SCIO briefing on China's Policies and Actions on Climate Change

U.S. National Public Radio:

How to unify the seven pilot carbon emission trading programs that you have just mentioned into a state-level program? Besides, in my personal view, despite the increasing awareness of the pollution, the Chinese people pay little attention to climate change creating global warming. Would you please explain the reason behind that and what is your plan to tackle this problem?

Xie Zhenhua:

China has already pushed forward seven pilot carbon emission trading programs that are running smoothly as all the transactions are online with little price fluctuations, as was stated in the Report. However, instead of paying attention to the carbon price, we attach greater importance to building a market mechanism for carbon trading through the pilot trading platforms. There are actually a lot of issues to be dealt with, such as, how to fix an aggregate volume, how to distribute quotas, how to check the trade and emission volumes before transactions. Those which have been scrutinized in the pilot programs are in need of more accurate and scientific calculation because there is money involved in the transactions.

To work with those pilot programs, we issued "Measures on the Management of Carbon Emission Transactions" providing guidance on checking the previous emission levels, the calculation of total emissions and quota distribution as well as the agenda and measures for examining the transaction process. Besides, we are now studying how to legislate for unified carbon emission transactions. When those preparations are completed, the conditions for a unified carbon emission market will be mature. With our continuous efforts in the past few years, a state-level carbon market is slated to be launched in 2017.

There are a number of countries and regions, such as the local governments of the United States, the European Union and several neighboring nations, hoping to work with China to create a unified carbon market. Therefore, we are willing to expand cooperation, exchange experiences and learn lessons from them. For example, we have good cooperation with some major countries in the EU from which we have learned experiences and lessons from their carbon markets.

Presently, both the experiences and lessons of the carbon market in the EU are worth learning. For example, their carbon price has dived from 30 Euros to only two to three. Why? The quotas have been overly distributed and the force to reduce emissions is insufficient, both of which resulted in a sluggish market in the entire region.

When we are shaping the carbon market in China, we have learned the lessons so that we are able to regulate our market in a better and more orderly way. The carbon market in China is expected to be initiated in 2017.

Climate change, environmental protection and air pollution stem from the same reasons. China now suffers from severe air pollution, especially smog. To tackle the problem, the State Council enacted ten measures, and they were proved to be very effective. That was why we saw the so-called "parade blue" and "APEC blue." Why were the measures so effective? Because we discovered the root of the problem and we developed solutions accordingly. We are determined to solve the problem, so we will definitely do so. This will take us some time, because the problem is associated with economic, employment and social issues, but I'm sure it won't be long. We are working hard on the problem. We have made energy-saving plans, and took many measures to improve energy efficiency, adjust energy structure, increase forest carbon sinks among others. Air pollution can be tackled if these measures are implemented properly.

I know everyone here has noticed the impact of smog and air pollution, but maybe some of you are not fully aware of the influence of the global warming. Actually, all countries' understanding on this issue has changed, as it was found that the global warming had a direct bearing on hurricanes, droughts and floods. Like the rest of the countries in the world, China has gained a deeper understanding on climate change in the past decade. We have taken a series of measures to tackle the problem. These measures were supported by local governments, entrepreneurs, non-government organizations and the general public. We have noticed these changes. Thank you.