Kota Kinabalu: Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup said Malaysia’s carbon market roadmap was grounded in the country’s first comprehensive, empirically modelled Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC).
The findings showed Malaysia had the technical potential to reduce emissions by 56 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030, with about 70 per cent, or around 39 million tonnes, achievable through negative- or low-cost solutions below RM100 per tonne.
He said these included industrial waste heat recovery in cement and steel plants, energy efficiency upgrades in commercial and residential buildings, and small-scale renewable energy.
“These must be captured domestically through our own building codes, energy regulations and efficiency standards,” he said at the opening of the Sabah Carbon Market Forum: Unlocking Carbon Market Opportunities for Sabah at the Hilton Hotel here recently.
The remaining 30 per cent, or roughly 17 million tonnes, involved hard-to-abate sectors requiring capital-intensive technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen co-firing, sustainable aviation fuel and large-scale nature-based interventions such as peat swamp forest restoration.
“These are where carbon markets provide their greatest value: they channel private investment and international carbon finance into high-impact technologies that would otherwise face a financing gap,” he said.
Arthur said the NRES was also in the final stages of introducing the National Climate Change Bill (RUUPIN), which would serve as the legal anchor for Malaysia’s carbon pricing architecture.
He said RUUPIN would provide the statutory mandate to operationalise and enforce the National Carbon Registry as the authoritative record for emissions tracking and its interaction with the upcoming carbon tax.
It would also formally govern Malaysia’s participation in international carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, with safeguards against double counting.
Arthur said governments could pass legislation and publish guidelines, but State agencies, project developers, financial institutions, verifiers and local communities were responsible for bringing the carbon market to life.
He expressed NRES’ appreciation for the Sabah Government’s leadership, Bursa Malaysia’s market infrastructure, CIMB Bank’s catalytic role and MCMA’s technical contribution.
“Let us work together, here in Sabah, to move from policy to reality and build a credible, liquid and globally respected Malaysian carbon market,” he said.
Arthur hoped the forum would produce clear and practical next steps, including credible projects ready for responsible development, financing that could be mobilised and areas where Federal and State systems could be better aligned.
“Our progress should be measured by the integrity of the climate outcomes, the confidence of market participants and the benefits delivered to Sabah and its communities,” he said.
The forum was hosted by the Sabah Government and organised by Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX) and MCMA, with CIMB Bank as sponsor, bringing together more than 100 participants from Sabah’s carbon ecosystem.
