On July 16, the national carbon emissions trading market was officially launched, and the trading center was located in Shanghai. According to data from the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange, the average first-day transaction price of the national carbon market was 51.23 yuan/ton, with a transaction volume of 4,104,400 tons, and a transaction volume of more than 210 million yuan.
High enthusiasm for participants in transactions
At 9:30 on the 16th, the national carbon market officially launched online trading. PetroChina, Sinopec, Huaneng Group, Huadian Group, Shenergy Group and other companies participated in the first day of transactions in the national carbon market.
According to data from the Shanghai Central Exchange, as of the close of trading at 15:00 on the same day, the total market carbon emission allowances on the first day were 4,104,400 tons, and the transaction amount was 21,230,100 yuan. In terms of transaction prices, the national carbon market opened at RMB 48.00/ton, the highest price was RMB 52.80/ton, the lowest price was RMB 48.00/ton, and the average transaction price was RMB 51.23/ton.
The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Stock Exchange introduced to a reporter from China Securities News that according to relevant trading rules, the average transaction price throughout the day is the closing price of the day. As a result, the closing price of carbon emission allowances on the first trading day of the national carbon market was also reported at 51.23 yuan/ton. On the whole, transactions on the first trading day of the national carbon market were stable and orderly and in line with expectations, and the market participants were more enthusiastic about investment transactions.
Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the evening of July 15 showed that the closing price of the carbon allowance (SHEA) that day was 40.57 yuan/ton, up 2.71% from the previous trading day. This means that after the national carbon emission rights trading has moved from a small market to a national unified market, the price of carbon emission rights trading has shown an upward trend.
Industry insiders said that the higher carbon price after the national carbon market opened will provide positive price incentives for carbon emission reduction companies. In the short term, the price of carbon emission allowances in the national carbon market may easily rise but never fall.
The market design is simple and easy to understand
According to industry insiders, the so-called carbon market transaction, in general, means that both parties to the transaction buy and sell “carbon dioxide emission rights” as commodities. Companies that need to reduce emissions will receive a certain amount of carbon emission allowances, and they can sell excess carbon emission allowances after successfully reducing emissions. If a company has excessive carbon dioxide emissions, it must purchase carbon emission allowances in the carbon market. Judging from the current situation, the design of the national carbon market is simple and easy to understand.
According to the Shanghai Central Exchange, when the national carbon market is launched, it will undertake specific tasks such as account opening and operation and maintenance of the national carbon emission trading system. In terms of trading methods, carbon emission allowance trading is carried out through the trading system, which can take the form of agreement transfer, one-way bidding or other compliant methods. Agreement transfer includes listing agreement trading and block agreement trading.
Among them, the maximum number of declarations for a single transaction of listing agreement transactions should be less than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The transaction price of the listing agreement transaction is determined within ±10% of the closing price of the previous trading day. The minimum declaration quantity for a single transaction of a block agreement transaction shall not be less than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The transaction price of the block agreement transaction is determined within ±30% of the closing price of the previous trading day.
The coverage of the industry will gradually expand
Zhao Yingmin, deputy minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, previously stated that as the first industry to be included in the national carbon market, at the initial stage of its launch, only spot trading of allowances between key emission units in the power generation industry was carried out. In the next step, high-emission industries such as petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, steel, non-ferrous metals, papermaking, and aviation will also gradually expand the scope of the carbon market to cover industries in accordance with the principle of maturity and approval.
From a macro and long-term perspective, the carbon price is determined by the overall status and trends of economic operation and industry development. A reasonable carbon price can not only demonstrate my country’s determination and strength to achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, but also provide effective price incentive signals for carbon emission reduction companies.
In March of this year, the Carbon Emission Manager was included in the “National Occupation Classification Ceremony”. This means that the future carbon emission manager is a profession recognized by the state. Li Gao, director of the Department of Climate Change Response of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, previously stated that the next step is to rely on vocational training to further carry out relevant training activities and strengthen the construction of talent teams in the field of carbon emissions and carbon markets.