China Unveils an Ambitious Plan to Curb Climate Change Emissions
“The first thing I would ask people is, ‘What markets in China do you think work really well?’ ”
The national emissions trading system being started will initially cover power companies
that emit at least 26,000 tons a year of carbon — the equivalent of burning 10,000 tons of coal a year, and a threshold high enough to cover mainly larger users of coal and natural gas.
Zou Ji, the president of the China arm of the Energy Foundation, one of several Western nonprofit groups
that advised the Chinese government on the new market, said that China was likely to issue many credits starting early next year in response to domestic political pressures, and then gradually tighten annual allocations to force up the price.
Nathaniel Keohane, vice president for global climate at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the market for power-sector emissions alone would
cover 3.3 billion tons of annual carbon dioxide releases The European Union’s trading system covers about two billion tons of emissions.
China’s announcement could also disappoint those who were hoping the long-promised emissions market would
cover the country’s broader economy, the world’s second largest after that of the United States.
“China’s move to create the world’s largest carbon market is yet another powerful sign
that a global sustainability revolution is underway,” Al Gore, the former vice president and a prominent voice in reducing climate change, said in a statement.
The nationwide market would initially cover only China’s vast, state-dominated power generation sector,
which produced almost half of the country’s emissions from the burning of fossil fuels last year.
