On 5 September, The Service Trade Fair played host to the "Carbon Neutrality Action and Corporate ESG Innovation" forum at the Beijing National Convention Center. Delegates convened to dissect the trajectory of China's burgeoning carbon market and delve into ESG corporate initiatives. Mei Dewen, Deputy Chairman of the Beijing Green Exchange, posited a bullish forecast: "Given the financial evolution of China's carbon market, and with an allocation spanning 70-80 billion tons, we anticipate an annual transaction volume that might eclipse CNY 1 trillion."
Highlighting the pivotal role of China's voluntary carbon market in the contemporary scenario, Mei accentuated its future growth prospects. He expounded that the carbon market is poised to be an economical conduit for fostering carbon neutrality, embodying a financial apparatus that necessitates both regulatory checks and stimulatory measures. This bifurcates the landscape into mandatory and voluntary carbon sectors. Present indicators suggest that a synthesis of carbon markets and ESG investments is poised to steer the nation towards its ambitious dual carbon targets.
The linchpin of the voluntary carbon arena is the National Verified Voluntary Emission Reduction, or "CCER". Liu Youbin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, delineated the CCER as the lynchpin commodity of the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction marketplace. This market, along with the carbon emission rights trading domain, amalgamates to sculpt China's holistic carbon commerce architecture. Propelling this voluntary market is tantamount to invigorating sectors like forestry carbon sequestration, renewable energy harnessing, methane curtailment, and energy enhancement, ushering an extensive spectrum of industries into the greenhouse gas abatement movement, in line with China's carbon neutrality blueprint.
2017 witnessed a hiatus in the acceptance of CCER project applications, attributed to subpar trading volumes and some non-standardized projects. Nonetheless, the legacy of CCER was far from diminished. By March of that year, the voluntary emission reduction mechanism touted 200 reduction methodologies, 9 trading entities, 12 validation entities, and a commendable 1,315 projects, with a verified reduction tally of nearly 78 million tons. Fast-forward to October 2022, and accumulated CCER transactions reached a staggering 448 million tons, amassing over CNY 6 billion in value.
After a sabbatical spanning five years, March 2023 ushered in rejuvenated optimism for CCER. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment dropped hints of reviving the CCER, publicly canvassing for methodology inputs, and by July, had rolled out the preliminary draft of the "Greenhouse Gas Voluntary Emission Reduction Trading Management Measures".
Drawing parallels with the EU's carbon market metrics in 2022 (a quota setting at 1.5 billion tons, trading volume touching 9.3 billion tons, and transactions worth 750 billion euros at 80 euros/ton), Mei prognosticates that as China delves deeper into carbon market financialization, quotas might burgeon to 70-80 billion tons, potentially amplifying trading volumes beyond 100 billion tons, with transaction values potentially soaring above CNY 1 trillion.
On 5 September, The Service Trade Fair played host to the "Carbon Neutrality Action and Corporate ESG Innovation" forum at the Beijing National Convention Center. Delegates convened to dissect the trajectory of China's burgeoning carbon market and delve into ESG corporate initiatives. Mei Dewen, Deputy Chairman of the Beijing Green Exchange, posited a bullish forecast: "Given the financial evolution of China's carbon market, and with an allocation spanning 70-80 billion tons, we anticipate an annual transaction volume that might eclipse CNY 1 trillion."
Highlighting the pivotal role of China's voluntary carbon market in the contemporary scenario, Mei accentuated its future growth prospects. He expounded that the carbon market is poised to be an economical conduit for fostering carbon neutrality, embodying a financial apparatus that necessitates both regulatory checks and stimulatory measures. This bifurcates the landscape into mandatory and voluntary carbon sectors. Present indicators suggest that a synthesis of carbon markets and ESG investments is poised to steer the nation towards its ambitious dual carbon targets.
The linchpin of the voluntary carbon arena is the National Verified Voluntary Emission Reduction, or "CCER". Liu Youbin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, delineated the CCER as the lynchpin commodity of the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction marketplace. This market, along with the carbon emission rights trading domain, amalgamates to sculpt China's holistic carbon commerce architecture. Propelling this voluntary market is tantamount to invigorating sectors like forestry carbon sequestration, renewable energy harnessing, methane curtailment, and energy enhancement, ushering an extensive spectrum of industries into the greenhouse gas abatement movement, in line with China's carbon neutrality blueprint.
2017 witnessed a hiatus in the acceptance of CCER project applications, attributed to subpar trading volumes and some non-standardized projects. Nonetheless, the legacy of CCER was far from diminished. By March of that year, the voluntary emission reduction mechanism touted 200 reduction methodologies, 9 trading entities, 12 validation entities, and a commendable 1,315 projects, with a verified reduction tally of nearly 78 million tons. Fast-forward to October 2022, and accumulated CCER transactions reached a staggering 448 million tons, amassing over CNY 6 billion in value.
After a sabbatical spanning five years, March 2023 ushered in rejuvenated optimism for CCER. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment dropped hints of reviving the CCER, publicly canvassing for methodology inputs, and by July, had rolled out the preliminary draft of the "Greenhouse Gas Voluntary Emission Reduction Trading Management Measures".
Drawing parallels with the EU's carbon market metrics in 2022 (a quota setting at 1.5 billion tons, trading volume touching 9.3 billion tons, and transactions worth 750 billion euros at 80 euros/ton), Mei prognosticates that as China delves deeper into carbon market financialization, quotas might burgeon to 70-80 billion tons, potentially amplifying trading volumes beyond 100 billion tons, with transaction values potentially soaring above CNY 1 trillion.