This article sorts out the top 10 key events in the field of "dual carbon" in mainland China in 2023, summarizes the relevant policies and specific requirements of the mainland to actively respond to the climate crisis, and provides enterprises with a summary of the dynamic trends and norms in the field of "dual carbon" in China.
The regulatory requirements related to carbon emissions in mainland China are becoming more and more stringent, and the construction of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and the management of product carbon footprints are standardized and systematic
1. The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Guidelines for the Construction of Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Standard System"
In April 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other departments jointly issued the "Guidelines for the Construction of Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Standard System", proposing 4 first-level subsystems, 15 second-level subsystems and 63 third-level subsystems including basic general standards, carbon emission reduction standards, carbon removal standards and market-oriented mechanism standards, and explaining how to carry out carbon accounting verification, carbon information disclosure, clean and low-carbon utilization of fossil energy, emission reduction in production and service processes, carbon capture, utilization and storage, carbon emission trading and other related standards.
2. The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System"
In November 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System", proposing to improve the rules and standards for carbon footprint accounting methods for key products, establish a product carbon footprint background database, promote the construction of a product carbon labeling certification system, and strive to introduce about 50 and 200 carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products at the national level by 2025 and 2030 respectively, and achieve international integration and mutual recognition.
The pilot construction plan for carbon peaking was launched, and the first batch of pilot projects included 25 cities and 10 parks
3. The National Development and Reform Commission issued the "National Carbon Peak Pilot Construction Plan" to publicize the list of the first batch of carbon peak pilots
In October 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the National Carbon Peak Pilot Construction Plan, proposing to break the bottlenecks and constraints faced by green and low-carbon development, select 100 typical representative cities and parks across the country to carry out pilot construction of carbon peaking, explore carbon peak paths for cities and parks with different resource endowments and development foundations, and provide operable, replicable and scalable experience and practices for the whole country. At the beginning of December, the National Development and Reform Commission announced the list of the first batch of carbon peak pilot cities, and identified 25 cities including Zhangjiakou City and 10 parks including Changzhi High-tech Industrial Development Zone as the first batch of carbon peak pilot cities and parks.
Voluntary emission reduction trading will be restarted to further stimulate the vitality of the carbon market
4. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) restarted voluntary emission reduction trading and released the methodology for the first batch of voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction projects
In October 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) jointly issued the Administrative Measures for Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading (Trial), which clearly organizes the establishment of a unified national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction trading institution and trading system, and provides centralized and unified trading and settlement of certified voluntary emission reductions (CCER), which is a basic system to ensure the orderly operation of the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction trading market, marking the official resumption of the voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading (CCER) market, which has been suspended for six years.
5. The National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the Notice to establish a mutual recognition mechanism between green certificates and carbon trading markets
In August 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the "Notice on Promoting Renewable Energy Electricity Consumption with Full Coverage of Renewable Energy Green Electricity Certificates", which proposes to study and promote the convergence and coordination of green certificates with the national carbon emission trading mechanism and voluntary carbon emission reduction trading, which will help the deep integration between the two types of markets and promote the consumption of new energy and the low-carbon transformation of the power industry.
The energy transition has been further accelerated, and the dual control of energy consumption has been promoted to the dual control of carbon emissions
6. The National Energy Administration held a meeting, and the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy in mainland China reached a historic scale
According to data released at the National Energy Work Conference in July 2023, the mainland's energy transition has once again ushered in a milestone, with the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy in the mainland exceeding the 1.3 billion mark, reaching the level of 1.322 billion kilowatts, surpassing thermal power for the first time in history. According to the 2024 National Energy Work Conference held in December, the current installed capacity of renewable energy has further reached 1.45 billion kilowatts, more than 50% of the country's total installed power generation capacity. Wind power and photovoltaic power, as the largest increase in renewable energy, still continued the rapid development trend, with the new installed capacity of photovoltaic increasing by nearly 150% year-on-year, and the cumulative installed capacity during the year also surpassed hydropower, and was promoted to the second largest power source in the mainland after thermal power.
7. The Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform adopted the "Opinions on Promoting the Gradual Shift from Dual Control of Energy Consumption to Dual Control of Carbon Emissions"
In July 2023, the second meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform deliberated and adopted the "Opinions on Promoting the Gradual Shift from Dual Control of Energy Consumption to Dual Control of Carbon Emissions". The "Opinions" make it clear that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, binding targets for reducing energy intensity and carbon emission intensity will be implemented, so as to create conditions for the establishment of a dual control system for carbon emissions. In November, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and three other ministries and commissions jointly issued the Notice on Further Improving the Work on Excluding New Renewable Energy Consumption from Total Energy Consumption Control, clarifying that green certificates can be used to deduct the total energy consumption.
Through the reform of the upstream and downstream supply chains, various industries continue to promote green and low-carbon transformation
8. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Standard Conditions for Calcium Carbide Industry"
In October 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Standard Conditions for the Calcium Carbide Industry" for the calcium carbide industry. This document puts forward clear and high standards for the energy consumption and carbon emissions of calcium carbide enterprises. The "Specification Conditions" stipulate that the comprehensive energy consumption of calcium carbide enterprises in the production of calcium carbide should not be higher than 823 kg of standard coal / ton, and the power consumption of electric furnace should not be higher than 3080 kWh / ton. At the same time, the "standard conditions" also require calcium carbide enterprises to develop carbon emission reduction programs, emphasizing the importance of environmental protection and cleaner production, requiring calcium carbide enterprises to achieve zero discharge of wastewater, waste gas discharge, and take effective measures to reduce the impact on the environment.
9. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the "Work Plan for the Steady Growth of the Building Materials Industry"
In August 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the "Work Plan for the Steady Growth of the Building Materials Industry", clarifying the goals of continuously improving the high-end, intelligent and green level of the building materials industry, and deploying four important work measures, including expanding effective investment in promoting green transformation and other aspects, and promoting green building materials consumption by deepening the activities of green building materials to the countryside.
10. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the "Work Plan for the Steady Growth of the Petrochemical Industry"
In August 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments jointly issued the Work Plan for the Steady Growth of the Petrochemical Industry. Five major work measures have been clarified to promote the steady growth of the petrochemical industry, among which promoting high-end, green, and intelligent development ranks first. It is proposed to increase the transformation of green technology from the aspects of promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction transformation in key industries such as oil refining and ethylene, implementing comprehensive technological transformation of old equipment, and accelerating the withdrawal of backward production capacity.
Epilogue:
2023 is the third year of the "dual carbon" goal, and China will strive to achieve carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Against the backdrop of intensifying international carbon constraints, China has been accelerating its low-carbon development plan and actively building a sound "1+N" policy system for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Under the guidance of the top-level design documents, the mainland is actively and steadily promoting the standardization of "dual carbon", accelerating the launch of the national CCER market, carbon peak pilots, energy transition, and green and low-carbon transformation of various industries, and constantly urging enterprises to clarify their own carbon emissions and upstream and downstream carbon emissions in the supply chain, and carry out corresponding carbon emission reduction actions.