基于碳市场开展中国气候信息披露国际经验与政策建议（英文版）---环境保护基金.pdf

Disclosure based on China National ETS Data Management Mechanism Climate-related Information Uniform standards High quality Continuity EffectivenessAbstract Climate-related information disclosure is key for addressing climate change risks and promoting climate investment and finance. In recent years, more and more countries and regions have carried out researches and practices on climate-related information disclosure, while carbon emission data disclosure acts as the cornerstone. In the context of achieving goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, China has gradually explored the approaches to promote corporate carbon information disclosure (CID). In July 2021, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) issued the Guideline on Environ- mental Information Disclosure for Financial Institutions to provide methodological rules for Chinese financial institutions’ environmental information disclosure; in December of the same year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of People’s Republic of China issued the Administrative Measures for Disclosure of Environmental Information by Enterprises, stating that the annual disclo- sure of enterprise environmental information should include carbon emission data, and this initia- tive has provided policy support for climate-related information disclosure.However, there are still multiple challenges for climate-related information disclosure in China, such as inconsistent disclosure standards, gaps in disclosure quality, and the enterprises’ low enthusiasm for participation. Therefore, it is necessary to further establish and improve the stan- dard system and the platform construction to ensure the standardization and consistency of climate-related information disclosure. Climate-related information disclosure based on the carbon market data reporting system is conducive to ensuring the completeness and accuracy of the data and improving the standard- ization of information disclosure, and it is of great significance to promoting the development of climate-related information disclosure. This report analyzes the experience and characteristics of carbon market information disclosure in China, the European Union (EU), and the U.S., and puts forward relevant policy recommendations from the aspects of the standard system, disclosure platform, capacity building, and supervision and management under the current situation and challenges.Contents International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter I 02 Information disclosure in China’s carbon market Chapter II 08 Advantages and challenges of promoting climate- related information disclosure in China leveraging the carbon market mechanism Chapter III 16 Conclusions and recommendations Chapter IV 20 01 IntroductionIntroduction According to the latest international trend, climate-related information disclosure will gradually transform from voluntary to mandatory. The main initiatives on climate-related information disclosure are voluntary methods including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework and the carbon disclosure project (CDP) project. However, voluntary climate-related information disclo- sure methods have posed problems such as inconsistent disclosure standards which lead to disorder in disclosure content, and lack of industry comparability. To better regulate and encourage enterprises to disclose climate information, the EU, Japan, and other countries have enacted legislation to ask for mandatory reporting. In the future, improving the quality of information disclosure will be the focus and major challenge. Carbon emission information is the foundation for climate-related information disclosure, and the carbon market data reporting platform is an effective “tool” to collect and disclose high-quality carbon information. To better serve the construction of the carbon market’s data foundation, the author- ity in charge of the carbon market has collected the carbon emission data of entities in eight key emission industries for years and has accumulated extensive experience in data reporting and verification since the initial launch of the 7 pilot carbon markets. Compared with other forms of information disclosure such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Reports, and annual reports, the Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system for the carbon market focuses on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and can be used to obtain unified and continuous quantified results that are comparable vertically and horizontally. This will help to improve the effectiveness of climate-relat- ed information disclosure. 01International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter I1. EU that the public has the right to access information related to emission allowance allocation and emissions monitoring results. In 2012, the European Commission established a union registry3 (UR) of carbon emission allowances, covering all member states of the EU ETS. The EU UR acts as an online database, covering the accounts involving stationary installations (data transferred from the regis- tration system of each state to the UR before 2012) and aviation operators (incorporated in the EU ETS since January 2012). The information recorded in the UR is mainly classified into the following categories: Entities’ or individuals’ accounts holding free emission allowance; National implementation measures (listing the installations in each member state that are subject to the EU ETS Directive, and the free allocation of emission allowance for each installation received from 2013 to 2020); The transfer of emission allowance (market transaction); Certified annual carbon dioxide emissions reports from each installation and air route; Annual account reconciliation between the emission allowance and certified emission. During annual account reconciliation, all enterprises must pay for a sufficient amount of emission allowances to cover all certified emissions. 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2003/87/2018-04-08 2 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2003/4/pdfs/eudr_20030004_adopted_en.pdf 3 Union Registry | Climate Action (europa.eu) 03 International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter I The EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has established an emission data monitoring and reporting system which is open to the public. EU Directive 2003/87/EC1 stipulates that the entities covered by the EU ETS need to obtain GHG emission permits approved by the competent authorities, and monitor and report emission data as required. The emission reports need to be audited by an indepen- dent verification authority. In addition, to ensure transparency, Directive 2003/4/EC2 about public access to environmental information, which was released by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on 28 January 2003, stipulates In addition, the EU ETS also sets up the European Union Transaction Log (EUTL) for the automatic check, recording, and approval of all transactions between UR accounts to ensure that all transactions comply with the rules of the EU ETS. The annual emission allowance allocation-related information of each stationary installation is public and can be inquired through EUTL, including the ID, name, location, account holder, account status, license ID, emission allowance allocation, installation-specific details and historical performance, enhancing the system’s transparency. Figure 1: EUTL4 Web Page 4 https://ec.europa.eu/clima/ets 04 2. The U.S. