PUTRAJAYA: Heavy industries such as steel, power and cement production should explore green technologies and reduce their emissions with the newly-launched National Carbon Market Policy (NCMP).
This is especially timely with the current spike in fossil fuel prices, says Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) Ministry secretary- general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin.
Such industries, known as “hard-to-abate”, are sectors where carbon emissions are difficult to reduce due to the nature of their operations.
“The NCMP can be seen as an incentive for industry players to switch to low-carbon operations by applying technologies that not only cut greenhouse gas emissions but can also save costs,” she said during a media engagement session on the NCMP recently.
The NCMP, launched yesterday, is a key initiative by Malaysia to develop a carbon market, aimed at supporting the trading and financing of carbon emission reductions.
A carbon market is a system in which carbon credits are traded, with the credits representing a reduction of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, according to the United Nations’ definition.
Governments from other nations and companies can then buy these credits to offset their emissions – a move that could potentially generate returns for Malaysia while protecting the environment.
“With the NCMP, our country will be able to leverage the influx of investments to offset costs in efforts to tackle climate change,” said Anis Rizana.
NRES deputy secretary-general (Environmental Sustainability) Datuk Nor Yahati Awang said moves by the government to introduce the carbon market and carbon tax are to enable industry players to contribute back to the planet.
Anis Rizana said the NCMP is important as Malaysia is a member country of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, which has recognised the use of carbon credits as an alternative to offset greenhouse gas emissions to achieve the Nationally Determined Contributions of each member country.
