Call made on M’sia, Japan governments to reject carbon capture, storage
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) Japan had called on the Malaysian and Japanese governments to reject Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).
In a joint statement yesterday, they said this technology only delays real climate action and the export of carbon dioxide (C02) from the North to the South is a grave climate injustice, they said in an open letter to the governments of Malaysia and Japan demanding that CCS be rejected.
“The practice not only could exacerbate climate crisis but it is also against the principle of climate justice, particularly by dumping CO2 in countries in the South like Malaysia.
“This is an unproven technology that has a high risk, high cost and long-term liability,” they said.
Japan, one of the top historical emitters of CO2, is actively considering the export of CO2 to other countries including Malaysia.
A consortium of companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on March 1, 2024 to jointly study CCS value chains and the establishment of potential CCS value chains from CO2 capture and accumulation in Tokyo Bay, as well as shipping and CO2 storage in Malaysia.
The amount of CO2 to be captured is expected to be around three to six million tonnes each year.
In 2023, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Environment (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emission) Bill 2023, making it the first state to pass such law in the country.
The Bill was introduced as the state government’s initiative to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
SAM president Meenakshi Raman said the Malaysian government should not accept further waste from rich countries and turn Malaysia into a dumping ground, as this would undermine the country’s emission reduction efforts.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace Malaysia climate and energy campaigner Hamizah Shamsudeen said exporting CO2 is equivalent to making Malaysia another dumpsite.
“As a member of the Climate Action Network (CAN), Greenpeace Malaysia does not see CCS as a climate solution.
“The government should divert its investment to improve policies and infrastructure for cleaner alternatives, such as solar energy and energy efficiency, as a viable long-term solution rather than an over-reliance on CCS.”
The non-governmental organisation said many CCS projects have failed in the past due to the high cost and technical difficulties, and the Japanese National Diet is now discussing on the CCS Business Act to provide a legal framework to conduct the CCS project both domestically and overseas.
Climate Change and Energy campaigner and deputy executive director of FoE Japan Ayumi Fukakusa said the Japanese government’s CCS policy is “just a pipe dream” as the current policy aims to store 120 to 240 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050, which is equivalent to approximately 10 to 20 per cent of Japan’s current emissions and not commercially viable.