By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: The proposed National Climate Change Act is taking longer to finalise as the federal government continues negotiations with all states to ensure the legislation does not encroach on their constitutional powers.
Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup said the Act, which is the next major step after the launch of the National Carbon Market Policy in April, requires extensive harmonisation between the federal and state governments because forestry is a state matter under the Federal Constitution.
"Now, the Climate Change Act has faced quite a lot of obstacles because we need to engage all the states. A lot of it involves forestry.
"If you look at the Constitution, forest is a state asset. That's why we need to engage with all the states, including Sabah and Sarawak, to make sure that we do not encroach on their powers and that the states will always have sovereignty over the hard asset.
"Hopefully, we can do it before the end of this year," he said after launching the International Conference on Tropical Forestry 2026 at a hotel here.
He said the federal government, however, remains Malaysia's focal point for reporting climate-related commitments and obligations at the international level, making coordination between the federal government and states essential.
"We at the federal government are the ones that have to report to the international agency. We are the focal point. That is why the harmonisation effort between all the states is actually taking quite a while before we can have that passed through."
Meanwhile, the Pensiangan member of parliament and Nabawan assemblyman said Sabah and Sarawak had contributed significantly to Malaysia's forest conservation efforts, noting that the country currently has 54.4 per cent of its land area under forest cover.
Malaysia had committed to maintaining at least 50 per cent forest cover under its international commitment made in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.
He said Sabah and Sarawak recorded higher forest coverage of about 62 and 63 per cent respectively, making the two states among the country's biggest contributors to the national conservation effort.
"This means that it is very appropriate for a conference like this, an effort like this, to be held in Sabah so that we can contribute more to our conservation efforts in Sabah.
"Conservation is just one aspect, but the second aspect is how we can commercialise the wealth we have so that we can make the most of it and bring more new sources of income to our country," he said, referring to the conference organised by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
The conference also attracted participants from international organisations and countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and New Zealand.
Present was UMS vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor.
Comments
Post a Comment