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Carbon finance and the carbon market in China

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 15–16 (2015)Cite this article

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The chinese carbon market is up and running, but private finance has not been fully utilized. Finance-friendly policies are needed to help the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter to harness market forces for climate change mitigation.

The latest World Bank report on carbon pricing indicates that the world's emissions trading schemes (ETSs) are currently worth about US$30 billion (ref. 1). These ETSs create a market in which the rights to emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) are traded among GHG-emitting entities. The trading of emissions allowances or credits in these carbon markets creates a price on carbon and can help mitigate GHG emissions at lower costs. The world's largest carbon market is built on the European Union (EU) ETS, with an emissions cap of 2,084 Mt of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) in 2013. China houses the second largest one, covering 1,115 MtCO2e (ref. 1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yu Xiang is at the Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China,

    Xiang Yu

  2. Alex Y. Lo is at the Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland 4222, Australia,

    Alex Y. Lo

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  1. Xiang Yu
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  2. Alex Y. Lo
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Correspondence to Alex Y. Lo.

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Yu, X., Lo, A. Carbon finance and the carbon market in China. Nature Clim Change 5, 15–16 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2462

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