KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal government was not informed about Sabah's Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) which is under fire from environmentalists.
Environment and Water Minister (Kasa) Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man who disclosed this in Dewan Rakyat today said this was a stumbling block for his ministry in terms of giving the public any details with regard to the content of the agreement in question.
He said the information received by the ministry was only through reports and written statements from representatives of the Sabah state government that were published in the media.
"The federal government was not informed, consulted, and involved by the state government in the negotiation for the NCA. With this regard, Kasa is not able provide a detailed explanation of the agreement's contents."
Tuan Ibrahim however said that if the NCA agreement had standards similar to internationally accredited carbon credit transactions, it would then have a direct impact on Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) achievements and the country's net-zero greenhouse gas emission aspirations.
"The Environment and Water Ministry also always welcomes the Sabah state government to consult and involve the federal government and other stakeholders in discussions on the NCA agreement and the carbon market mechanism in the future," he said.
Tuan Ibrahim said this in reply to Wong Hon Wai (Bukit Bendera) who asked what was the ministry's position in regulating carbon trading activities such as carbon trading agreements between the Sabah government and foreign companies.
Sabah's controversial carbon credit deal had drawn criticism from environmentalists as being a means to legitimise the surrender of two million hectares, or more than half of Sabah's forests for the pilot project.
It was further criticised as the role of the Singapore-based firm that was to receive 30 per cent of profits for the project had yet to be explained.
Sabah's Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan had earlier said that the states targets minting RM5.6 billion, yearly by tapping into the forests through carbon credits and other nature monetising deals as a base.
He said the money was expected to be raised "without cutting a single tree, and at the same time, preserve and safeguard the interests of indigenous communities," while adding that it was expected to attract private funding of up to US$10 billion (RM41.8 billion).
Malaysia is expected to model the European Union in set up of their carbon trading market. The system was set to be developed together with the Finance Ministry, Bursa Malaysia and other stakeholders.
Tuan Ibrahim had told the Dewan Rakyat that the domestic carbon trading market that was in the works would be Shariah-compliant. No concrete updates have followed since.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz had announced in October last year that the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) was expected to be launched in Bursa Malaysia in efforts to achieve carbon-neutral status by 2050.