The Embassy of France in Malaysia and the European Union Delegation to Malaysia, together with partners such as Climate Governance Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Business Club and Bursa Malaysia held today a seminar dedicated to carbon trading:
“An EU-Malaysian Dialogue: Fighting Climate Change with Market Mechanisms”.
This highly anticipated event for the business community in Malaysia was part of a series of seminars organized in Malaysia under the French Presidency of the European Union during the first semester of 2022. One of the regional priorities of this presidency is to keep working closely with Malaysia on the Green Transition agenda as part of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, adopted last September.
EU Ambassador to Malaysia, Michalis Rokas said that the European Union stands ready to collaborate with Malaysia to find sustainable solutions, including sharing EU’s own experience with the Emission Trading Scheme.
“The European Union committed to become the first carbon neutral continent in 2050 with its Green Deal and its Climate legislation, leading the way in this direction. Leading globally. We owe this to our planet and to our children. The cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of action,” he said.
This seminar gave an opportunity to engage in an open and inclusive dialogue on carbon market schemes and to share best practices from both sides. It was an occasion for EU representatives to share updates on the reform of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
“CBAM will prevent ‘carbon leakage’ outside the EU in countries such as Malaysia, is a climate change related measure, non-discriminatory, and World Trade Organisation (WTO) compliant. It should be enforced in stages starting next year,” H.E. Roland Galharague, Ambassador of France to Malaysia said.
Malaysian authorities invited such as the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) and Bursa Malaysia also shared their progress in the future implementation of a Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). Companies and local stakeholders were invited to give their views about implementing such mechanisms and their efforts to build a sustainable growth.
