WWF-Malaysia applauds Sarawak’s carbon emission law, advocates expansion to oil palm, logging industries

WWF Malaysia logo.

KUCHING, Jan 11: World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia) hopes Sarawak’s new law governing reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be extended to other major economic sectors such as oil palm and logging for mandatory compliance in the future.

In a statement reflecting on Sarawak’s key achievements in 2023 and its aspirations for a sustainable State in 2024, WWF-Malaysia applauded Sarawak’s enactment of the 2023 Environment (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emission) Bill in November last year which was the first on carbon emission and reduction in Malaysia with a complete strategy and roadmap.

“While the current law is prescribed for the oil and gas, and the energy sectors, WWF-Malaysia hopes that in the future, other major economic sectors such as oil palm and logging, will follow suit for mandatory compliance.

“The bill, alongside the Sarawak Land Code (Carbon Storage) Rules 2022 and The Forests (Forest Carbon Activity) Rules, 2022, will help chart the direction towards the State’s 2050 net zero carbon emission goal which is just less than three decades away,” it said in the statement yesterday (Jan 10).

WWF-Malaysia also called on the Sarawak government to prioritise the forest and ensure that development is carried out in a sustainable manner, cognizant and planned for an integrated approach.

It noted that Sarawak has maintained most of her forest cover, reported to be 62 per cent or 7.65 million hectares, the largest among all states in Malaysia.

If this figure is maintained, it said that Sarawak alone will contribute 46.5 per cent to the nation’s goal of keeping at least 50 per cent land under tree or forest cover.

“Sarawak has set a target to gazette six million hectares of forest as permanent forest estate, but only achieved just about two-thirds of that goal.

“We must intensify efforts to gazette more permanent forests and not to lose any more of them,” it reminded.

WWF-Malaysia commended Sarawak’s efforts to restore degraded areas, with the State leading in the nation’s race towards planting 100 million trees by 2025. By the end of last year, Sarawak had planted nearly 30 million trees. — DayakDaily