BEIJING (Commodity Online) : World’s third largest economy and second largest energy user China is all set to start domestic carbon trading programs from next year to help it meet its 2020 carbon intensity target.

According to country’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), it was agreed to start the trading during its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015).
However, NDRC said as a developing country, China does not shoulder legally binding responsibilities to reduce carbon emissions, according to the basic principle set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Putting a price on carbon is a crucial step for the country to employ the market to reduce its carbon emissions and genuinely shift to a low-carbon economy it said.

China has mostly relied on administrative tools to realize its 20 percent energy intensity reduction target between 2006 to 2010.

To that effect, the country's top 1,000 energy consumers have signed contracts with the central government to improve their energy efficiency.

Although China has refuted the International Energy Agency's label of being the world's top energy consumer, its energy consumption for 2009 stood at 2.132 billion tons of oil equivalent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of economic growth by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.

China has been testing the waters with voluntary carbon trade, aimed at developing the necessary financial systems and policy tools.

The country's first voluntary carbon trade was sealed last August, with a Shanghai-based auto insurance company buying more than 8,000 tons of carbon credits generated through a green commuting campaign during the Beijing Olympics. The trade was carried out through the China Beijing Environment Exchange.

Post your comment  (0)

Connect:

Post to Twitter

Post to Facebook