Establish a climate governance system to lead the green and low-carbon transformation of the global economy

【Wen Xin Theory】

Cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, cloud computing and the Internet of Things should be deeply integrated into climate change strategies and environmental protection policy frameworks.

Zhang Wenyan

Climate change has escalated to the heart of the world. In order to effectively address the climate challenge, the international community has strengthened cooperation and negotiation through bilateral and multilateral frameworks to promote the process of global climate governance. Countries are also actively formulating and revising relevant climate laws in an attempt to take the lead in global climate action. According to the data, more than 1,800 climate-related laws have been introduced around the world. In order to actively address climate change, China has clearly put forward the strategic direction of moving towards green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and integrated green concepts into major climate-related strategic goals, regarded it as the core element of building a community with a shared future for mankind. In view of this, China has established the goals of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality", and systematically promoted the "1+N" policy system. In the 14th Five-Year Plan, climate targets have been established as an important part of the overall economic and social development.

At present, China's climate regulatory framework presents the following two characteristics:

First, the current climate governance system is mainly composed of two pillars: one is the green financial system, and the other is the carbon system. The goal of the green financial system is to optimize the allocation of resources and guide the flow of funds to the field of green and sustainable development. To ensure its stable operation, a series of green finance measures have been promulgated, such as the implementation of green credit policies and the issuance of green financial products such as green bonds, green funds and green insurance. Another important pillar is the construction of the carbon market, with a focus on improving the emissions trading system. It has carried out pilot work on carbon emission trading and established a national unified carbon emission trading market in 2022. On this basis, it is proposed to further explore key issues such as the nature of carbon emission credits, supporting measures, carbon quotas and liquidity.

Second, the current climate policy mainly focuses on the construction of the financial system, focusing on green finance and carbon trading, and lacks targeted and special legislation. Although China has issued a series of laws and policies, including regulations and local legislation as institutional support, to ensure the development of green finance and carbon trading, it has not yet had legislation specifically for climate regulation like some other countries. At present, the climate-related legal framework presents two core paths: one is to rely on existing legal norms, such as environmental protection law, ecological laws and regulations, energy law, etc., to regulate and restrict climate-related issues; The second is to revise the existing legal system to include the concept of "green" closely related to climate and environment. For example, the inclusion of green principles in the Civil Code; Introduce ESG principles into the corporate governance system, etc., and encourage or require companies to disclose their environmental information by combining hard regulations and soft guiding principles.

In order to further improve the climate governance framework and lead the green and low-carbon transformation of the global economy, three suggestions are put forward based on the above content:

The first is to build a systematic and complete system of climate laws and norms. At the macro level, it is necessary to comprehensively improve the existing legal and regulatory framework. It is necessary to promote the formulation of climate-specific laws and further optimize the top-level design to eliminate the shortcomings and ambiguities of existing norms and provide systematic institutional guarantees for climate regulation. More crucially, strengthening the domestic legal system for climate regulation can lay the groundwork for China's participation in international rule-making and related lobbying activities. In addition, the enthusiasm of relevant subjects should be stimulated through legal means. For example, to ensure the orderly implementation of climate finance and financing, investment and incentive mechanisms should be further improved, aiming to attract public and private capital injections in the initial stage, scientifically guide the flow of funds in the intermediate stage, and effectively supervise the implementation of climate finance in the final stage.

二是利用科技赋能气候规制。为此，Cutting-edge digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, cloud computing and the Internet of Things should be deeply integrated into climate change strategies and environmental protection policy frameworks.鉴于中国在数据治理和数据交互平台建设上的先进水平，结合现有的技术基础、基础设施及数据制度优势，建立数据互通共享平台，以进一步增强气候信息的整合性、可访问性和可用性，利用数字技术驱动气候变化以及相关资金流动监测与追踪。此外，借助已经较为完善的社会信用体系，将相关评价结果纳入政策与审慎管理体系，利用联动奖惩机制，完善气候治理。

The third is to further deepen international cooperation and promote international climate governance. In the context of the new era of foreign-related rule of law construction, we should fully participate in international diplomacy in the field of climate governance and achieve a strategic advantage in the global "climate governance race". On the one hand, in addition to integrating international frontier practices and the experience of various countries in climate regulation, it is necessary to strengthen the export of external systems. Specifically, combined with the unique advantages embodied in China's governance model, such as the use of data linkage for climate governance; In addition, it can lead the formulation of climate-related international standards and create an international standardization highland; Deepen the Belt and Road Initiative, establish development alliances, and strengthen strategic cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road in the field of environment and climate; On the other hand, in addition to actively fulfilling international climate commitments and demonstrating the responsibility of major countries, we should also submit requests for climate governance support to developed countries on the international stage to promote a coordinated development model among countries. We urge developed countries to actively implement their funding commitments and technical support to developing countries to help them carry out low-carbon transformation more rapidly.

(The author is a distinguished associate researcher at the School of Foreign-related Rule of Law, East China University of Political Science and Law)

The articles in this newspaper only represent the author's personal views, which are hereby explained.