Source: Xinhua    Published: 2023-03-27

-- Climate finance system building in progress at home

For a long time, climate finance has always been regarded as the key to ensuring materialization, and timely and broad implementation of various climate change fighting measures.

Liu Ying, director of cooperative research department of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, believed that China's climate finance which aims at constructing systems and mechanisms adaptive to the "dual carbon" goals, requires faster formation of related policy regime, gradual optimization of related standards, an encouraging environment and a guiding system for global cooperation.

After the burgeoning development in recent years, China's climate finance policy regime has been further improved. In October 2020, debut of the guidelines for boosting climate change-fighting investment and financing marked a milestone event for climate finance as for the first time, systemic arrangement of related work was done in a national perspective.

In the following years, a series of climate finance-related documents including the nationwide pilot work plan, pilot localities list, and reference standards for inclusion of qualified projects into climate finance project databases were released, depicting the concrete path to boosting climate finance in China.

Most importantly, China unveiled in August 2022 the list for 23 climate investment and financing pilot localities, including 12 cities, four districts and seven national-level new areas.

By carrying out the climate finance pilot work, China would explore and find a brand new climate finance system which highlights the rhythm and gradualism, effectiveness and feasibility, and absorption of advanced international experience, noted industry experts.

-- Innovative climate finance vehicles keep popping up

Recent years, climate finance underwent rapid development spurred by the burgeoning green finance in China.

According to Liu Ying, climate finance related financial products now include but are not limited to green lending, green bond, green fund, carbon fund, carbon futures, carbon options, carbon insurance, and carbon trust.

Among them, green loans and green bonds targeting mitigating and adapting to climate change made up a majority of the climate finance related financial products.

By the end of 2022, Chinese yuan and foreign currencies-denominated green loans amounted up to 22.03 trillion yuan in China, with lending pumped into projects that have direct or indirect carbon emission reduction effects standing at 8.62 trillion yuan and 6.08 trillion yuan, accounting for 66.7 percent of the total green loans.

Climate finance related securities vehicles also popped increasingly up. A report released by China Chengxin Green Finance Technology (Beijing) Ltd. showed carbon neutrality bonds have embraced new development opportunities since February 2021 when the first batch of six such bonds were issued in China.

By the end of last year, there have been 333 carbon neutrality bonds offerings in China, raising in total 470.555 billion yuan. The two figures took up 33.17 percent of the total number of green bonds issued and 31.76 percent of the corresponding proceeds raised, making carbon neutrality bonds become an important variety of green bonds in a short term.

Moreover, the successful issuance of a clean air bond in China in June 2022 further diversified climate finance vehicles.

Besides, China's commercial banks are also providing a series of carbon finance products, including carbon assets pledge financing, carbon assets repurchase, carbon bond, carbon fund, and structured wealth management of carbon assets, etc. to boost climate finance to better support the "dual carbon" goals.

-- Jointly constructing the earth into a beautiful home

Coping with climate change may encounter difficulties, but China will remain committed to improving global climate governance and taking solid actions.

Following the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, China has acted in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, actively participated in global climate negotiations in a constructive manner, and made historic contributions to the conclusion and implementation of the Paris Agreement.

China has also reinforced the effort to achieve its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) goals. In doing so, China contributes to building a fair, rational, and mutually beneficial global climate governance system.

China is also an active participant in South-South cooperation on climate change. Since 2016, China has launched 10 low-carbon demonstration zones, 100 projects for climate change mitigation and adaption, training sessions on climate change response for 1,000 people, and more than 200 foreign assistance programs on climate change in other developing countries, according to a report named China's Green Development in the New Era released in January this year.

Currently, China has become a country whose air quality improves at the fastest pace, whose clean energy is applied in the widest scale and whose forest resource grows by the biggest amount around the world, said Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, in early March.

Working with firm resolve towards the "dual carbon" goals at home, China will also actively participate in international cooperation on climate change, engage in international negotiations on climate change in a constructive manner, and support and assist other developing countries in this realm to continue to contribute to global efforts to tackle the grave challenge of climate change.