National Low Carbon Day|Interview with Chen Zhixiang of China Carbon Deng: Building a Dual-Carbon Ecosystem and Accelerating the Cultivation of New Quality Productivity
On May 15, the national main event of the National Low Carbon Day jointly organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government was successfully held in Changzhou.
During the event, Chen Zhixiang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Carbon Deng, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Building a Dual-Carbon Ecosystem and Accelerating the Cultivation of New Quality Productivity", and then accepted an interview with reporters, and explained in detail the exploration and measures of China Carbon Deng in helping to cultivate green new quality productivity and green and low-carbon development.
1. What is the intrinsic relationship between the carbon market and new productivity?
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "green development is the background color of high-quality development, and new quality productivity itself is green productivity". "New quality" has the outstanding characteristics of "green" and "scientific and technological", and the development of new quality productivity and the realization of green and low-carbon development are objectively highly dialectically unified.
The carbon market is a major institutional innovation that introduces market means to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green and low-carbon development, and is also one of the core policy tools for the implementation of the dual carbon strategic goals. The carbon market itself is green and incremental, and it is an important part of accelerating the cultivation of new quality productivity:
From the perspective of green content, the industries that the national carbon market focuses on are basically in line with the development requirements of cultivating new quality productivity, and have the characteristics of green, digital and low-carbon. By providing enterprises with two incentives, "direct emission reduction" and "market pricing", the carbon market has accelerated the research and development and promotion of advanced technologies such as renewable energy substitution and efficient use of fossil energy, and has become a powerful engine for green productivity. From the perspective of new content, the dual carbon strategy is the only definitive increment among the many uncertainties of economic development. Building an ecological chain around the carbon market and its derivative needs, and using climate finance to guide investment in low-carbon and green industries, is itself a purely incremental component of new qualitative productivity. Through government leadership, market regulation, and the participation of all parties, the carbon market has opened up new areas and new tracks for development, and shaped new advantages and new drivers for growth.
2. As an infrastructure platform for the national carbon market, how can China Carbon Deng help more industries develop green and low-carbon?
As the core infrastructure platform of the national carbon market, with registration, registration, clearing and settlement as its main functions, China Carbon Deng is a veritable "carbon asset brain" and "carbon trading hub", as well as the "underlying database" of carbon market trading and carbon financial resource allocation. Since the launch of the national carbon market on July 16, 2021, as of May 14, 2024, a total of 457 million tons of carbon allowances have been traded, with a cumulative turnover of 26.226 billion yuan and an average transaction price of 57.39 yuan/ton. A total of 683 days of transaction clearing and settlement have been successfully completed, with a total of 100,720 transactions and a cumulative liquidation amount of 52.453 billion yuan. Since the system was put into operation, it has achieved "zero failure, zero interruption and zero error", providing solid support for the smooth operation of the national carbon market. China Carbon can help more industries develop green and low-carbon from the following three aspects:
The first is to use "data to empower the industry" to help the development of green and low-carbon industries across the country. Using the "underlying database" function of China Carbon Deng, the research ability of China Carbon Research Institute will be greatly improved, the advanced carbon emission reduction technology of the industrial and energy industries will be accurately judged, the key technical routes and production processes in the low-carbon transformation will be explored, and the investment and financing channels of low-carbon industries will be broadened by relying on the carbon financial system, the capital cost of low-carbon transformation will be reduced, and the low-carbon industry alliance or exchange platform will be built to promote the mutual communication mechanism of low-carbon industries and play a polymerization effect.
The second is to vigorously cultivate climate-friendly market service providers. Regularly hold training activities on the establishment and construction of the national carbon market, and continuously improve the comprehensive ability of market players to participate in the market; Promote the establishment of a third-party certification and rating system for carbon emission reduction, and cultivate and regulate the market of third-party carbon accounting institutions; Cultivate carbon inclusive service entities, support financial institutions to carry out carbon inclusive financial services, and explore the establishment of a national carbon inclusive mechanism; Undertake the construction and operation of a comprehensive carbon finance service platform, increase the number of green projects declared and stored in the pilot green projects for climate investment and financing, promote the construction of a green enterprise (project) evaluation system, establish an assessment mechanism for the benefits of carbon emission reduction in investment and financing, and increase the matching of green credit.
The third is to actively carry out policy research on the financial attributes of the carbon market. The financial attributes of the carbon market include improving liquidity, promoting price discovery, risk management and financial integration, among which improving liquidity and price discovery are the most important. In the future, we hope that, on the basis of fully studying the experience of major international carbon markets, we will put forward policy suggestions for the phased and targeted construction and development of the financial attributes of China's carbon market and the enhancement of the price discovery function of the national carbon market.
3. How will China Carbon Deng serve the next development of the national carbon market?
In order to serve the construction of a more effective, dynamic and internationally influential national carbon market, on the basis of ensuring the smooth progress of daily work, China Carbon Deng mainly serves the deepening development of the national carbon market from the following three aspects: First, we will increase our efforts to participate in the whole process of improving the national carbon market system. In the process of promulgating the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), China Carbon Deng participated in many discussions and made suggestions. After the promulgation of the Regulations, we continued to cooperate with the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to interpret and publicize the Regulations and supporting systems. On this basis, we will continue to carry out research on improving the institutional system of the national carbon market, help the legal foundation of the national carbon market continue to consolidate, enhance the awareness and participation of all sectors of society in the carbon market, and create a good atmosphere conducive to the development of the national carbon market. Then, we are planning ahead for the third compliance cycle. By speeding up the construction of system informatization, it will provide accurate, reliable and efficient technical support for the core links such as the issuance of carbon market quotas, the settlement and settlement of transaction funds, and the settlement and performance of the carbon market, so as to serve the smooth operation of the third compliance cycle in a multi-pronged manner, and simultaneously complete the expansion of the system. At the same time, China Carbon is actively carrying out interdisciplinary and cross-field cooperative research around the major national strategic needs, so as to provide a scientific basis for the decision-making of the national and competent authorities in response to climate change strategies. Build a professional talent training base and an international exchange base, and contribute to the cultivation of new quality productivity with green as the background color in China. We will also go all out to prepare for the "China Carbon Market Conference 2024 Wuhan" to provide more solid support for the further expansion of the influence of the national carbon market.
