China to relaunch emissions reduction program as soon as possible

China will strive to relaunch the China Certified Emission Reduction program, a voluntary mechanism in which participants can earn carbon credits to trade, as soon as possible this year.

The basic infrastructure required to launch the program has been largely completed, said Liu Youbin, spokesman of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in a news conference on Thursday.

Under the CCER program, companies can voluntarily earn carbon credits by taking action to reduce carbon emissions, such as by promoting renewable energy generation and afforestation.

Launched by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2015, the mechanism was suspended by the commission in 2017.

In a 2018 institutional reshuffle of the State Council, the country's cabinet, the responsibilities on tackling climate change and emission reduction were transferred to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, including the duties on CCER management.

The ministry, together with other relevant government bodies, has drafted a regulation for the management of CCER trading for trial implementation, as well as a series of supporting norms and rules, Liu said, adding all the documents will be made public soon to solicit public opinions.

The ministry has solicited suggestions from the public for methodologies for different types of CCER projects, and is now evaluating them to select the proper ones, he continued.

He said the construction of the national CCER registration and trading systems have been completed. With the necessary registration and trading rules drafted, the two systems have been essentially ready to start online operation.

Liu, however, also stressed the building of CCER trading market as a "complex systemic project" and vowed more efforts to enhance preparation for the mechanism's relaunch.

"We will accelerate the development of institutions and infrastructure as we strive to launch the CCER trading market as soon as possible within this year and maintain market integrity, fairness and transparency," he said.