Recently, the rising carbon price has attracted the attention of the industry.
Since the beginning of this year, driven by factors such as the acceleration of the expansion of the national carbon market and the expected tightening of carbon quotas in the third compliance cycle, the carbon price of the national carbon market has continued to rise, and has risen by more than 30%. According to the comprehensive price data of the national carbon market, compared with the opening price of the national carbon market at 48 yuan per tonne, the current carbon price is close to doubling, and on April 24, it exceeded the 100 yuan mark for the first time.
As an important signal of the activity of the carbon market, the continuous increase in carbon prices indicates that the role of the mainland carbon market in promoting emission reduction in various industries will become more prominent.
Last year's turnover reached $24.9 billion
Carbon market, the abbreviation of the national carbon emission trading market, is an important institutional innovation to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote the green and low-carbon transformation of economic development mode by using market mechanisms, and is also an important policy tool to strengthen the construction of ecological civilization and implement international emission reduction commitments.
At present, the mainland's carbon market system consists of two parts: a mandatory carbon market and a voluntary carbon market. Among them, the government-led national carbon emission trading market is known as the mandatory carbon market in the industry; The National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading Market, which was launched in January this year, is known as the Voluntary Carbon Market, which includes grid-connected solar thermal power generation and grid-connected offshore wind power projects in the scope of the first batch of CCER methodologies, recognizing the emission reduction value of new energy power.
The basic principle of carbon emission trading is to allocate carbon emission allowances for a certain period of time for each emitting entity with emission reduction obligations on the premise of determining the total annual greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, carbon emission allowances become a tradable "asset", and each emitting entity has an incentive to strengthen its emission reductions – the amount saved can be sold for money, and the amount not enough can be spent.
Since 2011, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangdong, Hubei, Shenzhen, Fujian and other provinces have established eight local carbon markets. In July 2021, the national carbon market began to be launched for trading, and more than 2,000 power generation companies were included in the first batch, covering about 40% of the country's total emissions. By the end of 2023, 2,257 power generation companies have been included in the market, with a cumulative turnover of about 440 million tons and a turnover of about 24.9 billion yuan.
In the view of a researcher at Peking University Law School and a dual-employed researcher at the Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Peking University, carbon trading can not only ensure the realization of the strategic goal of carbon emission reduction through total control, but also allow enterprises with expanded emission needs to solve problems through the purchase of quotas, avoid rigidity of sticking to indicators, and influence different industries and enterprises through the determination and issuance of quotas to guide the direction of industrial development.
Carbon emissions trading has entered a new stage
The principle of carbon emissions trading may seem simple, but it is not easy to achieve good operation.
"Whether it is the type of greenhouse gas covered by the transaction and the scope of the industry, or the specific products and participants of the transaction, or the total amount and allocation plan of carbon emission allowances, etc., are both complex and professional issues, involving significant interests and many factors, and highly dependent on the standardized operation and efficient services of the corresponding registration agencies, trading institutions, and technical service institutions, and must be guaranteed by a fair and transparent, scientific and professional, and complete system." Consolidation said.
On May 1, the "Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") came into effect, and a number of interviewed industry insiders believe that as the first special regulation in the field of climate change in the mainland, the "Regulations" for the first time clarified the carbon emission trading market system in the form of administrative regulations, which is a milestone in the realization of the "double carbon" goal.
The reporter combed and found that the "Regulations" have a total of 33 articles, mainly including clarifying the supervision and management system, building a basic institutional framework for carbon emission trading management, and preventing and punishing carbon emission data fraud. It stipulates that carbon emission trading products include carbon emission allowances and other spot trading products approved by the State Council, and clarifies the working procedures related to determining the coverage of industries and key emitting entities. The "Regulations" mention that the competent department of ecology and environment of the State Council, in conjunction with the relevant departments of the State Council, in accordance with the national greenhouse gas emission control targets, comprehensively consider factors such as economic and social development, industrial structure adjustment, industry development stage, historical emissions, market regulation needs, etc., formulate the total amount and allocation plan of annual carbon emission allowances, and organize their implementation. Carbon emission allowances shall be allocated free of charge, and a combination of free and paid allocation methods shall be gradually implemented according to the relevant national requirements。 The competent department of ecology and environment of the provincial-level people's government, in conjunction with the relevant departments at the same level, shall issue carbon emission quotas to key emitting enterprises within their respective administrative areas in accordance with the total annual carbon emission quota and allocation plan, and shall not issue or adjust carbon emission allowances in violation of the annual carbon emission quota total amount and allocation plan。
The Regulations have "zero tolerance" for the falsification of carbon emission data, and stipulate a variety of legal sanctions, including warnings, verification and reduction of carbon emission allowances, confiscation of illegal income, and fines. Key emitting entities and technical service institutions need to be responsible for the authenticity, completeness and accuracy of the report. If key emitting enterprises commit fraud, they will face penalties such as confiscation of illegal gains, fines, and even suspension of production for rectification. If a technical service provider issues a false or false report, it will face penalties such as confiscation of illegal gains, fines, and even disqualification.
