KUCHING: As collective efforts to mitigate climate change continue, carbon market and trading mechanisms are becoming increasingly prominent in the global economy.
These market-driven solutions have gained traction to incentivise businesses and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while fostering sustainable practices.
Last week, the Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) collaborated with the New Sarawak Tribune to organise a webinar, ‘Blue Carbon and its Trading Potential’.
The webinar attracted over 100 participants from a diverse group of stakeholders interested to learn more about the potential of blue carbon, carbon market and trading in Malaysia.
Two speakers, experts on the subject matter, namely Southridge Malaysia Sdn Bhd director Dr Jane Koh and UPM Bintulu Campus senior lecturer Dr Waseem Razzaq Khan, shared their valuable understanding on the topic with the participants.
Koh, a sustainability scientist who recently completed her PhD on political ecology of forestry carbon credit at UPM, highlighted the essential roles of carbon credit projects in addressing climate actions.
She explained that while not every project may fulfil all 17 of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), carbon credit projects are designed to contribute to SDG 13 which focuses on climate action.
“Many have voiced their concerns about how our planet is in a climate crisis, but it is important to note that this is not a recent development. There is research dating back to the 19th century which highlighted the long-term impact of carbon dioxide on our climate.
“Over a century later, we introduced the concept of carbon credits as a mechanism to mitigate climate change. Carbon credits represent tradable proofs that verified services have successfully reduced, avoided, or removed greenhouse gasses,” she said.
Koh said the Malaysian government is actively addressing climate change through various initiatives including works to enact legislation to allow success in the implementation of carbon trading and market.
“With the implementation of this in the next three years, it will open doors for Malaysia to have a compliance market while continuing to empower its voluntary market through Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX),” she said.
Meanwhile, Waseem explained the importance of blue carbon ecosystems as there are studies which showed their high sequestration rates.
Sequestration rates refer to the rate of the natural system that captures and stores carbon dioxide, thus making the quality of blue carbon greater than other carbon colours.
“Scientists have divided carbon into different colours based on sequestration and emission. There are three key ecosystems namely mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows for the blue carbon.
“Mangroves and salt marshes remove carbon 10 times greater than tropical forests whereas 0.1 percent of the world’s seafloor is covered by seagrass,” he said.
Touching carbon storage, Waseem pointed out that mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows have higher carbon storage potential compared to boreal forest and tropical forest.
He said while the blue carbon distribution globally may be limited, they have huge impacts in terms of sequestration.
He also said the blue carbon credit is valued higher considering its sequestration ability and quality.
“When an ecosystem like a seagrass meadow is protected or restored, it can capture carbon dioxide. If this carbon capture is quantified and verified, it generates blue carbon credits which are tradeable on carbon markets for entities wanting to offset their greenhouse gases emission.
“The revenue from the sale of blue carbon credits can then help fund the conservation and restoration of those ecosystems. For instance, the carbon credit from mangroves ecosystem service has an approximate value of more than USD15,000 per hectare,” he said.
As Malaysia and Sarawak are gearing towards actively participating in the carbon market and trading, INTROP will be organising more similar seminars to educate and raise awareness on this complex subject matter.
