09-15 April 2013 – “The visit to three European countries was fruitful, a huge amount of information was conveyed from more than 30 experts and scholars and ETS practitioners to us, basically each EU-ETS design or related components of the operational link could be independently documented.” – Members of the Study Tour delegation
A selected, high-level delegation from Shenzhen, including Vice Major Tang Jie, members of the Municipal Government, Shenzhen Emissions Exchange, the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission as well as industry representatives, were able to participate in the 9-day Study Tour.
During the Study Tour, the delegation had the opportunity to participate in the high-level international conference “Towards a Global Carbon Market – Prospects for Emissions Trading” organized by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). High-level speakers included Peter Altmaier, German Federal Environment Minister; Greg Combet, Australian Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation; Edward Davey, British Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change; JEONG Yeon-man, Vice Minister of Environment of the Republic of Korea; Jos Delbeke, Director-General for Climate Action of the European Commission; and Jochen Flasbarth, President of the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA). In the session on “Emissions Trading in Cities and Regions”, Vice Major Tang Jie introduced the Shenzhen ETS setup to the conference participants.
Apart from participating in the conference, the delegation visited 10 organizations in three countries (Belgium, Germany and France) and met with more than 30 experts, scholars and practitioners of ETS. The Study Tour helped to raise understanding on EU-ETS emission reductions, its effectiveness, organizational structure and the difficulties faced. Topics included cap setting methodologies, the institutional framework of German ETS administration, monitoring and supervision, MRV as well as trading rules and procedures.
The delegation visited the following institutions and experts:
- The European Commission Directorate-General for Climate Action
- European Energy Exchange (EEX)
- The German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
- Federal Environment Agency (UBA): German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt)
- Dr. Felix Chr. Matthes (Policy Researcher, Institute for Applied Ecology)
- Dr. Karsten Neuhoff (Climate Policy Director, German Institute for Economic Research)
- Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing (Senior Policy Advisor, German Ecologic Institute)
More information on the conference “Towards a Global Carbon Market – Prospects for Emissions Trading” organized by BMU can be found here: http://www.ets-conference.org/en/
