Malaysia’s stock exchange is set to launch a sustainability reporting platform in April, in conjunction with the London Stock Exchange.
The Centralised Sustainability Reporting Platform will enable companies − both publicly listed companies as well as non-listed SMEs − to calculate their carbon emission impact, and disclose common ESG datasets in a standardised manner that conforms to established global standards, such as the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.
In an announcement earlier this month, Malaysia’s prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said the platform “has the potential to be a key enabler to Malaysia’s pivot to green, and to support our sustainable development, while creating high-skilled jobs for our progress towards a high-income nation.”
Bursa Malaysia CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift added he hoped it would “increase the vibrancy and accessibility of our market, while better meeting the needs of market participants.”
The news was welcomed by market participants. Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, group president and CEO at Maybank, said, “Sustainability is key to building resilience and ensuring long-term growth. We are working closely with both the government and the corporate sector to execute the national sustainability agenda, and we are pleased to be part of Bursa Malaysia’s sustainable supply chain initiative to support our companies in their decarbonisation journey.”
Carbon credits
The prime minister also announced a RM10 million seed funding incentive to assure demand for Malaysian-generated carbon credits traded on the Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX), the world’s first Shariah-compliant carbon exchange, in an effort to green the economy and catalyse the voluntary carbon market.
On 16 March the BCX carried out the nation’s inaugural carbon credit auction, which had 15 buyers from various industries purchasing a total of 150,000 Verra-registered carbon credits.
The auction facilitated the price-discovery of carbon credits from two new products offered by the BCX: the Global Technology-Based Carbon Contract (GTC) and the Global Nature-Based Plus Carbon Contract (GNC+).
The GTC Contracts featured carbon credits from the Linshu Biogas Recovery and Power Generation Project in China, which attempt to align with SDGs 7, 8 and 13.
The GNC+ Contracts featured carbon credits from the Southern Cardamom Project, which is a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation project from Cambodia that contributes to the livelihoods of local communities and biodiversity conservation in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.
“This is a significant step towards unlocking Malaysia’s potential as a supplier of high-quality carbon credits,” Swift said.