SARAWAK passed amendments to its land code to make the state the first in the country to have legislation on carbon emission.

It was unanimously approved by the state assembly late this afternoon.

The new legislation is part of the state’s measures to mitigate climate change and global warming, Deputy Minister in Sarawak Premier’s Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-federal Relations) Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali. 

It would force industries in the state, including oil and gas, to comply with international requirements to reduce carbon emission intensity under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, she added when tabling the bill earlier in the day.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from industries would have to be captured, compressed, transported and stored underground or in other secure facilities. 

Hasidah said studies have been carried out by Petros, Petronas, Shell and other oil companies to develop carbon capture, storage technologies and solutions, and to create products from the carbon dioxide kept in storage. 

“With this law in place, foreign investors would find Sarawak a good investment destination, that provides well-regulated facilities or sites, for them to comply with international laws on carbon dioxide emission reduction, and the potential benefits of the commercial utilisation of the carbon dioxide captured and stored in accordance with our laws,” she told the state assembly. 

With the amendment, the state government now has the power to “regulate and control the use of land – onshore and offshore in the sea bed which forms the continental shelf of Sarawak – for the storage, retention, capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases of any form or description”. 

The storage sites would include depleted oil and gas reservoirs, deep unused saline aquifers, and deep un-mineable coal seams.

The State Planning Authority will be empowered to approve sites to be used for carbon storage and the licence for these sites. 

Hasidah said the terms and conditions of the licence would encompass mechanisms for trading of carbon credit generated from carbon storage based on international protocol and standards. 

She told the assembly that Sarawak has the biggest carbon storage capacity in Malaysia, estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet of storage in offshore areas.

She said in the state’s projected estimate, the carbon dioxide stored could generate carbon credit equivalent up to RM3.5 billion per year when traded in compliance with carbon standards recognised or accepted internationally.

“The carbon capture, utilisation and storage industry could also create up to 10,000 new well-paid jobs in Sarawak.

“Additionally, carbon storage could enable the development of energy transition industries such as blue hydrogen, blue ammonia and other blue industrial products.” 

Hasidah said the state could also derive significant revenues from the licensing of sites for carbon storage and potential commercial utilisation of the carbon dioxide in storage. 

The amended land code, to redefine the term “land” so that the statutory meaning is aligned with those found in other Malaysian legislations, also gave Sarawak control of the “airspace above the earth of the land, and also control of any property in that airspace including, but not limited to, spectrum”. 

“The term ‘land’ in the land code was defined when the law was enacted in 1958. The definition needed to be updated and be aligned or in line with the interpretation provided in other laws in Malaysia like the national land code,” Hasidah said. 

She said for instance, section 44 of the national land code, covers and includes the airspace above the land. 

“The proposed amendments would make the column of the airspace above the land, fall within the definition of land. In other words, this would make the column of the airspace above the land, part of the land,” she said. 

“As a consequence, the state government would have control of the airspace and have control on any matters in that airspace such as spectrum.” 

Spectrum, as defined in the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998, is the continuous range of electromagnetic wave frequencies, up to and including a frequency of 420 terahertz. 

She said the amendment would enable the state government to ensure that spectrum in the airspace of land in the state would be “regulated, and used in accordance with plans, for the establishment or improvement of state wide telecommunications infrastructure to support the economic transformation of Sarawak under the Post Covid Development Plan 2030”. 

The state would also have the powers to regulate the erection, maintenance and occupation of any structure in that airspace. 

“These amendments are intended to aid, and facilitate the implementation of the state government’s Post Covid Development Strategy 2030, particularly in relation to the establishment of a state-wide network of telecommunications infrastructure and services for adoption of digital technology,” Hasidah said. – May 18, 2022.