China News Service, Beijing, February 6 (Reporter Ruan Yulin) In order to regulate carbon emissions trading and related activities, the State Council recently announced the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Carbon Emissions Trading" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"). Many industry insiders pointed out that the "Regulations" established the basic institutional framework for carbon emissions trading management, laid the legal foundation for the construction of the carbon emissions trading market, and opened a new legal situation for China's carbon emissions trading, which is a milestone.
China has the world's largest carbon trading market. Carbon emissions trading is an important policy tool to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide through market mechanisms, and to help actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In recent years, the construction of China's carbon emissions trading market has been steadily advancing. In October 2011, local carbon emissions trading market pilots were launched in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangdong, Hubei, Shenzhen and other places, and in December 2017, the construction of a national carbon emissions trading market was launched.
In July 2021, the national carbon emissions trading market officially launched online trading. As of the end of 2023, the national carbon emissions trading market has included 2,257 power generation companies, with a cumulative transaction volume of approximately 440 million tons and a transaction volume of approximately 24.9 billion yuan. The policy effects of carbon emissions trading have initially emerged.
At the same time, the shortcomings of the national carbon emissions trading market in terms of coverage, product diversity, market transparency, and system construction have become increasingly apparent. In order to standardize carbon emissions trading and related activities, strengthen the control of greenhouse gas emissions, and actively and steadily promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the Regulations were officially promulgated.
Lai Xiaoming, chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, said that the "Regulations" clarified the carbon emission rights market trading system in the form of administrative regulations for the first time. It is the legal basis to guide the operation and management of China's carbon market and is a milestone in the development of the carbon market.
The "Regulations" clarify that the ecological environment department of the State Council is responsible for the supervision and management of carbon emissions trading and related activities. Carbon emissions trading should be gradually integrated into a unified public resource trading platform system. The Regulations construct the basic institutional framework for carbon emissions trading management from six aspects including carbon emission quota allocation. In order to improve regulatory efficiency, the Regulations also stipulate that the ecological environment department of the State Council establishes a national carbon emissions trading market management platform to strengthen the entire process supervision of carbon emissions trading and related activities.
Xu Huaqing, director of the National Center for Strategic Research and International Cooperation on Climate Change, said that the national carbon emissions trading market is a major institutional innovation that uses market mechanisms to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote green and low-carbon development, and achieve peak carbon neutrality. . The promulgation of the "Regulations" is a milestone event in the construction of China's carbon emissions trading market, opening up a new legal situation for China's carbon emissions trading and laying an important foundation for the operation and development of the market.
The "Regulations" clarify that carbon emission rights trading can adopt agreement transfer, one-way bidding or other spot trading methods that comply with relevant national regulations. It is prohibited for any unit or individual to manipulate the national carbon emissions trading market or disrupt the order of the national carbon emissions trading market through fraud, malicious collusion, spreading false information, etc.
"After the establishment of the national unified carbon emissions trading market in 2021, the overall operation has been relatively stable, but the problem of falsification of carbon emissions data is more prominent," said Zhu Xiao, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China.
In response to data quality management issues in the practice of carbon emissions trading, Zhu Xiao said that in addition to stipulating the obligations of key emission units to truthfully report carbon emission data, the obligation to preserve the original records and management ledgers of data, and relevant legal responsibilities, the Regulations also Further stipulates the responsibilities of technical service agencies and the supervisory responsibilities of regulatory authorities. The "Regulations" strengthen the supervision and management of the quality of carbon emission data by clearly stipulating the obligations and responsibilities of key emission units, regulatory authorities, third-party agencies and other entities, and are conducive to ensuring the smooth operation of the national carbon emissions trading market.
Xu Huaqing said that the "Regulations" clarified legal responsibilities such as confiscation of illegal gains, fines, reduction of quotas for the next year, orders to stop production for rectification, cancellation of qualifications, and restrictions on employment for violations related to data quality. Compared with previous management measures, the intensity of administrative penalties has been significantly increased, which will help strengthen the constraints on illegal activities and effectively ensure the quality of carbon emission data.
The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that they will coordinate and integrate all forces, accelerate the construction of the national carbon emissions trading market management platform, improve the level of supervision, and form a regulatory synergy. According to reports, the "Regulations" have established a standardized and orderly carbon emissions trading management system, and relevant supporting regulations will be introduced in the next step. (over)