Ministry of Ecology and Environment: The mandatory carbon market is generally stable
On November 6, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in November. Xia Yingxian, Director of the Climate Change Response Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, answered reporters 'questions on the progress and effectiveness of the carbon market since its launch.
Xia Yingxian introduced that the national carbon emissions trading market is an institutional innovation for us to use market mechanisms to control greenhouse gas emissions and promote green and low-carbon. It is also a core policy tool to promote the realization of my country's dual carbon goals and the country's independent contribution goal to climate change. The mandatory carbon market started online trading in July 2021. The cumulative transaction volume of our carbon emission quotas is close to 500 million tons, with a transaction volume of 29.7 billion yuan. The transaction price is showing a steady upward trend. Currently, it fluctuates around the price of 100 yuan per ton., the market operation is generally stable. Since the beginning of this year, market construction has made further progress and results.
First, the institutional system has been further improved.In May this year, the State Council promulgated and implemented the "Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emissions Trading". The promulgation of this "Regulations" is of great significance. It is the first special regulation in my country's field of addressing climate change and provides a higher-level legal basis for the construction of the carbon market. The "Regulations", together with more than 30 rules, regulations and technical specifications for carbon emission accounting verification, quota allocation, registration, and transaction settlement, have formed a multi-level and relatively complete legal system for my country's carbon market.
The second is to continue to strengthen data quality management.We insist on taking data quality as the "lifeline" of carbon market construction, continuously optimize carbon emission accounting and verification methods, implement a monthly certificate system for key parameters, and carry out three-level joint reviews of "national-province-city" to eliminate data quality risks as soon as possible. At present, the standardization, accuracy and timeliness of market carbon emission accounting have been greatly optimized, meeting the needs of stable market operation and providing key data support for other related policies such as carbon footprint management.
Third, the 2023 and 2024 annual quota issuance and settlement of the power generation industry have been carried out in an orderly manner.Organized and formulated the "National Carbon Emissions Trading Power Generation Industry Quota Total and Allocation Plan for 2023 and 2024", which is the plan mentioned in your question just now, issued a notice on doing a good job in quota allocation and settlement, and organized various provinces and cities have carried out quota allocation and settlement work for more than 2200 power generation companies to ensure the smooth and orderly operation of the market.
The fourth is to make basic preparations for expanding industry coverage.In order to implement the task requirements for expanding the national carbon market proposed in the 2024 "Government Work Report", we organized the preparation of the "National Carbon Emissions Trading Market Covering the Cement, Steel, and Aluminum Smelting Industries" and solicited opinions from all parties. Opinions, issued and implemented 4 technical specifications including accounting verification guidelines for the cement and aluminum smelting industries, etc., and are also promoting the preparation of accounting verification guidelines for the steel industry.
In the next step, we will further implement the provisions of the "Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emissions Trading", revise and promulgate supporting systems such as the "Measures for the Administration of Carbon Emissions Trading", continue to consolidate the quality of data, severely crack down on illegal activities such as data fraud, and actively promote the integration of steel, cement and aluminum smelting into the national carbon emissions trading market, which is what we call the relevant arrangements for the next step of expansion, and accelerate the construction of a more effective and dynamic one. Carbon market with more international influence.
