Estimation of carbon storage of forest biomass for voluntary carbon markets:preliminary results

Estimating the carbon storage of forests is essential to support climate change mitigation and promote the transition into a low-carbon emission economy.To achieve this goal,voluntary carbon markets(VCMs)are essential.VCMs are promoted by a spontaneous demand,not imposed by binding targets,as the regulated ones.In Italy,only in Veneto and Piedmont Regions(Northern Italy),VCMs through forestry activities were carried out.Valle Camonica District(Northern Italy,Lombardy Region)is ready for a local VCM,but carbon storage of its forests was never estimated.The aim of this work was to estimate the total carbon storage(TCS;t C ha^−1)of forest biomass of Valle Camonica District,at the stand level,taking into account:(1)aboveground biomass,(2)belowground biomass,(3)deadwood,and(4)litter.We developed a user-friendly model,based on site-specifi c primary(measured)data,and we applied it to a dataset of 2019 stands extracted from 45 Forest Management Plans.Preliminary results showed that,in 2016,the TCS achieved 76.02 t C ha^−1.The aboveground biomass was the most relevant carbon pool(48.86 t C ha^−1;64.27%of TCS).From 2017 to 2029,through multifunctional forest management,the TCS could increase of 2.48 t C ha^−1(+3.26%).In the same period,assuming to convert coppices stands to high forests,an additional TCS of 0.78 t C ha^−1(equal to 2.85 t CO 2 ha^−1)in the aboveground biomass could be achieved without increasing forest areas.The additional carbon could be certifi ed and exchanged on a VCM,contributing to climate change mitigation at a local level.

Evaluation on the development degree of China's seven pilot carbon markets

China is preparing to establish a nationwide carbon market in 2017, and in order to facilitate this goal, seven pilot carbon markets have been under study for the past few years. This paper summarizes the operation experience and challenges of the seven pilot carbon markets in China.It has been widely accepted that the essence of a carbon market is to solve environmental problems through market mechanisms, with environmental benefit being the fundamental purpose, market mechanism being the key measure, and policies and regulations being an important guarantee for an orderly carbon market. Therefore, this paper constructs an evaluation index system composed of 34 detailed sub-indexes in three dimensions, such as environmental constraint force, market resource allocation ability, and supporting policies and facility completeness. Through analyzing the operation data from 2013 to 2016, the weights of the sub-indexes are obtained. In addition, the study obtains experts' opinions from over 10 carbon permits exchanges, consultancy firms and research institutions in China, and conducts a comprehensive evaluation on the development degree of the seven pilot carbon markets. Results show that the pilot carbon markets that include private SMEs as the covered entities for emissions control present relatively higher environmental constraint force. But too many covered entities could increase the difficulty of market performance management, while the pilots that include high energy-consuming state-owned enterprises as the entities for emissions control demonstrate a phenomenon of "high market compliance rate with low trading volume". The resource allocation capability of China's carbon market has not been effectively brought into play, and low degree of market participation has become an important constraint factor for market development. Due to the lack of laws and regulations at the national macro-level, the legally binding force of the pilot markets construction is obviously insufficient, and the supporting policies are lacking foresights.Generally, the development of China's pilot carbon markets is still in such a fragmented state as in the aspects of environment, market and policy development, and the market operation has not yet achieved the purpose of solving environmental problems through market mechanisms.Accordingly, policy recommendations pointed out by this study are that tightening the allowance of free quota and progressively increasing the auction proportion, improving legal construction,increasing the services and products of carbon finance and standardizing the order of market transactions, enhancing capacity building of local governments and promoting the participation willingness and capability of emissions control entities, will be necessary.

