Government agrees to Voluntary Carbon Markets development

The Cabinet agreed to a proposal by the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) in developing a Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) as a reference for international carbon credit transactions. KASA Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that the main purpose of VCM is to ensure that the nation's interest in climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction is compromised. “Through VCM, state governments or private parties involved in carbon projects must report the related information to KASA,” Tuan Ibrahim said. The Cabinet has also agreed to develop a Domestic Emissions Trading Scheme (DETS) to catalyze the carbon trading sector in Malaysia. The government planned to implement DETS in phases, while a single transaction platform will be developed.