Carbon offsetting projects run the risk of becoming a new form of landgrab

In conjunction with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples that will fall on August 9, SAM would like to call on the federal and state governments to ensure that indigenous customary territories in the country are not included in any carbon offsetting projects, without the free, prior and informed (FPIC) consent of impacted communities. Central to this call is the principle that state governments and carbon offsetting project proponents must not unilaterally determine the boundaries or size of indigenous customary territories, especially before it has been conclusively determined whether project areas overlap with community territories.

Just last week, on July 30, five community representatives from the villages of Logan Entasan, Sungai Brit A, Sungai Peking and Lobang Kompeni in Marudi and the Marudi Malay Association, filed a complaint with the Commission of Human Rights of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) in Kuching pertaining to the inclusion of their native customary rights (NCR) territories within the Marudi Peat Swamp Forest Conservation and Restoration Project in Marudi, Sarawak.

This forest carbon offsetting project, which is legally known as a forest carbon activity under the Sarawak Forests Ordinance 2015, is developed by Sara Carbon Sdn. Bhd, a subsidiary of the Samling business group, a Sarawak logging and monoculture plantation company. This project is within LPF 8, which is a tree monoculture plantation licence issued under the same forestry law to Samling; and will be implemented under the standards developed by Verra, a company based in Washington.

In the last two years, these communities have expressed their protest against the inclusion of their community territories into the project area in various ways, but to no avail. Thus far, at least five letters have been written, four police reports have been lodged and two peaceful demonstrations have been conducted.

The first joint community protest letter, dated 28 November 2024, was signed by 319 community members from 15 villages in the Marudi district, which was sent to all relevant parties, including Verra. The second letter, dated 11 January 2025, was signed by 26 persons from Kampung Lobang Kompeni, which was sent to the Marudi District Office. The third letter, dated 20 January 2025, was sent by the Logan Entasan community, signed by 63 residents, to the project proponent and the Marudi District Office. In March, the fourth letter was sent by the Lobang Kompeni community again, addressed to the project proponent, protesting against the setting up of wildlife camera traps within their territory. On 18 July, the Sungai Peking community wrote the fifth letter to the project proponent, Verra, Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX), the Sarawak Forests Department and the Marudi District Office.

Meanwhile, in January this year, a community member of Logan Entasan lodged a police report, alleging that survey activities were conducted on their territory without their consent. Then, in February, a community member of Lobang Kompeni lodged another police report, alleging trespass by the project proponent as a result of the erection of a project signboard. In March, another report was lodged by a Long Kompeni representative, alongside the Marudi Malay Association. Finally in July, a representative from the Marudi Malay Association lodged another police report, alleging trespass and the planting of trees by the project proponent within their territories without their consent.

The communities have also staged two peaceful demonstrations to protest against the project this year. The first was held in February in Logan Entasan and the second on Sarawak Day on 22 July in Tasong, where Marudi Malay NCR territories stand.

All these objections have been made by the impacted communities based on their factual assertion that their customary territories are indeed included in the proposed project area, as opposed to the claims of the project proponent.

At the heart of such opposing claims lies a persistent and systemic failure of the state in fully recognising indigenous customary territories based on community customs and history and in accordance with judicial decisions. Further, such rights have also been declared by our courts as a right to property and life, protected under the Federal Constitution. This failure is equally fuelled by corporate interests.

In the past and present, indigenous customary territories have been encroached by operations such as logging, monoculture plantations and large dam and other infrastructure construction. Today, under the guise of conservation and climate action, a new form of land grab has emerged, in the name of carbon offsetting projects. However, the same rule still applies – the corporate sector now stands to reap huge financial profits, this time over the privatisation of conservation efforts, over ecosystems and territories that still exist today precisely due to community protection and expertise.

To be clear, carbon markets have been firmly identified as a false climate solution. Evidence has shown that carbon offsetting projects do not lead to any real carbon emission reductions. On the contrary, they will allow powerful industries and nations to continue with their high carbon emission rates, so long as the emissions have purportedly been offset somewhere else. In the long run, they are actually harmful to our climate.

In solidarity with these communities, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, alongside Save Rivers, Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF) and the Borneo Project, launched a petition in May to oppose the carbon credit project within the communities’ customary territory, as it represents a direct violation of their rights. Thus far, 76 organisations have signed on to this petition. Today, it will now be opened to individuals as well.

As this important day approaches, we urge the Sarawak state government and the project proponent to heed the call of the affected communities to exclude their territories from the Marudi Peat Swamp Forest Conservation and Restoration Project. Likewise, we also call for other project proponents in other states to also ensure that their carbon offsetting projects, at the very least, do not infringe upon the rights of our indigenous peoples.

Meenakshi Raman
President
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)

Press Statement, 8 August 2025