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) GHG Reporting Program uses an electronic reporting system (ERS) to ensure efficiency and transparency. The emission data is collected and reported through the Electron- ic-GHG Reporting Tool (e-GGRT), enabling real-time reporting, accurate verification, and efficient release to ensure consistent and effective information collection. Meantime, the public can also obtain and consult the relevant GHG International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter Iemission data from this online reporting system. The data are available to the public through the online tool Facility Level Information on GHG Tool (FLIGHT) provided by EPA. This tool presents the information and emission data of facilities on a website, including facility basic information (such as the specific name of each facility and its affilia- tion), total emissions, various types of GHG emissions, fuel combustion types, geographical locations, etc., and supports the automatic creation and download of charts as well as facilitate the user to locate, inquire and make analysis on the data. Figure 2: The U.S. e-GGRT5 Web Page (requiring corporate registration and login) 5 https://ghgreporting.epa.gov/ghg/login.do 05 International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter IFigure 3: U.S. Emissions Facility GHG Information Tool FLIGHT6 Web Page 6 https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do 7 Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation | California Air Resources Board To ensure the efficiency and transparency of the carbon market, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has issued mandatory GHG reporting regulations, which requires disclosure of all information related to the total emission control and carbon trading market, including emission reports, third-party verification reports, and the allocation, offset, compliance of emission allowances, auction announcements, and results, market data, etc. In addition, government departments not only release the list of emission enterprises and emission information, but also estab- lish several advisory committees, invite relevant stakeholders to participate in the policy design, and hold online seminars to interact and communicate with the public7. At the same time, California has also developed an Integrated Emission Visualization Tool (IEVT) to display air pollutants and GHG emission data of large equipment. This platform allows users to locate, search and analyze emission data. 06 International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter IFigure 4: California Emissions Data Visualization Web Page8 07 8 https://www.arb.ca.gov/ei/tools/pollution_map/v30beta.htm International experience-Information Disclosure based on ETS mechanism Chapter IInformation disclosure in China’s carbon market Chapter IIDuring the construction of China’ s pilot carbon markets, each pilot has established and gradually improved its own MRV system and released the standards of GHG accounting and reporting for different industries, including the development of industry-specific carbon emission accounting and reporting guidelines, the GHG emission reporting format, the establish- ment of electronic reporting system, the formulation of third-party verification procedures and report preparation guide China’ s policy of carbon peak and carbon neutrality has repeatedly emphasized the importance of carbon emission disclosure.In October 2021, the Work- ing Guidance for Carbon Dioxide Peaking and Carbon Neutrality in Full and Faithful Implementation of the New Development Philosophy was jointly released by the Cen- tral Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, pointing out that the construction and enhancement of the national carbon emission trading market need to be accelerated; the carbon emission reporting and information disclosure systems of enter- prises and financial institutions need to be improved as well. In October of the same year, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Carbon Dioxide Peaking Before 2030, requiring relevant listed companies and bond-is- suing companies to regularly disclose carbon emission information following the legal disclosure requirements for environmental information. China has planned a clear roadmap for environmen- tal information disclosure to provide institutional- guarantees for climate-related information disclo- sure. In May 2021, the MEE issued the Reform Plan for the Legal Disclosure of Environmental Information System (abbr. Plan) to make a detailed plan for the roadmap of environmental information disclosure. According to the Plan, in December of the same year, the MEE would issue the Administrative Measures for the Legal Disclosure of Environmental Information and the Guidelines on the Form of Legal Disclosure of Envi- ronmental Information of Enterprises; in 2022, the format of documents related to information disclosure of listed companies and bond issuing enterprises will be revised; in 2023, the evaluation of the legal disclo- sure system of environmental information will be car- ried out. By 2025, the mandatory disclosure system of environmental information will be basically formulated, enterprises will disclose environmental information on time in accordance with the law; the multi-party cooperation and co-management mechanism will be implemented effectively; supervision and punishment measures will be strictly implemented; the construc- tion of the rule of law will be continuously improved; the technical specification system will serve as strong support, and the public participation will significantly increase. In July 2021, the Guidelines for Environmental Information Disclosure of Financial Institutions issued by the People’ s Bank of China is of pioneering signifi- cance to promote financial institutions actively con- ducting environmental information disclosure. 1. Regulations 2. Information disclosure in China National ETS 09 Information disclosure in China’s carbon market Chapter IIAccounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Power Generation Enterprises (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Power Grid Enterprises (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Iron and Steel Enterprises (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Chemical Production Enterprises (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Electrolytic Aluminum Manufacturers (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Magnesium Smelting Production Enterprises in China (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Flat Glass Manufacturers (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Cement Manufacturers (for Trial Implementation) The first batch (2013) The second batch (2014) The third batch (2015) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Civil Aviation Enterprises (for Trial Implementation) Accounting Methods and Reporting Guidelines of GHG Emissions of China’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Manu