EU urges China to roll out carbon trading nationwide before 2020
June 12, 2014 Category Environment, Greenhouse gas emissions
Jos Delbeke, Director General of the European Commission’s Climate Action initiative, has urged China to roll out a nationwide carbon market before the planned completion date of 2020, insisting a carbon cap would not expose the country to greater international pressure to agree to a new climate treaty. He added that the wider the market scope, the more efficient the cap-and-trade system would be in reducing carbon emissions. Delbeke said senior Chinese officials need not worry, adding that the EU’s own emission trading scheme only covered a part of its total carbon emissions. The EU has embarked on the €5 million initiative to help China widen its existing regional pilot carbon trading schemes. Delbeke added the earlier a scheme was implemented the cheaper it would be “as it would prevent investment in the wrong type of technology”. China has launched six carbon markets over the past year, where local governments impose emissions caps on carbon-intensive companies through the issuing of carbon credits. If a company’s emissions go over the limit, they are required to buy more carbon credits to cover the excess discharge. At the same time, a company that becomes more energy-efficient and reduces its carbon footprint can sell carbon credits to help finance investment. Senior officials have previously said a nationwide roll-out of the carbon market would take place in 2020, when a new global climate treaty is due to take effect. China, as the world’s biggest carbon emitter, is under pressure to agree to an absolute cap. Beijing bases its carbon intensity targets on emissions per unit of economic growth, a formula to reduce carbon intensity by 40% to 45% by 2020 from 2005 levels, under an existing treaty which exempts developing countries from absolute reductions, the South China Morning Post reports.
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