Diversified carbon trading accelerates China's "dual carbon" target process, carbon sink | barrier | process

Ecological Corridor in Wangwenzhuang Town, Xiqing District, Tianjin City. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

Tianjin, June 6th (Xinhua) - Diversified carbon trading accelerates China's "dual carbon" target process

Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Ning and Huang Jianglin

Through a series of operations, the company has achieved innovative exploration of "zero carbon" lubricating oil products by conducting carbon footprint investigation and targeted optimization on raw materials, production processes, transportation methods, energy consumption, and other links, reducing product carbon emissions, and then neutralizing carbon emissions through the purchase of carbon credits.

"We have chosen two mainstream engine oil products for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, and based on the product's carbon footprint and estimated annual production, we have purchased corresponding voluntary emission reduction products through the Tianjin Emission Rights Exchange to achieve product carbon neutrality." Li Chunqing, Executive General Manager of Breakthrough Lubricants Co., Ltd. in Greater China, said that the attempt at "zero carbon" engine oil is of great significance for leading industry development and guiding downstream towards low-carbon transformation.

The relevant person in charge of Tianjin Emission Rights Exchange stated that in the face of the growing demand for voluntary carbon reduction trading and carbon neutrality, Tianjin Emission Rights Exchange is also exploring technology to support carbon inclusiveness, develop carbon neutrality certification products, guide more people to pay attention to "dual carbon", and stimulate social green energy.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has firmly followed the path of ecological priority, green and low-carbon development, fully implemented the Paris Agreement, announced efforts to achieve carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, and vigorously implemented emission reduction commitments.

As an important mechanism for promoting environmental protection through market means, China's carbon trading market is becoming increasingly mature. Since 2011, China has gradually launched carbon emission trading pilot projects in eight regional carbon markets, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai. In July 2021, 10 years later, the national carbon emission trading market was officially launched.

Data shows that as of the end of May 2022, the cumulative total transaction volume of carbon emission quotas in the national carbon market is about 235 million tons, with a transaction amount of about 10.787 billion yuan.

The demand side of carbon quotas has achieved emission reduction targets through carbon trading, while the supply side has gained economic benefits from carbon trading.

As one of the power generation enterprises included in the national carbon emission trading market, Huaneng International Power Co., Ltd. received approximately 478 million yuan in revenue from selling carbon emission quotas in 2022, spent approximately 104 million yuan on purchasing carbon emission quotas, and achieved a net profit of 374 million yuan. It became the electricity listed enterprise that benefited the most from the national carbon emission trading market that year.

In addition to quota carbon trading, the voluntary carbon trading market has also become an important development direction for carbon trading due to its wide participation and rich products. Among them, forestry carbon sequestration holds enormous potential.

In Tianjin, the construction of a green ecological barrier zone with a total area of 736 square kilometers, approximately 50 kilometers north-south and 15 kilometers east-west, has been basically completed on the golden development corridor between the central urban area and the Binhai New Area.

The green ecological barrier of Tianjin was captured in Jinnan District, Tianjin. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

Since its launch in 2018, this piece of land, which is twice the area of the central urban area of Tianjin, has undergone ten major projects such as demolition and restoration, afforestation and greening, and ecological conservation, forming an ecological green valley that protects Beijing and Tianjin.

In addition to visible environmental improvements, carbon sequestration is a significant contribution to green ecological barriers. "At present, the forest area within the first level control zone of the ecological barrier has reached 191500 acres, which can achieve carbon sequestration of about 150000 tons/year. According to the planning calculation, by 2035, the carbon sequestration in the ecological barrier zone will reach about 206000 tons/year." said Fan Shuhe, a second level inspector of the Tianjin Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.

It is reported that with the acceleration of the construction of green ecological barriers, the preliminary verification work of the first batch of pilot projects has been basically completed. It is expected that by 2035, the annual transaction value of forestry carbon sinks in the green ecological barrier area of Tianjin can reach millions of yuan.

In fact, forestry carbon trading has been widely carried out in various parts of China. As one of the provinces that initiated forestry carbon sequestration trading pilot projects earlier, as of the first quarter of this year, Fujian has completed a total of 4.0549 million tons of forestry carbon sequestration trading and re trading, achieving a total amount of 62.6714 million yuan. Guangdong, Shandong and other regions have also strengthened forestry carbon sequestration innovation, using it as an important support for promoting green transformation and achieving the "dual carbon" goals.

Niu Guimin, a researcher at the Institute of Ecological Civilization, Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, believes that promoting diversified carbon trading varieties and methods is the trend. After the resumption of the national voluntary emission reduction market, forestry carbon sinks will play an important and unique role in carbon trading.

According to data released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China's forest area and forest volume have maintained a "double growth" for more than 30 consecutive years, with a forest coverage rate of 23.04%. According to estimates, the annual carbon sequestration of China's forests and grasslands exceeded 1.2 billion tons in 2021, ranking first in the world.

"Environmental protection and afforestation are China's contributions to the world, and forestry carbon sink trading shows a bright prospect of integrating ecological and economic values," said Niu Guimin.