Carbon credit deal can’t be delayed any longer: Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the carbon credit trading deal which should have been implemented last year cannot be delayed any longer.

“We need to implement now in order to maximise the benefits to the State and its people,” said Jeffrey, who is also State Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister.

“We should have started it one year ago but there have been so many obstacles and this has delayed the implementation,” the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku’s (StarSabah) President told the media after the party’s Extraordinary Meeting, Saturday.

The purpose of the meeting is to strengthen and update the party’s constitution to reflect the current era.

Among the many debates surrounding the controversial carbon trading agreement, the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA), is the nomination of Hoch Standard, a relatively obscure corporation with no track record in the carbon trading industry.

Concerns were also raised last year by environmentalists and conservationists regarding a perceived absence of transparency and communication surrounding the deal’s development and legal suits were filed.

“The one-year delay means we have lost one year revenue, it may be in a few billion dollars. Who is going to pay for it? Who is responsible for this? These are the things people need to think about,” said Jeffrey.

“We cannot procrastinate any longer, we need to implement now so that the benefit may go to the State and from the State can go to the people.

“We have a lot more to organise that can benefit the people that are still to be seen, and I hope I can prove this to the people, to everybody that the benefit will be far bigger than we have ever imagined, even to the people, even to help eradicate poverty that we are facing now,” he added.

He said it is critical for people to comprehend the new narrative in the world today, which is climate change.

“In order for us to contribute to restoring the climate change, to restore to the normal temperature, we need to perform conservation.

“Conservation also pays, and I see that as an opportunity to generate new kinds of revenue that are not taking something away but providing value, because conventionally people create income by taking something while also hurting the environment, such as logging, mining and so on.

“Now that the planet is providing us with another opportunity through nature, there is a lot of new revenue to be generated from conservation, not simply carbon credit trading but also natural capital.

“Natural capital, once commercially viable and recognised, would be far more valuable than even carbon credit, so this is one of our new revenue sources that we can tap,” he said.

He said there are many more assets for which we might create value rather than taking, and that by giving more, we take more.

“I think this is the new concept of the economy and we hope that people will start appreciating it. I believe it is more vital for leaders to support it. We will take steps to ensure that indigenous peoples are taken care of, and the majority of the benefit will be returned to them.

“It is not just restoring the destroyed environment, the log over environment that creates additionality, but as you can see out there, even kampung people can get involved, because they also own land, they own agriculture land, forest land and so on, so they can also participate directly through an organised system so that carbon trading and nature conservation can benefit them directly.

“We are in contact with organisations outside the country that have already done this in South America, as well as important industry players, key policymakers, the United Nations, investment organisations, non-governmental organisations, and so on.

“What we need to do is get ahead of the game in comparison to others, Sabah is the only one that have signed a big commitment to save two million hectares and if we can activate this, convert them into revenue.

“We will also be setting standards, potentially better than Verra - the world’s leading certifier of carbon credits - since we are working with top people in the game to achieve the greatest pricing at the best value and together with them we will create a new standard, possibly better than Verra.

“This is what we want to achieve,

and while there have been announcements here and there, we are the only ones in this region who have signed an NCA,” he said.