THE Sarawak government is in the process of forming its own carbon registry, says Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Dr Hazland Abang Hipni.
He said carbon trading could not be done simply and must be licensed.
“Sarawak is in the process of issuing and coming up with the rules and regulations to carry out carbon trading through carbon licensing.”
He said this when responding to Tanjung Datu assemblyman Azizul Annuar Adenan’s questions during the third day of the 19th Starawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Today (Nov 23).
Earlier he said carbon credits were measurable, verifiable reductions in carbon which could be measured by formula, and there was also technology that used satellite to measure the carbon contained in the forest.
“Credits are tradable units that represent one tonne of carbon either removed or avoided. One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon.
“And now the price of carbon credit ranges between USD8 per tonne to about USD50 per tonne. So here we can imagine the amount of revenue that Sarawak will have if we embark on carbon trading.”
He said for the carbon offset project verification, there were three layers of measurement.
“One is to be done by government through the forest department, the second layer is through the carbon consultant or carbon traders and third layer, verification must be done by independent international bodies.”
Earlier, he mentioned that carbon trading was a mechanism to mitigate climate change.
“Carbon trading is actually the buying and selling of carbon credit in the international market or the local market to control the admission of carbon.
“Carbon trading is done in two ways, which is the voluntary carbon market and also the compliance carbon market. So, for Sarawak with 65 per cent of its land consisting of forest, 15 per cent of mangrove which can store three times the number of carbon and also 15 per cent of 65 per cent made up of peat, definitely Sarawak will embark on carbon trading.”
