Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 19 (Yang Shihan) Low-carbon is reshaping the global economy. Energy transition and green finance play a key role in this. At the "Sanya·Financial International Forum" held recently, many industry insiders Talk about the hot topic of green and low-carbon transition.
Li Xinchuang, chief engineer of the Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute and vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, pointed out that steel is currently an important "food" for China's industry and the most critical guarantee for construction.
Iron and steel companies actively respond to the "dual carbon" goal. Taking the Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute as an example, this year, about 100 companies have completed a 30% carbon reduction action plan, steel development and green and low-carbon counterparts.
When talking about the incentive mechanism of green finance, Ma Jun, director of the Green Finance Professional Committee of the Chinese Society of Finance and Dean of the Beijing Institute of Green Finance and Sustainable Development, said that the People’s Bank of China has recently officially announced carbon emission reduction tools, providing low-cost tools for major domestic banks. Cost funds are used to support low-carbon, new energy and energy-saving and emission-reduction projects.
At the end of this year, China's green credit reached RMB 14 trillion, making it the world's largest green credit market.
Although some progress has been made, there are still many difficulties that need to be overcome in the process of replacing traditional energy sources and gradually moving towards a new carbon-free energy system.
Wu Sen, chief financial officer of Trina Solar, believes that the rise in bulk materials caused by the epidemic has brought about changes in the efficiency of global shipping, the high investment behind the rapid iteration of technology investment and operation risks, and the series of problems caused by severe international trade protection are worthwhile pay attention to.
William Purpura, chairman of the board of the New York Mercantile Exchange, views the obstacles to the energy transition from a more microscopic perspective.
"Some people think that the cost of controlling emissions far exceeds the benefits of environmental protection." William pointed out that if a higher cost of living is required for environmental protection, the livelihoods of people, especially the poor and middle-class groups, will be affected. This varies from country to country. Big.
However, when renewable energy or energy storage takes up a large proportion, systemic changes will inevitably lead to higher costs.
Li Junfeng, the first director of the National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation Center, believes that since enjoying the dividends of the energy transition, it is necessary to pay the corresponding price for the energy transition, and consumers should be psychologically prepared for this.
The current global standards for the definition of sustainable finance have not yet been unified, and more than two hundred sets of different rules have made it difficult to define "green bonds."
Ma Jun said that we must first improve the comparability and consistency of sustainable financial standards. For example, future standards must follow six common principles and must make a positive contribution to global sustainable development, including improving the environment, climate change, and biodiversity. Wait.
He further stated that it is necessary to encourage countries to adopt some common standards on a voluntary basis.
In addition, some regions should work together to promote the formulation of regional standards. For example, the International Committee on Sustainable Standards formulates climate-related standards to form an important reference basis for information disclosure.
At present, compared with the information disclosure in the field of international accounting and finance, the above fields have not yet formed internationally recognized standards.
Since some of these are ancillary disclosures, companies often have a certain degree of arbitrariness and selectivity when they disclose.
The lack of standards and common language rules also lead to positive qualitative disclosures being fully displayed, while some negative content is hidden, so the disclosures are not accurate.
In the view of Zhou Chengjun, director of the Institute of Finance of the People's Bank of China, establishing global information disclosure standards on sustainable development, environment and climate change is a good opportunity for China to use its experience.
China has made achievements at the level of institutional reforms. There are currently six national-level green finance reform and innovation pilot zones, and many attempts have been made in the environmental and climate information disclosure of listed companies’ financial institutions. These have provided a wealth of theory and Experience.
He called on China’s green transformation experts, scholars, and officials to pay full attention to the importance of the establishment of this mechanism, to clarify the domestic sustainability and disclosure standards for green development transformation as soon as possible, and to follow the strict requirements of similar international financial and accounting standards. Active participant, setter and contributor of international sustainable development standards.
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