China Opens World's Biggest Cap-And-Trade Market

China Unveils an Ambitious Plan to Curb Climate Change Emissions

Keith Bradsher and Lisa Friedman, December 19, 2017 (NY Times)

“China is the world’s No. 1 polluter. It burns more coal than the rest of the world combined. It produces more than a quarter of the world’s human-caused global warming gases, nearly as much as North America and Europe put together…[But it will now work to operate] the world’s largest financial market devoted to cleaning up the air…The nationwide market [to trade credits for the right to emit planet-warming greenhouse gases] would initially cover China’s vast, state-dominated power generation sector, which produced almost half of the country’s emissions from the burning of fossil fuels last year.

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…[This] is ‘another powerful sign that a global sustainability revolution is underway,’ [according to Al Gore, the former vice president and a prominent voice on the environment]…China’s emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas have nearly tripled since 2000…[but its] emissions per person are still somewhat less than the average [U.S.] per capita figure…Under emission markets, power companies and others effectively pay for the right to pollute beyond a government-mandated limit. Those that cut their emissions could sell permits to pollute to dirtier companies, ideally at a healthy price…Markets in Europe and at the provincial level in China have faltered because [authorities initially issued too many credits to existing polluters, in anticipating of ratcheting caps down over time…” click here for more

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