [and its second Coordinator from August 1990 till Sept. 96] and coordinated the Malaysian Organic Farming Network [MOFAN] [from May 1990 till January 1998].

It has joined:
- The Malaysian Climate Change Group in February 1993 [becoming its 2nd Convenor on 26 July 1994],
- International Network for Sustainable Energy in May 1994 · the Basel Action Network in February 1998
- The International Fed. of Organic Agriculture Movements [IFOAM] in April 98,
- The Sustainable & Peaceful Energy Network, Asia [SPENA] in mid-1998

It hosted the Regional Secretariat of the Climate Action Network SE Asia [CANSEA] from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 1997 and from January 2002 to May 2006 and from 1 July 2010 for a period of 2 years.

Projects Completed

1. TRAINING

Since August 1985, events covering environmental management, environmental impact assessment, environmental audits, hazardous waste management, energy conservation, & organic farming have been held in various parts of the country. Collaborators have included the DOE, SIRIM, UTM, IEM, MIM, TNB & MOA.

2. STUDIES

Since October 1986, these have covered wind energy, environmentally sound technology, organic farming, environmental audits, biodiversity policy, & renewable energy. Click here to find out how to access the CETDEM Documentation Centre.

Support has come from a variety of organizations: PETRONAS, BftW, NOVIB, FES, ELCI, DANIDA, UNDP & MacArthur Foundation.

3. AWARENESS RAISING

Since October 1985, events have covered environment, technology, organic farming, water & sanitation, international issues, sustainable development, energy efficiency, renewable energy, ISO14000 & Climate Change.

Collaborators have included MAE, MOSTE, DOE, MECM, EPSM, APPROTECH ASIA, ELCI, UNEP, MMS, & SIRIM.

4. ORGANIC FARMING

From September 1986 to September 1996 an organic farm was run in Sg. Buloh;

From June 1987 onwards, exposure and training events have been run at the farm and many different parts of the country;

Since October 1996, the focus has been on nation-wide promotion & training.

5. Project on Increasing Awareness & Building Capacity on Urban Malaysians on Sustainable Energy Options funded by the UNDP/GEF April 2003 – June 2006.

6 Project to Work with the PJ Community on Sustainable Energy Usage funded by ExxonMobil January – December 2006.

7. Project to set up a Demonstration & Documentation Centre on Sustainable Energy funded by DANIDA March 2004 – February 2007.

8. Project to Create Awareness on Climate Change, Energy Use and Transport funded by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) April 2007 – Feb 2008.

9. Project on Community Household Composting in Petaling Jaya funded by DANIDA-SWMC June 2008 – December 2009.

10. Secondary School Energy Efficiency Action Project funded by ExxonMobil November 2008 – January 2010.

11. Creating Awareness and Action among urban M’sians to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions through Sustainable Transport Options (STOP) co-funding from GEF SGP Malaysia, November 2008 – December 2010 .
Ongoing Projects:
1. The Organic Farming project switched to training & extension in October 1996 & is currently self-funded.
International Role
Besides its active involvement in the Networks mentioned earlier, CETDEM has been represented at various international fora like:

- the UN Conference on Environment & Development in Rio;

- the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;

- the UN Convention on Biological Diversity;

- the Vienna Convention & Montreal Protocol;

- the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes.

It has also been present at the World Solar Summit and Conferences of IFOAM.
Funding
CETDEM has generated income from its training events & seminars, sales of publications and the Organic Farm (while in operation). Separate funds have been raised from foreign and local sources for specific projects. Resort to donations from the public and other Malaysian sources has been necessary to meet operating costs from time to time.

# All donations to CETDEM have been granted tax-exemption w.e.f. 1 May 1998.
Recognition
The Malaysian Government acknowledged CETDEMs environmental work by giving the 1993 Langkawi Award to its founding Executive Director. IFOAM Asia gave the 2001 Saika Award to CETDEMs Organic Farming Project Coordinator.

Demonstration Cool & Energy Efficient House

Visits are conducted for groups of 5-10 persons by appointment only. Appointment is necessary at 2 weeks notice.

Organic Farming Initiatives

The Organic Farming Community Centre was established in January 2007. Please visit the Organic Farming section to view the schedule of activities.