Exploring U.S.-China climate cooperation through linked carbon markets

Emissions trading systems(ETSs)are a widely used policy tool for driving emissions reductions and serve as an avenue for international climate cooperation.Following the recent global agreement on carbon market standards at COP26,this study explores linked ETSs as an avenue for the U.S.and China to cooperate on climate action.The emissions,energy,and economic effects of linked ETSs are analyzed through the China-in-Global Energy Model(C-GEM),a multi-regional,computable general equilibrium model.Assuming the development of national economy-wide ETSs,two scenarios are developed linking China and the U.S.:1)a bilateral U.S.-China ETS linkage 2)a multilateral ETS linkage that includes China,the U.S.,and nations in Southeast Asia.Results indicate that emissions and energy consumption outcomes would be similar in the bilateral and multilateral scenarios.However,economic outcomes are more favorable in the multilateral linkage scenario.When China and the U.S.engage in bilateral ETS linkage,China predominantly benefits from additional support for domestic decarbonization while the U.S.benefits from increased GDP compared to without ETS linkage.Adding Southeast Asia to establish multilateral linkage improves GDP outcomes for all participants,reducing adverse effects on China's GDP while boosting GDP for the U.S.and Southeast Asia.For policymakers considering the design and implementation of international ETSs,this study presents updated modeling on the effects of ETS linkage on each country as well as the economic benefits of expanding participation to additional regions.

Activity Data and Emission Factor for Forestry and Other Land Use Change Subsector to Enhance Carbon Market Policy and Action in Malawi

Activity data and emission factors are critical for estimating greenhouse gas emissions and devising effective climate change mitigation strategies. This study developed the activity data and emission factor in the Forestry and Other Land Use Change (FOLU) subsector in Malawi. The results indicate that “forestland to cropland,” and “wetland to cropland,” were the major land use changes from the year 2000 to the year 2022. The forestland steadily declined at a rate of 13,591 ha (0.5%) per annum. Similarly, grassland declined at the rate of 1651 ha (0.5%) per annum. On the other hand, cropland, wetland, and settlements steadily increased at the rate of 8228 ha (0.14%);5257 ha (0.17%);and 1941 ha (8.1%) per annum, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicate that the “grassland to forestland” changes were higher than the “forestland to grassland” changes, suggesting that forest regrowth was occurring. On the emission factor, the results interestingly indicate that there was a significant increase in carbon sequestration in the FOLU subsector from the year 2011 to 2022. Carbon sequestration increased annually by 13.66 ± 0.17 tCO2 e/ha/yr (4.6%), with an uncertainty of 2.44%. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is potential for a Carbon market in Malawi.

Allowance of the Emission Quota Using Life Cycle Assessment for the Creation of a National Carbon Market: Framework Developed for Hydroelectric Projects in Cameroon

The lack of synergy between infrastructure financing mechanisms and mechanisms for combating climate change does not favor the definition of sustainable infrastructure in Cameroon. The definition of a sustainable infrastructure could meet the requirements of these mechanisms, thanks to the control of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions during its installation, in relation to a predefined value. However, the promotion of efforts to reduce emissions from new infrastructures is not subject to a local market. This situation is a limit in the implementation of the policies defined in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This article proposes a framework for promoting reduction efforts for a national carbon market, in favor of hydroelectric infrastructures. Thanks to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) environmental assessment tool, we are going to determine the carbon quota for a specific power. The study carried out on the hydroelectric power station of Mekin (HydroMekin) leads us to a reduction effort of 68.2% compared to the threshold defined at 14.057 gCO2eq/kWhe. The framework, developed, contributes to defining the environmental parameters in the decarbonation strategy during the implementation of new hydroelectric infrastructures and the market carbon design elements special to the construction phase of these infrastructures.

Optimal Bidding Strategy for PV and BESSs in Joint Energy and Frequency Regulation Markets Considering Carbon Reduction Benefits

Photovoltaic(PV)and battery energy storage systems(BESSs)are key components in the energy market and crucial contributors to carbon emission reduction targets.These systems can not only provide energy but can also generate considerable revenue by providing frequency regulation services and participating in carbon trading.This study proposes a bidding strategy for PV and BESSs operating in joint energy and frequency regulation markets,with a specific focus on carbon reduction benefits.A two-stage bidding framework that optimizes the profit of PV and BESSs is presented.In the first stage,the day-ahead energy market takes into account potential real-time forecast deviations.In the second stage,the real-time balancing market uses a rolling optimization method to account for multiple uncertainties.Notably,a real-time frequency regulation control method is proposed for the participation of PV and BESSs in automatic generation control(AGC).This is particularly relevant given the uncertainty of grid frequency fluctuations in the optimization model of the real-time balancing market.This control method dynamically assigns the frequency regulation amount undertaken by the PV and BESSs according to the control interval in which the area control error(ACE)occurs.The case study results demonstrate that the proposed bidding strategy not only enables the PV and BESSs to effectively participate in the grid frequency regulation response but also yields considerable carbon emission reduction benefits and effectively improves the system operation economy.

