Warisan wants carbon trading deal axed after Kitingan's error exposed

Warisan has urged the Sabah government to axe its controversial carbon trading deal with a little-known Singaporean firm which stands to make billions of ringgit.

This follows an Al Jazeera report which exposed the error by Deputy Chief Minister Jeffrey Kitingan who claimed that the firm, Hoch Standard, was backed by the Singapore government's Temasek Holdings Ltd. 

The report also raised questions on who actually owns Hoch Standard and suggested that it is owned by a shell company set up in the British Virgin Islands.

These were among the reasons which Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal (above) said warranted the Sabah government to immediately cancel the agreement.

"During the Warisan administration between 2018 and 2020, the state government froze all timber exports. As the chief minister (at the time), I handed thousands of hectares to the natives of Sabah, ending their decades-long wait.

"However, the government is now using state land as collateral for 100 years to a foreign company. It is worrying that the state government cannot verify the background or the ability (of this foreign company) to protect our natural resources," said Shafie in a statement.

Moreover, he added, the matter was never approved by the Sabah legislative assembly.

"On Dec 6 last year, I, as the opposition leader, had raised the issue. It was the first time the deal was mentioned in the Sabah assembly.

"I questioned the wisdom of the state government in signing this deal which appeared one-sided and did not put the interest of Sabahans first," said Shafie.

Claim on Temasek's backing

On Nov 19, Kitingan held an online dialogue with various interest groups on the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA) wherein he claimed that Hoch Standard had Temasek's backing.

However, the Al Jazeera report cited a Temasek spokesperson stating that they had no links with Hoch Standard.

Kitingan eventually conceded his mistake to Al Jazeera, but insisted that Hoch Standard enjoyed the backing of other "big funding agencies", but did not specify which.

Instead, Kitingan insisted that Hoch Standard was valued at US$10 million, although public records showed that Hoch Standard had a paid-up capital of US$1,000 and does not even have a public website.

Carbon emissions trading (ETS) is a carbon pricing instrument that limits or caps the allowed amount of greenhouse gas emissions and lets market forces disclose the carbon price through emitters trading emissions allowances.

Unlike China and the European Union, Malaysia does not have carbon trading regulations yet, although Putrajaya has plans to implement it in some form by the end-2022. 

Like traditional capital markets, carbon trading can be subject to speculative investments. - Mkini