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Author	Mr MUHAMMAD NABIQUL HAKIM BIN AZUAR
Organisation/Institution	International Islamic University of Malaysia, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL)
Country	MALAYSIA
Panel	Energy Law
Title	THE FORGOTTEN SOLAR REVOLUTION: CASTING A MALAYSIAN INDIGENOUS-LED LEGAL BLUEPRINT FOR SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) DEVELOPMENT IN ILLUMINATING ASIA’S ENERGY FUTURE
Abstract	This paper interrogates Malaysia's energy transition paradox, where progress toward decarbonisation coexists with the structural marginalisation of communities such as the Orang Asli. While solar initiatives are increasingly promoted as tools of inclusion, the Renewable Energy Act 2011, Electricity Supply Act 1990 and Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 collectively entrench a state centred paradigm that sidelines Indigenous agency and leaves Free, Prior and Informed Consent, co ownership and fair benefit sharing in solar projects weakly protected. At the same time, international law offers few concrete indicators or safeguards for community based or Indigenous led energy governance. This dual vacuum, domestic and international, reflects a wider Asian predicament in which energy rich but governance constrained jurisdictions struggle to align solar deployment with justice and equitable development. Responding to this gap, the study develops a bottom up, rights based model of solar energy governance that reframes remote communities such as the Orang Asli not as passive beneficiaries but as co creators of Malaysia's solar transition. The research critically examines Malaysian and international renewable energy frameworks on the recognition of Indigenous rights and participation in solar development, benchmarks global practice in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, and formulates an equity oriented, regionally replicable model for Indigenous driven solar governance. Methodologically, the study triangulates doctrinal legal analysis, comparative benchmarking and qualitative engagement with stakeholders. Expected outputs include a jurisprudential model and proposals for legislative reform, and more broadly a context responsive framework for embedding Indigenous leadership and energy justice within national transition pathways in Asia.
Biography	Mr Muhammad Nabiqul Hakim Azuar is a Fast-Track PhD candidate at the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). His ongoing doctoral research, "Formulating a Robust Regulatory Framework for Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Development through the Energy Trilemma Paradigm in Malaysia", examines the intersection of energy law, environmental governance and sustainability in Malaysia’s energy transition. He is one of ten Malaysian PhD scholars selected under the Australia-Malaysia Virtual PhD Internship Programme (AMVPIP) 2025 and was attached to Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. He represented IIUM in the national Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition 2025, where he was First Runner-Up, and received Best Paper and Best Presenter awards at the IIUM Postgraduate Colloquium 2025. He graduated top of his class with First Class Honours in both the LLB (2021) and LLB (Shariah) (2022) from IIUM, receiving the Best Student (Academic) and Best Student (Shariah) awards. After completing pupillage at Rahmat Lim and Partners, he was called to the Bar in May 2023 as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya (Non-Practising). Since 2019, he has been actively involved in governmental, non-governmental and academic research across areas including planning and land law, environmental and energy law, Islamic and customary law, governance, medical law and alternative dispute resolution. He also teaches law (part-time) at IIUM.