BURSA Malaysia’s planned voluntary carbon exchange may enjoy homefield advantage in its domestic market, but the regional prize is still up for grabs for peers like Singapore’s Climate Impact X (CIX), analysts told The Business Times.

Bursa, which operates Malaysia’s national stock exchange, said on Aug 15 that it will launch a voluntary carbon market (VCM) by the end of the year. The market operator said that it will carry out an auction by the end of this year to enable price discovery for these new products to be listed on the exchange. The clearing price from the auction is intended to help establish a baseline demand for carbon credits in Malaysia, providing a reference point for secondary trading for market participants.

Analysts said that the move primarily addresses a domestic need for carbon offsets. Malaysia has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2050, and a national carbon exchange will not only help to achieve that goal, but also encourage companies to start their own decarbonisation journey and spur further investments in Malaysia’s carbon markets.