By ZHUANG Jian
China's national carbon market is set to expand to new industries next year, said LAI Xiaoming, Chairman of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange on Monday.
The market, launched in 2021, has an accumulated trading volume of 236 million tons at a value of nearly 10.8 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion).
Lai emphasized the need for better carbon asset management, new financial instruments, and a closer connection between the carbon market and the financial market. The carbon market is still in the stage of construction and improvement. He also called for unified carbon accounting standards and improved information disclosure.
The national carbon market only includes power generation companies, 2,000 of them, while other industries are waiting to sign up. Industries such as steel and petrochemicals will gradually be included.
"While continuing to develop and improve the national carbon market, we need to focus on related foundational work, optimize carbon financial instruments, strengthen the coordination between the carbon market and the financial market, and create conditions for directing more funds towards green and low-carbon development," Lai said.
Lai said price is a core element of market mechanisms, and an effective carbon price signal provides an important decision-making basis. To address climate change, a clear and effective carbon price signal is particularly important.
Lai also suggested the need for unified carbon accounting standards to improve the motivation of enterprises in their disclosure. Standard rules should be developed for information disclosure.
