Malaysia to review carbon tax plan amid Mideast tensions--Ch

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will review its plans to impose a carbon tax on industries as the economic spillover from the Middle East crisis continues to pose challenges, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said on Tuesday.

While the plan to impose the carbon tax on polluters as a penalty was scheduled to begin this year, the government will instead first work on setting up the framework to gather carbon credits and avoid further burdening Malaysians, Arthur said on the sidelines of the Climate Change and Sustainability Conference 2026.

"The government wants to implement a carbon tax but we have to take into account the timing. The announcement of the carbon tax in the 2026 budget was made prior to the Middle East conflict. We as the government have to stay in touch with reality and, taking into account the geopolitical situation, we do not want to put any extra burden on industries and the people," he said.

In the meantime, the government will focus on ensuring that carbon credits are verifiable and only then will it introduce legislation to ensure compliance by industries and establish a carbon registry to gather data to enable measuring, pricing and trading carbon internationally, he explained.

Carbon trading is a market-based system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting a price on carbon. It allows countries and companies to buy and sell credits or permits that represent the right to emit a specific amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) or other greenhouse gases.