KUCHING, May 24 — The Sarawak government has issued a permit to a local company to conduct an assessment study to identify suitable areas for carrying out carbon activities in the state.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said due to its wide coverage of forests, Sarawak has great potential to become a major player in the international carbon market.

"The Sarawak government has started a carbon initiative, based on the nature-based solution approach. Through the amendments of the Forests Ordinance 2022 and the Forests (Forest Carbon Activity) Rules 2022, which came into force on Jan 1 this year, carbon trading in Sarawak can now be implemented,” he said.

Awang Tengah, who is also the Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources, said this when winding up the debate for his ministry in the Sarawak State Assembly sitting today.

He said the current policy of the Sarawak government is to reduce the rate of tree felling and logging, which is in line with the target of the Greening of Malaysia programme, which was launched in 2021.

As a commitment to the Greening Malaysia programme, he said that Sarawak is committed to planting 35 million trees through the state-level campaign.

He added that as of May this year, almost 22 million trees have been planted in Sarawak, and, that is the highest planting record in Malaysia. — Bernama