Assessing the maturity of China's seven carbon trading pilots

Indicators based on the developed version of the Capability Maturity Model were set up to access the maturity degree of China's seven pilot carbon markets from 2013 to 2017. Results show that the maturity degree of Shenzhen and Beijing pilot carbon markets ranks first;while those of Guangdong, Hubei, and Shanghai rank second. Tianjin and Chongqing rank lowest. Most of pilot markets failed to perform well on price efficiency except Shenzhen. There is significant disparity in the scores that the pilot carbon markets got, with a range from 9 to 73. The drivers to maintain market maturity is different among the pilot markets, either with a good performance on market structure, scale, or efficiency could lead to a certain score. Much could be done to increase the maturity level of the carbon market. Further downscaling the firm size, raising the legislation level, and increasing the participation of the third party entities may help the carbon market to grow healthier.

Risk identification and regulatory system design for the carbon market

Currently,the global carbon trading systems are fragmented and belong to different governments or are under the jurisdiction of different regions,resulting in a series of new problems,such as how to link dispersed trading systems,how to compare the emission reduction of various markets and other issues.Since the development of the international carbon market is relatively immature with uncertain life expectancy and volatility during its short history,and there is a lack of quantitative data on the long-term record,the market could provide few risk management tools.Meanwhile,with the launches of China's regional carbon trading pilots in seven provinces since 2013 and combined with the national voluntary emission trading system,carbon trading will become an important mechanism for China in achieving its emission reduction target.In the first stage,the carbon finance market is at least faced with mechanism design risks,market supply risks and compliance risks.Therefore,to secure the development of the carbon market and for public interest,relevant government departments of China should identify the risks facing the market and should make the basic principles and goals,such as ensuring effective trading and pricing mechanisms to avoid fraud and price manipulation,and balancing transparency and confidentiality of information.Consequently,the governments should develop a comprehensive carbon finance regulatory system covering regulatory legislation,regulatory institutions and their authorities,regulatory scope as well as regulatory objects.

Factors affecting the pilot trading market of carbon emissions in China

Climate change and carbon emissions are major problems which are attracting worldwide attention. China has had its pilot carbon emission trading markets in seven regions for more than 3 years. What affects carbon emission trading market in China is a big question. More attention is paid to how China promotes the carbon emission trading schemes in the whole country. This paper addresses concerns about the functioning of carbon emission trading schemes in seven pilot regions and takes the weekly data from November 25, 2013, to March 19, 2017. We employ a vector autoregressive model to study how coal price, oil price and stock index have affected the carbon price in China. The results indicate that carbon price is mainly affected by its own historical price; coal price and stock index have negative effects on carbon price, while oil price has a negative effect on carbon price during the first 3 weeks and then has a positive effect on carbon price. More regulatory attention and economic measures are needed to improve market efficiency, and the mechanisms of carbon emission trading schemes should be improved.

Joint electricity and carbon market for Northeast Asia energy interconnection

Decarbonization of the electricity sector is crucial to mitigate the impacts of climate change and global warming over the coming decades.The key challenges for achieving this goal are carbon emission trading and electricity sector regulation,which are also the major components of the carbon and electricity markets,respectively.In this paper,a joint electricity and carbon market model is proposed to investigate the relationships between electricity price,carbon price,and electricity generation capacity,thereby identifying pathways toward a renewable energy transition under the transactional energy interconnection framework.The proposed model is a dynamically iterative optimization model consisting of upper-level and lower-level models.The upper-level model optimizes power generation and obtains the electricity price,which drives the lower-level model to update the carbon price and electricity generation capacity.The proposed model is verified using the Northeast Asia power grid.The results show that increasing carbon price will result in increased electricity price,along with further increases in renewable energy generation capacity in the following period.This increase in renewable energy generation will reduce reliance on carbon-emitting energy sources,and hence the carbon price will decline.Moreover,the interconnection among zones in the Northeast Asia power grid will enable reasonable allocation of zonal power generation.Carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be an effective technology to reduce the carbon emissions and further realize the emission reduction targets in 2030-2050.It eases the stress of realizing the energy transition because of the less urgency to install additional renewable energy capacity.

