KUCHING: The federal government plans to table a Bill on carbon trading in Parliament by the end of this year.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that the Federal Cabinet decided to table the Bill this year, following a directive from Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“At the national level, (we are) looking at 2025 (to table), but in Cabinet, the Prime Minister has instructed me, and I’ve chaired the meeting and, insya-Allah, by the end of the year the Bill will be presented (at Dewan Rakyat).”
He disclosed this when met by the media after officiating the closing ceremony of the Asia Pacific Green Hydrogen Conference and Exhibition 2024 (APGH 2024) at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today.
Fadillah, who is Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said the upcoming Bill would not only cover laws and regulations but also address taxation schemes and other related aspects.
He was commenting on a recent suggestion by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg for the central government to improve existing legislation regarding the energy business, to include matters related to carbon trading.
“I agree that Sarawak is quite advanced in terms of laws (on carbon trading), that the state government has approved it in the State Legislative Assembly. Now the challenge is at the national level,” Fadillah said.
On June 8, Abang Johari had given an assurance that Sarawak’s carbon trade protocol would not take a long time to be established.
He explained that calculating carbon storage and the principles of carbon trading depended on the London Protocol.
He said the London Protocol will serve as the baseline, and the Sarawak government is collaborating with the World Bank to evaluate the principles of valuing the state’s carbon storage.
