Nik Nazmi: Govt studying National Carbon Market Policy

• “The policy is also formulated to facilitate relevant stakeholders, such as state governments and the private sector, to develop the local carbon trading industry."

KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability is conducting a study on the National Carbon Market Policy, slated for completion next year, the Dewan Rakyat was told on Monday.

Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (pictured) said the policy seeks to support the adoption of both compliance and voluntary carbon market mechanisms in Malaysia, thus facilitating the implementation of carbon projects by investors.

He said that the policy is also in line with the Nationally Determined Contributions Roadmap to reduce the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030.

“The policy is also formulated to facilitate relevant stakeholders, such as state governments and the private sector, to develop the local carbon trading industry.

“The ministry will continue to hold discussions with state governments regarding the carbon market mechanism since matters related to land and forestry fall within the jurisdiction of the state governments," he said during an question-and-answer session here.

Nik Nazmi said this in reply to a question from Datuk Ali Biju (Perikatan Nasional-Saratok) about the current status of carbon trading implementation in Malaysia, and the direction of the national carbon policy.

In response to Ali's supplementary question regarding the government's plan to introduce the carbon tax, Nik Nazmi said the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for overseeing taxation matters, had commenced discussions with stakeholders, while his ministry had provided technical input to the process.

“Among the factors we consider is the fact that we still have a lot of carbon subsidies for things like petrol, diesel, natural gas, and so on. That's why we need to look at this matter comprehensively.

“We have started the process of transitioning to targeted subsidies...this is not a matter of increasing government revenue, but rather of achieving net zero carbon emissions," he said.

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