KUCHING: The Sarawak and the federal government are formulating a mechanism to manage carbon trading levies, said Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said both governments have agreed that while Malaysia, as a sovereign nation, must register carbon trading with the United Nations, the levy collected would be shared between the state and federal levels.
“There will be an arrangement between the federal and the state. As you know, there will be one to charge a levy.
“And therefore, levy must be shared between federal and state. And this is being worked out,” he cited in his keynote speech at the 11th International Conference on Low Carbon Asia (ICLCA 2025) at the Hikmah Exchange Event Centre here yesterday (Oct 23).
Abang Johari expressed appreciation to the federal government for recognising that environmental management now falls under state jurisdiction.
“I must say thank you to the federal government because they have agreed that the environment is now under the state, and they have given this mandate. We manage our own environment,” he added.
He said the collaborative framework between the state and federal governments would ensure Malaysia’s compliance with international obligations while allowing Sarawak to benefit from its green initiatives.
“With that sort of law, we hope to share not only with Sarawak but also the rest of Asia, to make sure the region becomes environmentally friendly and powered by renewable green energy,” he said.
Abang Johari added that Sarawak would continue contributing to Asia’s green energy goals and participate in the global fight against climate change.
“We must leave behind a good place for mankind to live and prosper,” he opined.
Earlier, he asserted that Sarawak would also develop an extension of Bintulu as a low-carbon city, supported by mechanisms to mitigate carbon emissions.
Abang Johari noted that Sarawak was the first state in Malaysia to pass legislation on greenhouse gas emissions, which later became a model for the federal government when drafting its own Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) law.
“When the federal parliament wanted to introduce the CCS law, the former minister of economy came to us and used our model. But we told him we should be excluded because that is under the state. That’s why we now have two laws — one federal and one our own,” he said.
