China’s national carbon emissions trading market opens at 48 yuan/T-Chinese media

Beijing, July 16 (Reuters)-According to Chinese media reports, China’s long-awaited National Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) opened at 48 yuan ($7.42) per ton on Friday.

Before signing the Paris climate agreement at the end of 2015, President Xi Jinping promised for the first time to establish a national trade plan. The plan was “soft-launched” at the end of 2017, but no transaction occurred, and the full-scale launch of the plan was postponed many times before trading finally opened at 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT).

Fred Krupp, chairman of the international non-profit organization Environmental Protection Foundation, said: “China has achieved an important milestone in climate action, laying the last piece of the puzzle for the world’s largest carbon market.”

More than 2,000 power plants, which emit more than 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide, are included in the first phase of the transaction, making it the world’s largest carbon trading market.read more

According to CCTV reports, the first transaction was completed at 52.78 yuan, involving 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide. The buyers and sellers involved in the first transaction did not immediately know.

The opening price of the national plan is higher than the average carbon price of 40 yuan per ton in the seven pilot markets that started trading in mid-2020, but much lower than the EU ETS average price of about 50 euros ($59.02).

Part of the delay in opening up national ETS is due to concerns about the accuracy and transparency of emissions data. The Ministry of Environment recognizes that data accuracy is the top priority of the national carbon market.read more

The Chinese central government is cooperating with industry associations to collect data on steel, non-ferrous metals, chemical and other industries with a view to further expanding carbon trading.

($1 = 6.4671 yuan)

(1 USD = 0.8472 Euro)

Reporting by Muyu Xu, David Stanway and Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom Hogg and Simon Cameron-Moore

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