As one of the world's fastest-growing economies, reaching the levels of emission reductions and removals needed to reach China's carbon peak and neutrality targets will require a fundamental transformation in its energy and industrial systems. In all its various forms, carbon pricing is an effective policy approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in supporting the economy-wide transition to net-zero. What are the challenges of transitioning to low- and zero-carbon development for the power sector in China's context? What is the role of carbon pricing in incentivizing sectoral transformations and aligning investments to drive decarbonization technology breakthroughs? How can financial institutions better support industries in reaching carbon-neutrality goals?
Globally, growing numbers of financial institutions are committing to delivering net-zero financed emissions, and banks are increasingly opting to include climate risks in their portfolio management and financing decisions. What best practices and lessons learned can be applied in China? In the second roundtable discussion, we will look closely into the role of measuring and disclosing financed emissions. Enabling financial institutions to assess and disclose greenhouse gas emissions of loans and investments is the first step to leverage private capital and incentivize decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors instead of divesting from them.
In partnership with the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) and Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), CPLC is convening a virtual workshop – an official side event of APCW2021 of UNFCCC to discuss these issues. The event's goal is to bring together policy experts and corporate management from China and the world to have a peer-to-peer dialogue on the role of carbon pricing and accounting in helping the companies and financial institutions achieve their climate targets.
