On Friday, Beijing hosted the opening ceremony for trading on the Chinese carbon emissions trading market. The same ceremonies were held in parallel in Prov. Hubei and Shanghai. Hubei will lead the development, operation and maintenance of the market registration system, while Shanghai will lead the work related to the trading system.
According to Shanghai Securities News, on the first day of trading on the Shanghai Environmental and Energy Exchange, 4.1 million tonnes of quota deals were concluded, totaling 210 million yuan (about US $ 32 million). Trading began at 48 yuan ($ 7.4) per tonne, and by the close of the market, the price of a tonne of CO 2 climbed to 51.23 yuan ($ 7.92), up 6.7% .
This market is a major institutional innovation aimed at controlling and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting green and low-carbon development through market mechanisms. It is also an important policy tool for advancing carbon peak goals and achieving carbon neutrality.
The first list of enterprises covered by the Chinese carbon trading market includes more than 2 thousand enterprises in the field of electricity generation. According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the carbon emissions of these enterprises exceed 4 billion tons annually. From this point of view, the aforementioned market can be called the largest in the world in terms of the scale of greenhouse gas emissions it covers.
Emissions trading is the process of buying and selling permits for the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Once allocated quotas are granted, businesses can sell excess volumes to other companies that need them.
