KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd‘s subsidiary, the Bursa Carbon Exchange, has carried out the nation’s inaugural carbon credit auction.

In a statement, the stock exchange operator said the auction, which was carried out electronically on March 16, saw a participation of 15 buyers from various industries purchasing a total of 150,000 Verra-registered carbon credits.

The world’s first Shariah-compliant carbon exchange, Bursa Carbon Exchange enables the trading of standardised contracts with underlying carbon credits from climate-friendly projects and solutions, which corporates can use to offset emission footprint and meet climate goals.

According to Bursa, 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 were oversubscribed and cleared at RM18.50 per contract while the GNC+ contract fetched a clearing price of RM68 per contract at the auction.

“We are very pleased with the successful execution of this inaugural auction, which has raised the awareness level of VCM and carbon offsetting opportunities in the country.

“We now have a proven market mechanism which provides price discovery,” said Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia.

“This is a significant step towards unlocking Malaysia’s potential as a supplier of high-quality carbon credits.”