Sarawak seeks cooperation from world bank in carbon trading – Abang Johari

SERIAN: The Sarawak government has sought cooperation from the World Bank to assess the accounting principles needed to be used in the assessment of the global carbon trade, said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg today.

He said the cooperation is important considering that carbon trading as a new form of trade is quite risky and Sarawak needs guidance from the World Bank as a credible global body.

“We need to work with credible parties since there are people who will try to deceive, or bogus consultants. So we have to be guided by the World Bank,” he told reporters after officiating the Sarawak-level World Forest Day Celebration at the Sabal Agroforestry Centre, about 60 kilometers from here.

According to him, due to the absence of a protocol for the calculation of carbon in world trade, the London Protocol of 1996, which is an international agreement regarding the regulation of carbon transfer across borders, has become the baseline.

Abang Johari said he had also informed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim about the need for the central government to improve the existing legislation regarding the energy business to include matters related to carbon trading. “You have to start somewhere and we have been given support by the federal government,” he added.