Malaysia’s stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia, will launch a Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) by the end of 2022, allowing corporations to purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions, as reported by Reuters on August 15. Buyers and sellers in the VCM can trade carbon credits at transparent prices. Bursa Malaysia will use the widely known Verra as the carbon emissions standard to ensure the integrity of carbon credits sold in the carbon market. The new exchange intends to provide standardized carbon credit products as well as various product categories for carbon credits based on their origin. By the end of the year, Bursa Malaysia will auction off carbon credits to interested purchasers in order to determine prices for new carbon credit products.

Malaysia pledged in 2021 to become carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. This 2050 objective is earlier than those of many Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia aiming for net zero emissions by 2060 and Thailand aiming for net zero emissions by 2070, for example. The EU carbon market, the US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and the carbon markets of South Korea and New Zealand are now the world’s primary carbon trading systems. According to MSCI data, the market value of worldwide carbon credits traded in 2021 was around EUR760bn (USD851bn), up 164% from 2020.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/business/malaysias-bourse-launch-voluntary-carbon-market-by-year-end-2022-08-15/

http://www.tanpaifang.com/tanjiaoyi/2022/0816/89423.html

https://www.sohu.com/a/517378098_418320

https://ecep.ofweek.com/2021-08/ART-93004-8420-30518062.html

https://www.msci.com/www/blog-posts/introducing-the-carbon-market/03227158119