China’s total carbon credit trade hits 465mn t, $3.7bn

Cumulative trading volumes on China's national carbon market — which its environment ministry (MEE) described as the world's largest — hit 465mn t as of the end of June, with a transaction value of about 27bn yuan ($3.72bn).

Overall carbon prices have also climbed steadily from Yn48/t when the carbon market first started in July 2021 to close at Yn91.60/t on 26 July, marking a 91pc increase, said MEE spokesperson Pei Xiaofei on 29 July.

Average monthly carbon trading volumes hit 3.67mn t during January-June this year, almost trebling from a year earlier, according to a carbon market progress report that MEE released last week. China Emissions Allowance trade volumes were 263mn t with a transaction value of Yn17.26bn during the emissions trading scheme's second compliance cycle from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023, the report showed. These rose by 47pc and 125pc respectively from the first compliance cycle.

Participating companies also increased by almost 50pc from the first cycle, with the number of participating key emitting entities also climbing by 32pc.

China's national carbon market consists of a compliance market and a voluntary market, with the latter relaunching in January after a seven-year suspension. The market currently includes 2,257 key emitting entities in the power generation industry, which covers about 5.1bn t/yr of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and accounts for over 40pc of China's total emissions, according to MEE.

Indonesia

Carbon trading has also picked up in other Asia-Pacific countries. Indonesia's carbon transactions in the power generation sector in 2023 totalled 84.17bn rupiah ($5.2mn) and represented 7.1mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), announced the secretary-general of the ministry of energy and mineral resources (ESDM) Dadan Kusdiana last week.

Indonesia's carbon trading roadmap prepared by the ESDM consists of three phases and has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 100mn t of CO2e by 2030, said Dadan. The three phases will "gradually increase CO2 emission standards for power plants, especially steam-powered and coal-powered plants," he said. Carbon trading will gradually be applied to all fossil fuel power plants, including those under state-owned power utility PLN.

Indonesia launched its carbon exchange in September 2023.

By Tng Yong Li and Prethika Nair