22-24 July 2014 – Guangdong is currently the largest pilot in China, covering a total of 380 million tons of emissions whilst only including four sectors: power, cement, iron & steel and petrochemical. In the recent compliance period, 98.9% of included enterprises successfully complied according to schedule. Only 2 out of the 184 enterprises showed non-compliance due to their failure to provide a 2013 annual emissions report. These two enterprises may now face fines of CNY 50,000 and a deduction of two times their exceeded amount on next year’s allowances.
To support the development and understanding amongst enterprises, GIZ worked together with the Guangdong DRC and the Guangdong Low Carbon Development Association to host two emissions trading training sessions in the cities of Guangzhou and Shantou.
The first session was held in Guangzhou with a focus on the power and cement industries. It was an honour to have both national and international experts joining us for this session including Mr Li Xing, director of the ETS department of BP China, Dr. Hans-Joachim Ziesing, Chairman of the AG Energiebilanzen e.V., and Dr. Bruno Vanderborght, former Vice President of Environmental R&D in Holcim. The second session was held on the coastal shores of Shantou but with an adjusted focus on the power and iron & steel industries. For this session, in addition to the previous experts, we also had Dr. Christian Günther, head of the Saarstahl’s internal ETS working group and innovation at Saarstahl AG, join us for this training.
Both sessions covered vital topics including industry specific monitoring & reporting guidelines and carbon asset management. In addition, details regarding the recent compliance period and next compliance year’s allowance allocation were presented to the participants. Through the presentation by an expert from Sun Yat Sen University, companies acquired the latest knowledge regarding allowance allocation, such as the power sector’s decrease in free allowances to 95% in 2015, giving enterprises a heads up regarding future changes.
But to ensure a two-way exchange of information, the afternoon sessions of both trainings consisted of industry-specific discussion groups. With industry-specific experts participating in the groups, participants were able to raise concerns and questions at will. These smaller discussion groups also provided experts with the opportunity to explain in depth the calculation, technology and carbon asset management methods unique to their industry. Questions raised had a tendency towards the calculation methods and the reasoning behind the separate calculation and allowance allocation methods. Participants, especially in the power sector, had the opportunity to voice their difficulties and pressure of needing to meet the 40% emissions reduction target when many are already operating at an efficiency of 38% where the current known maximum is 42%. These sessions served as a two way exchange for both participants and experts alike.
All in all, the both sessions were a great success, where participants collectively expressed their satisfaction to the two trainings. High interest for further trainings was also voiced and majority of the participants plan to implement the concepts learnt during the trainings. Amongst the feedback, one particular participant even voiced his appreciation to these trainings:
“Technical trainings done by GIZ are benefiting the local firms by helping influence management as well as enhancing knowledge”
