[031117.EN.BIZ] China's NDRC Submits Carbon Credit Scheme For State Council Approval

THE powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has submitted a plan to the State Council to start a carbon tax trading system nationwide, reports Bloomberg.

The plan needs approval from the council, China's cabinet, say sources close to the matter, adding that the plan could be announced as early as next week at the start of climate talks in Bonn.

China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, pledged in 2015 to start a carbon market this year to help it cap emissions by 2030.

The nation has also made investments in clean energy in a bid to derive 20 per cent of its power from non-fossil fuel sources.

Sophie Lu, head of China research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said it's not surprising the nation will start the system soon. "More importantly, we need to focus on which companies will be included," Ms Lu said.

As described, it would be a cap-and-trade system in which the biggest polluters must buy credits from lesser ones so they can sell unused allocations.

The world's most populous nation began running pilot systems in seven regions starting in 2013 to guide the shape of the national system.

Transaction value totalled CNY4.5 billion (US$679 million) in the pilot markets as of September, said NDRC climate change official Li Gao.

"Based on experience from pilot schemes, there isn't a lot of proactive trading" among companies, he said, adding that trades may often occur at the end of a deadline when companies have to settle their carbon-quota allocations.

Source : HKSG.