Seven departments, including the central bank, will further strengthen financial support for green and low-carbon development
On the evening of April 10, the website of the People's Bank of China reported that in order to implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and do a good job in green finance, the People's Bank of China, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Financial Support for Green and Low-Carbon Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions").
According to the main objectives of the Guiding Opinions, in the next five years, the world's leading financial support system for green and low-carbon development will be basically established, and by 2035, various economic and financial green and low-carbon policies will be promoted in a coordinated and efficient manner, the standard system and policy support system for financial support for green and low-carbon development will be more mature, and the functions of resource allocation, risk management and market pricing will be better played.
In terms of optimizing the green finance standard system and strengthening information disclosure, the "Guiding Opinions" propose, first, to promote the gradual implementation of carbon accounting in the financial system, establish and improve the carbon accounting methods and databases of financial institutions, formulate and introduce unified carbon accounting standards for financial institutions and financial services, and encourage financial institutions and enterprises to use big data, financial technology and other technical means to provide technical support for carbon accounting. The second is to formulate a unified green finance standard system and accelerate the research and formulation of transition finance standards. The third is to promote financial institutions and financing entities to carry out environmental information disclosure, explore the establishment of an environmental information disclosure system covering different types of financial institutions step by step, formulate and improve the guidelines for the disclosure of sustainable development information of listed companies, and improve the carbon emission information disclosure framework. Fourth, we will continue to improve the quality of environmental information disclosure and assessment, and promote cross-departmental, multi-dimensional and high-value green data docking.
In terms of promoting the development of green financial products and markets, the Guiding Opinions put forward five aspects of work. The first is to promote the construction of the carbon emission trading market, study and enrich the financial products and trading methods linked to carbon emission rights, and gradually expand the scope of trading entities suitable for the development of China's carbon market. Second, under the premise of legal compliance, controllable risks and commercial sustainability, financial institutions are encouraged to use green finance or transition finance standards to increase credit support for green development and low-carbon transformation in the fields of energy, industry, transportation, and construction. The third is to further increase the capital market's support for green and low-carbon development, support eligible enterprises to list or refinance at home and abroad, raise funds for the construction and operation of green and low-carbon projects, and standardize the development of green bonds and green equity investment and financing business. Fourth, vigorously develop green insurance and services, and improve the insurance protection system for major risks related to climate change. Fifth, expand the main participants in the green finance market.
It is worth mentioning that the "Guiding Opinions" proposes to support the issuance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) products for eligible infrastructure projects such as clean energy. Support local governments to include qualified construction projects in areas such as ecology and environmental protection into the scope of local government bond support. Strengthen financial support for eco-environment-oriented development (EOD) and improve relevant investment and financing models.