The Regulations stipulate that the competent department of ecology and environment under the State Council shall be responsible for supervision and management, and at the same time, the competent department of ecology and environment of local people's governments shall be responsible for supervision and management within their respective administrative areas. Data quality is the basis for ensuring the health, stability and orderliness of the carbon market, and it is expected to improve data quality through measures such as improving the system, establishing a long-term working mechanism for three-level joint review, and using big data informatization to achieve penetrating supervision.
"The Regulations stipulate the guiding principles for the construction of the carbon market, establish a multi-sectoral collaborative regulatory system, make detailed provisions on the obligations and functions of key emitting entities and technical service institutions, and set up strict liability for all parties, innovate the form of responsibility such as verification and reduction of carbon emission quotas and credit punishments, and build a comprehensive regulatory system, which provides a solid guarantee for the standardized implementation and healthy development of carbon emission trading." Consolidation said.
The rise in carbon prices has led to an increase in the environmental value of green electricity
The carbon price in mainland China was once considered by industry insiders to be "low market activity" and "single trading variety"......
The data shows that since July 2021, the trading volume and price of the carbon trading market have almost shown a sideways trend for the rest of the time, except for a significant increase in November and December each year, especially from the beginning of 2022 to July 2023, the carbon price has almost always remained below 60 yuan.
Therefore, after the carbon price exceeded 100 yuan per ton for the first time on April 24, the industry was in an uproar.
Shi Yichen, senior academic advisor of the International Institute of Green Finance at the Central University of Finance and Economics and chief economist of Zhongcai Green Index, said that the carbon price of more than 100 yuan not only shows the international community the mainland's responsibility and responsibility in responding to climate change, but also provides a buffer period for emission control enterprises, and also encourages the development of green economy.
For the new energy industry, the implementation of the Regulations is both a challenge and an opportunity. On the one hand, companies need to take more responsibility to reduce emissions, which will prompt them to increase investment in clean energy such as photovoltaics to reduce carbon emissions. On the other hand, with the standardization of the carbon emission trading market, clean energy projects such as photovoltaic power generation will gain more market opportunities and financial support.
"The rise in carbon prices has led to an increase in the environmental value of green electricity." Peng Peng, secretary-general of the China New Energy Power Investment and Financing Alliance, told reporters that high-carbon emission enterprises usually include industries such as steel, chemicals, power and cement manufacturing, which are the main sources of industrial carbon emissions, and their energy consumption and carbon emissions are very high.
"The rising cost of carbon could force high-carbon emitters to seek more efficient production technologies or transition to cleaner energy sources because they need to buy large amounts of carbon credits to operate legally." An industry insider who has been engaged in carbon trading for a long time told reporters that with the rise of carbon prices, the more carbon emissions, the more carbon emission rights enterprises need to buy, resulting in an increase in operating costs. By implementing energy efficiency improvements and using clean energy, companies can reduce their reliance on carbon allowances, thereby reducing long-term costs.
"Electricity is the main component of carbon emissions, and if the carbon emissions generated by electricity can be controlled, it can be said that enterprises can achieve twice the result with half the effort. Among them, the most effective means to reduce the carbon emissions of one's own energy consumption through the purchase of green electricity and green certificates. Peng Peng said.
It is worth noting that on April 19, the National Energy Administration issued the "Green Power Trading Chapter (Draft for Comments)", which aims to accelerate the establishment of a market system and long-term mechanism conducive to promoting the production and consumption of green energy to meet the needs of power users to purchase green electricity.
In terms of the price mechanism, the document points out that the price of green electricity trading includes the price of electricity and the price of green certificates, and the price of green certificates should be determined by both parties through market-based transactions, taking into account factors such as the weight of renewable energy consumption responsibility, dual control of energy consumption and dual control of carbon emissions. In addition, unless otherwise specified by the state, there is no price cap in green power transactions organized through bilateral negotiations.
■China City Daily reporter Kang Kejia