Valuation of forest carbon sinks in China within the framework of the system of national accounts

To better promote forest resource management and strengthen the development of forest carbon sink marketization, this paper studied the accounting of forest carbon sinks from 2003 to 2008 based on a system of national accounts （SNA） and data from the latest forest resources inventory in China. The study calculated the value of forest carbon stocks at a total of RMB 817.13 × 10^9 yuan in 2003 and RMB 839.93×10^9 yuan in 2008, with an average annual increase of 0.55 % from an increase in physical carbon sinks. The total value of forest carbon sinks in 2003 and 2008 was RMB 26.73×10^9 yuan and RMB 29.77×10^9 yuan, respectively, with an average annual growth of 2.18 %. From 2003 to 2008, both stock and flow value of forest carbon sinks increased, but the total net flow value of carbon sinks decreased. The growth rate for the environmentally adjusted Gross Domestic Product （eaGDP） for China＇s forest carbon sinks was 17.23 %, outstripping the average growth rate of 9.5 % for the GDP during the same period. The study alsoindicates that China＇s forest carbon sinks affects the GDP in the range of 0.25-0.26 %, and its economic potential is not relatively huge.

Auction mechanism design of the Chinese national carbon market for carbon neutralization

The carbon market auction mechanism is an important policy tool for carbon pricing and a key mechanism that supports carbon emission neutralization,especially for China.A few systematic studies exist on China’s carbon market auction mechanism.This article focuses on the five auction mechanisms in Chinese pilot emission trading schemes(ETS),reviews the structures and bidding situation of the five-pilot auction mechanism,extracts the similarities,and analyzes their different features,such as auction mode,bidding scale,participants,pricing mode,auction frequency,and so on.This study conducts an in-depth analysis of the carbon allowance auction mechanism in the Guangdong pilot ETS of China,including its development and the evolution of the key elements,its operational effects,and related disputes.Finally,this study puts forward the trend forecast and suggestions for the Chinese allowance auction mechanism,such as the time window of launching national allowance auctions,the most likely auction mode,carbon pricing,and bidding revenue management.Carbon pricing by auction is the most powerful policy tool for addressing carbon emissions reduction and implementing the Glasgow Climate Pact.

Feasibility of sustaining the upland conversion program by establishing a domestic carbon market

To sustain the upland conversion program （UCP） in China after the government compensation expires, we suggest an establishment of a domestic carbon market where forest carbon from the UCP can be traded. Taking southwest China＇s Yunnan Province as an example, we explored the feasibility of switching the UCP to a carbon offset project. The breakeven carbon price which is equivalent to the opportunity cost of agricultural cultivation was estimated and then compared with the carbon price in the international market. We found that it is feasible to change the UCP to a carbon offset project if the duration is longer than 10 years at a discount rate of 7%, and if the recent bid price （147.2 Yuan.t-1） for Chinese carbon offset project prevails. The feasibility is better for converted land with lower productivity when the project duration is given. For a given site index, the feasibility is lower as pro- ject length is reduced. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the feasibility will be enhanced as the discount rate increases; however, the changes in the price of agricultural products and the amount of sequestered carbon have insignificant effects on the choice of sites and project duration.

Mechanism of Ecological Compensating and Carbon Sink Trade in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The Tibetan, Han and other ethnic people in Tibetan Autonomous Region labored hard to protect the forests and steppes and produce invisible ecological products. The forests and steppes in Qinghai -Tibet Plateau conserved water and added the Jinsha River. In order to achieve sustainable development, it needs to construct compensating mechanism inter Provinces between the upper Yangtze River and the middle and lower Yangtze River, to implement carbon sink trading, and to assist farmers and herdsmen in the Tibet to get rich as soon as possible.

The impact of organizational resources and managerial interpretation on willingness to participate in carbon market

On the basis of resource-based view and managerial cognition,this research aims to explore which and how organizational resources facilitate organizational willingness to participate in carbon market(WTP-CM).In particular,it classifies resources into two dimensions,general resources(GR)and professional resources(PR),and investigates how these two types of resources interact with managerial interpretation and then influence organizational WTP-CM using a sample of 222 Chinese industrial firms.The findings show that environmental talents(PR)and low-carbon technologies(PR)have positive influences on organizational WTP-CM not only directly,but also indirectly through accelerating managers to interpret carbon trading as an opportunity,rather than a threat.On the contrary,only via managerial interpretation can capital reserve(GR)and environmental practices(PR)affect organizational WTP_CM positively.Furthermore,the impact of environmental practices on managerial interpretation does not depend on the performance of environmental practices(i.e.,success or failure).It means,regardless of environmental performance,the cumulation of environmental experience would promote managers to interpret carbon market as an opportunity and then advance their WTP-CM.Last,this partial mediating role of managerial interpretation between organizational resources and WTP-CM varies depending on organizational social position.Compared to centralfirms,peripheralfirms tend to be more responsive to managerial interpretation.The chain from organizational resources,to interpretation of carbon market as an opportunity,andfinally to the willingness to participate is stronger for peripheralfirms than for central ones.

