The Business Times
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HOCK LOCK SIEW

Never mind the ozone layer, mind your dividends

​If a company emits a lot of smoke to make its products, its costs are about to shoot up

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Jude Chan

Jude Chan

Published Wed, Apr 15, 2026 · 06:06 PM
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    • Malaysia is rolling out a new carbon tax this year, and pointing it directly at the heavy hitters first: iron, steel and energy producers.
    • Malaysia is rolling out a new carbon tax this year, and pointing it directly at the heavy hitters first: iron, steel and energy producers. PHOTO: REUTERS

    FOR years, “carbon” was a word confined to earnest activists and glossy corporate sustainability reports that nobody actually bothered to read. An everyday mom-and-pop investor might easily dismiss carbon markets as high finance nonsense.

    But the rules of money in South-east Asia are changing – the grace period for dirty business is over, and the financial hit is very real.

    You do not need to care about the ozone layer, but you absolutely must care about your dividends.

    Hock Lock SiewESGCarbonCarbon taxCarbon creditsCarbon Markets

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