World experts are eagerly anticipating the establishment of a global carbon trading market as agreed to at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or COP29, which commenced in Baku, Azerbaijan from Monday.
Countries at the convention gave the green light to carbon credit quality standards on the first day of the meetings. The standards are seen as critical for the UN's goal of establishing a carbon market to fund carbon reduction initiatives.
Erik Solheim, former UN Environment Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, said he believes that such a market will attract increased investments to green and low-carbon sectors and play a crucial role in combating climate change.
"It seems that a very important agreement may now have been found on the carbon market. I salute that because the carbon market is much more likely to provide substantial finance for fighting climate change," Solheim said.
Experts emphasized that the mechanisms behind a global carbon trading market will mobilize additional funds for green and low-carbon sectors, foster the development and application of low-carbon technologies, and support developing countries in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
On China's domestic carbon market, they anticipate a gradual expansion to include new sectors and introduce new mechanisms.
"It is a big trend to expand China’s domestic carbon market. Currently, we only focus on coal power generation. In the future, there will be more areas included in the market," said Jiang Qingzhe, head of China International Carbon Neutral Research Institute, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).
"First of all, we need to establish global regulations and create an ideal global carbon market. The future may involve a diverse and multi-stage carbon pricing system. Therefore, it is essential to consider the development stages of different countries and address different concerns of each country," said Wang Yi, deputy director of the National Committee of Climate Change Experts.
COP, or Conference of the Parties, refers to a series of formal meetings where governments assess global efforts to advance the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
World experts optimistic on global carbon trading market after deal struck at COP29
