Abang Jo says Sabah, Sarawak should get 70% of carbon tax revenue

 The Sarawak premier says the federal government must recognise the two states’ environmental contribution.

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said Sarawak’s peatlands and mangrove forests are vital to Malaysia’s carbon sequestration efforts. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg has called for Sabah and Sarawak to receive at least 70% of any carbon tax revenue collected by Putrajaya, as the two states serve as Malaysia’s primary carbon sinks.

He said the federal government must recognise the states’ environmental contribution. “We are the custodians of carbon and we also produce oxygen through photosynthesis,” the Borneo Post quoted him as saying at a dinner in Kuching last night.

“The law has to be fair. Malaysia’s carbon policy depends entirely on Sabah and Sarawak,” he said, adding that carbon rights should be safeguarded under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

The Sarawak premier said indigenous communities, as custodians of the forests, must directly benefit from carbon-related policies. He said he had discussed the matter with Putrajaya.

Abang Johari said Sarawak’s peatlands and mangrove forests were vital to Malaysia’s carbon sequestration efforts. Outside of Pahang, the rest of Peninsular Malaysia lacked sizable forest canopies capable of substantial carbon sequestration.

He renewed his call for a climate and economic alliance involving Sarawak, Sabah, Kalimantan and Brunei, which he had proposed to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce seven months ago.

“We need a common platform because Borneo sits in the absolute middle of Asia,” he said. Borneo, the world’s third-largest island, is home to about 23 million people and remains around 60% covered by some of the world’s oldest rainforests. - FMT