Reflections on the establishment of China's carbon market

A new situation has emerged as a result of global climate change following the "Paris Agreement", which gives rise to new opportunities for carbon market. Carbon market as a mechanism to promote low-carbon development has been explored both in theoretical research and practical application home and abroad for several years. However, there are still many problems to settle, such as the potential uncertainty to determine and distribute total carbon emissions, price distortions in high-carbon products and services in the market, main bodies responsible for the carbon emission in urban infrastructure, etc. All these have formed a constraint on the further development of carbon market. Through the historical analysis of the actual development of the carbon market, this paper tries to identify practical problems which should be solved urgently, and provides ideas for China to establish a unified national carbon market in 2017, which is not only the national measures to participate in the "Paris Agreement" actively, but also the implementation of China's sustainable development strategy.

Framing climate strategy of the oil industry of China:A tailored approach to ecological modernization

China has announced its ambitious targets of attaining a carbon peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.Although China is a developing country,its oil sector plays a key role in carbon emissions and thus has a responsibility toward climate change.It is very important to understand the role of the oil industry of China in climate governance.This raises the following question:how have oil companies in China framed and tailored their climate strategies?By employing the concept of ecological modernization as a theoretical framework,this study observes the driving forces of climate policies,low-carbon energy,advanced technologies,and market mechanisms by collecting and analyzing reports published by three oil companies.The main findings are that state-owned oil companies in China have adopted the ideas and institutions of national climate strategies,low-carbon energy systems,and emerging financial and market tools.The analysis of the reports reveals that the main motives for the climate strategies of the companies are China’s administrative system,international climate cooperation,the transformation of the energy mix,and emerging market mechanisms.

Extreme Risk Measurement of Carbon Market Considering Multifractal Characteristics

Influenced by the global economy,politics,energy and other factors,the price of carbon market fluctuates sharply.It is of great practical significance to explore a suitable measurement method of extreme risk of carbon market.Considering that the return series of carbon market has the characteristics of leptokurtosis,fat tail,skewness and multifractal,and there maybe many extreme risk values in the carbon market,this paper introduces the Skewed-t distribution which can describe the characteristics of leptokurtosis,fat tail and skewness of return series into MSM model which can describe multifractal characteristic of return series to model volatility of carbon market.On the basis,based on the extreme value theory,this paper constructs Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model to measure extreme risk of carbon market.This paper chooses EUA market as the object to study extreme risk of carbon market,and draws the following conclusions:Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model has significantly higher prediction accuracy for carbon market's Va R than MSM-EVT models under other distributions(including normal distribution,t distribution,GED distribution);Skewed-t-MSM-EVT model is superior to traditional Skewed-t-FIGARCH-EVT and Skewed-t-GARCH-EVT models in predicting carbon market's Va R.This research has important practical significance for accurately grasping the risk of carbon market and promoting energy conservation and emission reduction.

Role of China in Global Carbon Market

The use of market-based mechanisms is a cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions. The present paper reviews the global carbon market, focusing mainly on its structure and price features, and analyzes the role of China in the global carbon market. China is playing a leading role in the pursuit of sustainable development, which can account for its lagging behind in the Clean Development Mechanism. The paper discusses the opportunities and challenges for China undertaking the Clean Development Mechanism project in the future.

State and Potential of Forest Carbon Market in China

China has been making efforts to improve climate changes which have drawn international attentions since China formally signed UN Climate Change Framework in 1992 and ratified Kyoto Protocol in August 2002. The area of China’s forest plantation ranks the first at present so global close attention is paid to forest carbon market in China. This article introduces that 5 110 million t of carbon dioxide equivalent have been sequestrated by China’s forest during 1980 to 2005, China will have 4.2 billion t of carbon dioxide emission reduction market potential and contribute more forest carbon credits to the international community.