The "dual carbon" has achieved remarkable results in three years, and market vitality stimulates green power

On September 22, China ushered in the third anniversary of the major declaration of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Over the past three years, guided by the "dual carbon" goal, China has accelerated supply-side structural reform, promoted industrial structure upgrading, promoted the orderly replacement of new energy and fossil energy, and achieved results in comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation of economic and social development. Standing at a new starting point, the national greenhouse gas voluntary emission reduction trading market is about to restart, the national carbon market is expected to expand, and China's "dual carbon" economy will add "green power".

In the past three years, carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth have achieved remarkable results. The whole country has built and completed the "1+N" policy system for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality; A total of more than 520 million kilowatts of energy-saving and carbon-reduction transformation, flexibility transformation and heat supply transformation of coal-fired power units have been completed, and the installed capacity of non-fossil energy power generation has increased from 330 million kilowatts to 1.38 billion kilowatts, historically surpassing coal power; the installed capacity of hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic, biomass power generation and nuclear power under construction ranks first in the world; The "new three things" represented by solar cells, lithium batteries and electric manned vehicles have become new driving forces for foreign trade growth; The proportion of newly built green building area has increased from 77% at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan to 91.2% at present.

Dong Zhanfeng, director of the Policy Institute of the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that in recent years, China has fully tapped the potential of green and low-carbon technology innovation, and while realizing the green transformation of traditional industries, it has continuously cultivated and expanded green industries, expanded the "new track" of green development, and cultivated new momentum for economic development. In 2022, the operating income of the national ecological and environmental protection industry will reach 2.22 trillion yuan.

According to data from the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, as of September 21, the cumulative trading volume of emission allowances in the national carbon market was about 281 million tons, with a cumulative turnover of 13.62 billion yuan.

Sun Chuanwang, a professor at the Zou Zhizhuang Institute of Economics at the School of Economics at Xiamen University, said that the price discovery function of carbon emission reduction has been well reflected in trading, and carbon prices have risen steadily. At the same time, there is still a lot of room for growth in the transaction scale of carbon trading, and its future development trend and expectations have also been recognized by all business entities.

The development of green certificates has also ushered in a new outlet. A few days ago, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued a notice that green certificate trading will achieve full coverage of renewable energy electricity. The green certificate is equivalent to the "ID card" of green electricity, and one green certificate unit corresponds to 1,000 degrees of renewable energy, and the enterprise purchases the green certificate after it is equivalent to consuming green electricity. As of the end of July this year, the cumulative number of green certificates issued in China has exceeded 120 million, and the cumulative number of green certificates traded is about 46.2 million. The trading volume of green certificates in the first seven months of this year far exceeded that of the whole of 2022.

Shi Yichen, Deputy Dean of the International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics, pointed out that market instruments can effectively stimulate low-carbon emission reduction actions, the carbon market and green certificate market provide implementation space for the deepening development of sustainable finance, and effective green premium can promote investors' attention to green and low-carbon projects, help attract capital flow to green and low-carbon industries, and leverage financial leverage to further deepen the positive feedback on green and low-carbon projects.

At the same time, voluntary greenhouse gas emission reductions are about to restart. On September 15, the ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment deliberated and adopted in principle the Administrative Measures for Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading (Trial), which was seen as a signal that CCER (National Certified Voluntary Emission Reduction) is expected to officially restart in the near future.

"Voluntary emission reduction trading can be used as a offset mechanism for carbon emission trading market compliance and corporate carbon neutrality." Li Yongliang, director of the Industrial Comprehensive Office of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, said that after the first compliance cycle of the national carbon market, the supply of CCER has been in short supply, and the expansion of the carbon market will further increase the demand for voluntary emission reduction.

Sun Chuanwang also pointed out that the restart of CCER is expected to reactivate the trading activity of the carbon market, enrich the application scenarios of carbon emission reduction, and provide a basis for the pricing of carbon assets to promote the development of green finance.

According to the reporter of the Economic Information Daily, the national carbon market will be further expanded during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and the eight high-emission industries will be gradually and orderly included in the carbon market. "At present, the trading of the national carbon market is not active enough, it is still in its infancy." Shi Yichen said that the continuous expansion of the carbon market and the gradual expansion of trading entities and trading products will inject vitality into China's low-carbon development and open up a broader new picture of green development.