According to China’s commitment in its preparation of the Paris Agreement, China will reach its emissions peak by 2030 and reduce its emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 per cent during the same period. To achieve the government’s ambitious emissions reduction targets and transform the economy, the introduction of a national Emission Trading System (ETS) is regarded as a major contribution. China is the first emerging economy to launch a trading scheme to limit GHG emissions.

Since its initiation in 2012, the Sino-German project “Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) in China” aims to support the Chinese government in this endeavour through the deepening of the knowledge and strengthening of the political leverage of key institutions and stakeholders required to develop and operate an emission trading scheme during the pilot phase at the local level. To support the roll out of the national ETS in 2016, the services are also provided on the national level.

The project is jointly implemented by GIZ and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) of the People’s Republic of China. It is executed on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) within the framework of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) that is financing climate and biodiversity projects in developing and newly industrialising countries, as well as in countries in transition.