By Olivia Miwil
The city council says urban green spaces could be turned into carbon sinks to generate new revenue while supporting Sabah's climate goals.
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) is exploring the potential of turning the city's recreational parks into carbon sinks that could generate new revenue.
DBKK director-general Datuk Lifred Wong said urban green spaces, including the Sabah Botanical Garden, Perdana Park and Prince Philip Park, could be strategically leveraged to generate carbon revenue for the city.
He said the global carbon market was currently estimated to be worth nearly US$1 trillion, describing it as a major pool of global green capital that Sabah was positioning itself to capture.
"Sabah's carbon future presents opportunities to attract green investment, generate new revenue streams and support long-term financial prosperity.
"At the municipal level, this mechanism also presents a unique and exciting opportunity for DBKK.
"By strategically leveraging our urban green spaces such as the Sabah Botanical Garden, Perdana Park and Prince Philip Park, we can potentially generate our own carbon revenue, effectively transforming our city's recreational parks into valuable, income-generating carbon sinks."
Wong said this when launching the Carbon Credit and ESG Conference at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.
He said DBKK also supported the state government's target of establishing 400,000 hectares of Industrial Tree Plantation (ITP) across Sabah.
"We view this not merely as an agricultural quota, but as a transformative economic catalyst," he said.
Wong said large-scale tree planting under the ITP sector could sequester atmospheric carbon and create opportunities to generate carbon credits, while supporting employment, technological innovation and new sources of income for Sabah.
He said Sabah's biodiversity and natural resources must be strategically managed and conserved to ensure long-term ecological resilience.
Structured conservation frameworks, he said, could help maintain and sequester carbon while positioning Sabah as a contributor to global climate mitigation efforts
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He cited the Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project as a benchmark, saying it demonstrated how forest conservation could generate sustainable economic returns when backed by internationally recognised carbon certification.
"By successfully monetising ecological preservation, the project creates substantial economic value while systematically safeguarding our natural habitats, proving that conservation and economic growth can go hand in hand," he said.
Wong said there was potential to replicate the Kuamut model across broader areas of Sabah through certified carbon mechanisms.
He added that the Sabah Climate Change and Carbon Governance Enactment 2025 was a critical milestone in institutionalising the state's carbon governance framework, including the regulation of carbon-related initiatives, trading platforms and operational activities.
The Enactment provides for the establishment of the Sabah Climate Change Action Council and the Climate Registry and Inventory Centre, while vesting carbon rights in the state government.
Wong said strong governance would be important to protect ecosystems and ensure equitable benefit-sharing, while providing municipal administrators with a framework to align urban development and planning with broader ESG standards.
Also present were former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee and Sabah Wetland Society president Datuk Zainie Abdul Aucasa.
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