Carbon sinks might be traded as offsets in the national ETS.
On 20 August, the Press Conference of the State Council introduced the 14th Five-Year Plan on Forestry and Grassland Protection and Development, which was recently published by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA). Mr ZHANG Wei, Director of the NFGA’s Department of Ecological Protection and Restoration, announced that between 2021 and 2025, the forest stock target, which is part of China’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), will be increased from 4.5 billion cubic meters in the previous NDC to 6 billion cubic meters in the upcoming revision of the NDC.
According to Mr ZHANG, a key point in the plan is the exploration of economic value for carbon sinks from forestry and grassland via market-based mechanisms. The NGFA aims to incorporate carbon sinks from forests and grassland with the national ETS as offsets. To this end, the NGFA will explore the establishment of a trading platform for carbon sinks, encourage investments in carbon sinks and support stakeholders (regions, organizations, public, and enterprises) to use carbon sinks from forestry and grassland to achieve their carbon neutrality goals.
