SARAWAK might not follow the national policy on proposed carbon market mechanisms, Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said.

He told the first National Climate Change Action Council Meeting for the year, which met in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, while Sarawak fundamentally supports the federal government’s climate change initiatives, the state would not compromise its legal rights.

Environmental matters, he said, fall under the residual legislative powers which allow states to enact laws.

Hazland said the council must therefore be mindful of this right and it must be respected when it draws up the framework of the national carbon market.

The council is a platform for discussions between the federal and the state government to establish policies, direction, and matters related to climate change.

Hazland said the meeting discussed three papers – proposals to strengthen the council as the nation’s highest platform for coordinating climate change issues, proposals to establish policies related to the implementation of the mechanism, and proposals to determine the country’s stance on key issues to be negotiated at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

He said the state also wants the national carbon market proposals studied more thoroughly, taking into account the decisions made by UNFCCC.

“The state also requested further clarification from the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry regarding this proposal.”

Hazland told the meeting the state passed a legislation to regulate carbon activities last year. Among them is the reporting process of carbon projects and carbon credits in the state.

He said the legislation requires the state to report the activities to the ministry to avoid double counting on the nationally determined contribution. – November 1, 2023.