Natural resources and environmental sustainability minister Arthur Joseph Kurup said although the government plans to implement the carbon tax this year, it understands that industries are burdened by the rising cost of energy, petrol and diesel, reported Bernama.

Arthur said although there might be changes to the implementation of the carbon tax, the National Climate Change Bill, under which the carbon tax is one of the initiatives, is still on track to be introduced this year.

“Due to the current geopolitical situation, we may need to review when and how much to implement the carbon tax,” he told the media during the pre-launch of the International Sustainability Week in Kuala Lumpur.

“I believe that the (carbon tax’s) framework must still be established because we have to move towards that direction anyway. The geopolitical situation now is not an excuse for us to slow down.

“Fossil fuels, such as petrol and diesel, are ultimately finite resources … We still need to move towards renewable energy,” he said.

Last November, finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan said the government had not yet determined the rate for Malaysia’s proposed carbon tax, despite reports suggesting an initial rate of RM15 per tonne of emissions.

Speaking at the Asean Capital Markets Forum International Conference 2025, Amir said the finance ministry had yet to conduct detailed studies on determining the tax rate.