WITH the recent release of the Madani framework by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, there has been a significant emphasis on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). To achieve the government plan of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, a RM10 million seed fund has been set up for Malaysian-generated carbon credits. To make this carbon neutrality goal feasible in the 2024 budget, the government has introduced plans to provide tax incentives of upwards of RM300,000 for companies that make expenditures on measurement, reporting, and verification related to carbon projects.

The government has plans in the national budget to issue sukuk biodiversity of up to RM1 billion, with which it will cultivate and restore degraded forests to generate carbon credit.

All these new measures underscore the great importance of ESG in Malaysia. There is a plant that has recently gained popularity and could assist in achieving these goals, and that plant is called “beema,” a species of bamboo commonly found in South Asia.

In a recent presentation at the National Land Finance Cooperatives, N. Barathi, an agricultural scientist and founder of Growmore Biotech, presented his findings on beema bamboo.

He suggested that beema bamboo can be used in Malaysia to combat carbon emissions due to its high growth rate, ranging from 0.5m to 1m a day. Furthermore, a full-grown beema bamboo can absorb around 400kg of carbon annually. It takes four to five years for beema bamboo to reach a height of 12m.

Bamboo, in general, outperforms most other trees in carbon absorption due to its rapid growth rate. However, Barathi’s findings suggested that beema bamboo would be a better alternative than other bamboo species, such as the common Chinese bamboo. This is because beema bamboo is better suited to Malaysia’s tropical climate compared to China’s bamboo, which is more temperate. Furthermore, beema is a clump-type of bamboo, meaning it grows closely in clumps and does not spread far. This prevents the bamboo from encroaching on the native environment. Running bamboo, on the other hand, poses this issue as it grows by expanding its roots, potentially threatening native plant species as it can outcompete them in terms of growth rate and height. Moreover, according to Barathi, beema bamboo is three times thicker than other bamboo types with a greater ability to absorb and store carbon.

Now bamboo cannot only be used for carbon credits; once it is fully grown, it can be cut down and used for other purposes. Bamboo can be used to make biofuel and even used to construct structures as it has been said that bamboo’s tensile strength is three to four times that of steel. In Malaysia, biofuel has started to become of interest, especially for the Malaysia aviation industry and even the energy industry. Malaysia Airlines has placed a heavy emphasis on using sustainable fuel, and even Petronas has started dipping its toes into it. Bamboo can assist both of these industries due to its abundance and its fast growth rate. Bamboo is currently being used in Malaysia for items such as chopsticks and handicrafts, but that is barely scratching the surface of its potential. In addition to that, in countries with bad air quality, bamboo oxygen parks have been built, such as that in India.

Overall, the bamboo industry is a growing one, valued at $61 billion in 2022, and it is expected to reach around $87 billion by 2030. Many Malaysian companies are expanding into the sustainable field, such as Midwest Composites, based in Negri Sembilan, a company that produces engineered composites, including carbon fibre, from natural fibres. It is time for the government to focus on the future of sustainable development, and bamboo can be the way forward for Malaysia, given its natural advantage in growing this resource. – November 14, 2023.

* Yugendran T. Kannu Sivakumaran reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.