By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 12: The government will table a Bill on carbon trading laws in the Dewan Rakyat by the end of the year, says Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Fadillah, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA), noted that Sarawak is quite advanced in terms of regulating law (on carbon trading) where the Sarawak government has approved it in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUS).
The only challenge now is at national level, he pointed out.
“However, in a previous Federal Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim has instructed [me to look into this] and I have chaired that meeting.
“Insya-Allah by end of this year, the first Bill (on carbon trading) will be presented in the Dewan Rakyat.
“That (Bill) will include not only the laws, the regulations, but also the tax schemes and so on,” he told reporters after the closing ceremony of Asia Pacific Green Hydrogen Conference and Exhibition 2024 (APGH 2024) held at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here today.
Sarawak passed the landmark Environment (Reduction of Greenhouse Gases Emission) Bill in the DUS sitting in November last year, making it the first in Malaysia to do so.
Among the measures listed in the Bill include a carbon levy which will be imposed on registered businesses that fail to reduce their carbon emissions to the set threshold.
It also paved the way for Sarawak to have its own complete regulatory framework on clean and renewable energy, underlining Sarawak’s status as a global clean energy leader.
However, there are issues that affect Sarawak’s efforts to monetise carbon trading due to no governance and proper national laws being in place for it.
On April 10, Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg revealed that a Federal government team is set to visit and study Sarawak’s carbon trading law for integration into a Federal law. — DayakDaily
