KUCHING: The Sarawak Government is ready to implement carbon trading but is still awaiting for the global financial structure of the transaction to be finalised.

Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg said that although the world is still looking for a suitable financial model to determine the price of carbon, the Sarawak Government has taken proactive measures by creating its own legal framework and collaborating with the World Bank to ensure that the implementation can be carried out in an orderly and transparent manner.

“At present, there is no clear financial structure in carbon trading. The world is still looking for a form, and what is the appropriate price? But we in Sarawak are ready with our own model,” he said when delivering his keynote speech during the Road to Belem: Accelerating Climate Action in Sarawak event here on Tuesday.

Datuk Patinggi Abang Zohari explained that the collaboration with the World Bank aims to obtain accurate data regarding the value, amount and price of carbon storage.

“We need to know how much to charge because we are making a lot of sacrifices, for example we are no longer clearing forests, meaning there is no revenue from timber, but we are generating income through carbon storage,” he stressed.

He also stressed that Sarawak has the advantage of autonomy in matters related to land and forests under the Federal Constitution which allows the state to enact its own laws related to carbon and the environment.

At the same ceremony, the Sarawak Premier also witnessed the handover of the book ‘Balancing Innovation and Coordination: Institutional Solutions for Effective Climate Action in Malaysia’s Borneo States’ by a representative of the World Bank and Sarawak Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Datuk Dr. Hazland Abang Hipni.

Also present were Sarawak Deputy Premier, Datuk Amar Professor Dr. Sim Kui Hian, Brazilian Ambassador to Malaysia and Brunei, Daniella Ortega de Menezes, and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Datu Abg Ahmad Abg Morni. -UKASnews