NGOs appeal to UN to intervene in Sabah's controversial NCA deal

 By Olivia Miwil - March 8, 2022 @ 7:49pm

Eleven non-governmental organisations, including World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia, have submitted an appeal to the United Nations in response to the Sabah government’s stand on the controversial Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA). -Pic courtesy of WWF-Malaysia

KOTA KINABALU: Eleven non-governmental organisations, including World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia, have submitted an appeal to the United Nations in response to the Sabah government's stand on the controversial Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA).

The organisations want the UN to clarify their non-involvement in the issue to the Sabah public, reiterating the carbon credit certification requirements, as well as issue a reminder that Malaysia's international treaty obligations and domestic laws require recognition of Native Customary Rights, among others.

The NCA, signed between the Sabah government and Singapore firm Hoch Standard last year, reportedly represented a 100-year carbon trade deal which would involve the use of up to two million hectares of state land, some of which are environmentally-sensitive.

Although the state attorney-general had last month stated that the NCA was "legally impotent" and "non-binding", Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan recently announced that the state cabinet has agreed to the appointment of Sabah Foundation as the local partner to work with Hoch Standard to implement the agreement.

WWF-Malaysia's conservation head in Sabah Dr Robecca Jumin said the NCA was an international concern.

"The land involved in the agreement would include the Kinabalu Park, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, the Danum Valley, Maliau Basin and Imbak Canyon conservation areas, and the Lower Kinabatangan Segama Wetlands, which is a Ramsar site," she said.

Anne Lasimbang of NGO PACOS Trust said they are taking the matter to the UN due to the authorities' unwavering stand.

"We are taking this issue to the United Nations because for some reason, those behind the NCA are still claiming that they have successfully become the legal rights holders of all carbon and life in these forests at the secret stroke of a pen, and that there is nothing that the indigenous peoples of Sabah can do about it for 100 years", she said.

Beverly Joeman of CSO Platform for Reform lambasted the NCA.

"Just because you are a politician elected by Indigenous voters in one constituency does not mean that communities across Sabah have given their free prior and informed consent to give up their rights to use the forest to meet their needs," she said.

Other signatories to the appeal included Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS); Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP); International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA); Borneo Futures; Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC); Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP); South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership (SEARRP); as well as the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).