China opens world’s largest emissions trading

As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the People’s Republic of China recently announced its intention to strive for climate neutrality by 2060. The first measures are now being taken to achieve this goal: China’s head of state Xi Jinping announced the introduction of a national emissions trading scheme. The People’s Republic is thus once again taking an important step in the direction of climate protection.

Emissions trading on the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange is scheduled to begin in the middle of the year. Companies with lower CO2 emissions will have the opportunity to sell their certificates to other companies. The government wants as many energy companies as possible to participate and for this reason is initially setting soft targets in terms of the level of emissions allowed. A total of 2,225 energy companies, whose CO2 emissions account for 50% of the total greenhouse gases in China and 14% of the global CO2 footprint, will initially be required to participate.

In addition, the Chinese government’s five-year plan is to call on companies from many other industries to engage in emissions trading. Allowance trading is expected to cover a total of five billion tons of carbon. This is half of China’s greenhouse gases from 2018.