Sino-German Cooperation on Emissions Trading Systems, Carbon Market Mechanisms, and Industry-related N2O Mitigation

China has set itself the goal of peaking CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The national emissions trading system (ETS) is expected to play a central role in achieving this goal. In 2021, the Chinese ETS entered its first compliance phase, in which it will regulate CO2 emissions from around 2,200 companies in the power generation sector. As laid out in the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 long-term outline, China is further committed to strengthening the control of non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHG), such as N2O and HFCs, which are particularly potent GHG. GIZ on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMU) has been supporting the development of an ETS in China since 2012. Since the launch of the national ETS, the project provides support to further refine the ETS. A particular focus lies on supporting the enhancement of the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system and strengthening the political and technical dialogue between China and Germany on carbon market topics. Since 2020, the project has also been supporting the abatement of industry related N2O emissions through capacity building, studies, workshops, and various exchange formats.