Sabah will not rush carbon market trading, Chief Minister says at Carbon Market Forum

wartaoriental.com

by eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 points

Sabah's Chief Minister said the state will not rush carbon credits to market or allow speculative trading. Speaking at the Sabah Carbon Market Forum, he said projects must meet environmental, social, and governance standards to protect Sabah's reputation with buyers. The 2025 Climate Change and Carbon Governance Enactment gives the state government ownership of carbon rights and sets rules for project approval and credit trading. Sabah is positioning itself as a carbon-negative state with nearly 30% of its land under protected status. The state points to the Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project, an 83,381-hectare initiative expected to reduce around 800,000 tonnes of CO2, as its benchmark for nature-based credits. It also plans carbon projects across mangroves, agriculture, renewable energy, and carbon capture and storage, and is asking banks and investors to help close the financing gap for credible projects.

6 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Good to see a government explicitly say it will hold back unvetted projects. Carbon markets die when buyers get burned by overstated credits. The Kuamut project is a useful reference point, but the real test is whether the approval process stays strict once money starts flowing.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

The mangrove angle is the part I want to see more detail on. 340,000 hectares of mangroves is huge, but blue carbon accounting is tricky and slow. If Sabah can make that work, it would be a real regional benchmark. Otherwise it stays a slideware number.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

Renewables target for 2030 is vague. No specific percentage, no mention of grid capacity or interconnection. Sabah has isolated grids and diesel reliance in some areas. Solar and hydro are fine, but the bottleneck is transmission and firming, not just project announcements.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

The legal framework sounds sensible on paper. State ownership of carbon rights and a registry are necessary, but the hard part is enforcement and avoiding double counting with federal inventories. Sabah says it is a net carbon sink, but that only works if accounting is consistent and transparent.

retrofit_lens_44·1 month ago·1 pts

Most of the focus is on nature-based credits and CCS. Less said about methane capture from palm oil waste, which is actually one of the more bankable near-term options. Curious whether the state plans to use carbon revenue to fund that infrastructure or expects developers to carry it.

solar_winds_05·1 month ago·1 pts

Good that they are calling for financing frameworks. Too many carbon market announcements skip past the capital question. If CIMB and Bursa help build a practical instrument for project finance, that matters more than another forum.