Decree of The State Council of the People's Republic of China

Number 775

The Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading, adopted at the 23rd Executive Meeting of The State Council on January 5, 2024, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of May 1, 2024.

Premier Li Qiang

January 25th, 2024

　　　　　

 

Interim Regulations on the Administration of carbon Emission Rights Trading

Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purpose of regulating the trading of carbon emission rights and related activities, strengthening the control of greenhouse gas emissions, actively and steadily promoting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, promoting green and low-carbon economic and social development, and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.

Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to the trading of carbon emission rights and related activities in the national carbon emission rights trading market.

Article 3 The administration of carbon emission trading and related activities shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement the line, principles, policies and decision-making arrangements of the Party and the State, ensure that the control of greenhouse gas emissions is compatible with economic and social development, adhere to the combination of government guidance and market regulation, and follow the principles of openness, fairness and justice.

The state will strengthen international cooperation and exchanges in the field of carbon emission trading.

Article 4 The competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of carbon emission trading and related activities. The relevant departments under The State Council shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, be responsible for the supervision and administration of carbon emission trading and related activities.

The competent ecological and environmental departments of local people's governments shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of carbon emission rights trading and related activities within their respective administrative areas. The relevant departments of the local people's governments shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, be responsible for the supervision and administration of carbon emission rights trading and related activities within their respective administrative areas.

Article 5 The national carbon emission rights registration authorities shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, be responsible for the registration of carbon emission rights trading products and provide services such as transaction settlement. The national carbon emission rights trading institutions shall, in accordance with relevant state regulations, be responsible for organizing the centralized and unified trading of carbon emission rights. Fees for registration and transactions shall be reasonable, and the items, standards and administrative measures of fees shall be made public.

National carbon emission rights registration institutions and national carbon emission rights trading institutions shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, improve the relevant business rules and establish a risk prevention and control and information disclosure system.

The competent ecological and environmental department under The State Council shall, in conjunction with the market supervision and regulation department under The State Council, the People's Bank of China and the banking regulatory authority under The State Council, supervise and administer the national carbon emission rights registration authorities and national carbon emission rights trading institutions, and strengthen information sharing and law enforcement cooperation.

Carbon emission trading should be gradually integrated into a unified public resource trading platform system.

Article 6 The types of greenhouse gases and the scope of industries covered by carbon emission rights trading shall be proposed by the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments of development and reform under The State Council in accordance with the national greenhouse gas emission control objectives and shall be submitted to The State Council for approval before implementation.

Carbon emission trading products include carbon emission quotas and other spot trading products approved by The State Council.

Article 7 Key greenhouse gas emission units included in the national carbon emission rights trading market (hereinafter referred to as key emission units) and other entities that meet the relevant provisions of the State may participate in carbon emission rights trading.

The personnel of the competent ecological environment departments, other departments responsible for supervision and administration of carbon emission trading and related activities (hereinafter referred to as other departments responsible for supervision and administration), the national carbon emission registration authorities, the national carbon emission trading institutions and the technical service institutions provided for in these Regulations shall not participate in carbon emission trading.

Article 8 The competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall, in conjunction with relevant departments under The State Council, formulate the conditions for the identification of key emission units in accordance with the national targets for the control of greenhouse gas emissions. The competent ecological and environmental departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government (hereinafter referred to as the provincial people's governments) shall, together with the relevant departments at the same level, formulate the annual list of key emission units in their respective administrative areas in accordance with the conditions determined by the key emission units.

The conditions for determining key emission units and the annual list of key emission units shall be published to the public.

Article 9 The competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments under The State Council, formulate the total amount of annual carbon emission quotas and the plan for their distribution and organize their implementation in accordance with the national targets for the control of greenhouse gas emissions, taking into account factors such as economic and social development, industrial structure adjustment, industrial development stage, historical emission situation and market regulation needs. Carbon emission allowances shall be distributed free of charge, and a combination of free and compensated allocation shall be gradually implemented in accordance with the relevant requirements of the State.

The competent department of ecological environment of the people's government at the provincial level shall, together with the relevant departments at the same level, issue carbon emission quotas to the key emission units within its administrative area according to the total amount of annual carbon emission quotas and the allocation plan, and may not issue or adjust carbon emission quotas in violation of the total amount of annual carbon emission quotas and the allocation plan.

Article 10 In accordance with the provisions of Article 6, Article 8 and Article 9 of these Regulations, opinions from provincial people's governments, relevant trade associations, enterprises and institutions, experts and the public shall be sought in order to study and put forward the types of greenhouse gases and the scope of industries covered by carbon emission trading, the conditions for determining key emission units and the total annual carbon emission quota and the distribution plan.

Article 11 Key emission units shall take effective measures to control greenhouse gas emissions, formulate and strictly implement greenhouse gas emission data quality control plans in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and the technical specifications formulated by the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council, and carry out relevant greenhouse gas emission inspection and testing with lawfully certified or calibrated measuring instruments. The unit shall truthfully and accurately calculate its greenhouse gas emissions, prepare the greenhouse gas emission report for the previous year (hereinafter referred to as the annual emission report), and submit the emission statistical accounting data and annual emission report to the competent ecological environment department of the provincial people's government where its production and business operations are located in accordance with regulations.

Key emission units shall be responsible for the authenticity, completeness and accuracy of their emission statistical accounting data and annual emission reports.

Key discharge units shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, disclose to the public information such as the amount of emissions, discharge facilities and statistical accounting methods in their annual discharge reports. The original records and management ledgers of the data covered by the annual emissions report should be kept for at least 5 years.

Key emission units may entrust lawfully established technical service institutions to carry out greenhouse gas emission related inspection and testing, and compile annual emission reports.

Article 12 The competent department of ecological environment of the people's government at the provincial level shall verify the annual emission reports submitted by key emission units to confirm their actual emissions of greenhouse gases. The verification work shall be completed within the prescribed time limit, and the verification results shall be fed back to the key emission units within 7 working days from the date of completion of the verification. The verification results shall be made public.

The competent department of ecological environment of the people's government at the provincial level may, through the purchase of services by the government, entrust lawfully established technical service institutions to conduct technical audit of the annual emission report. Key discharge units shall cooperate with technical service institutions to carry out technical audit work, and truthfully provide relevant data and materials.

Article 13 Technical service institutions entrusted to carry out greenhouse gas emission inspection and testing shall abide by the requirements of the relevant technical regulations and technical norms of the State, bear the corresponding responsibility for the inspection and testing reports issued by them, and shall not issue false or false inspection and testing reports. Key discharge units shall prepare and submit samples for inspection in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and be responsible for the representativeness and authenticity of the samples.

Technical service institutions entrusted with the preparation of annual emission reports and the technical review of annual emission reports shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, have the appropriate facilities, equipment, technical capabilities and technical personnel, establish a business quality management system, independently, objectively and impartially carry out relevant business, and bear the corresponding responsibility for the annual emission reports and technical review opinions issued by them. They shall not tamper with or forge data, use false data or commit other acts of falsification. Specific administrative measures for the compilation of annual emission reports and technical review shall be formulated by the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council in conjunction with relevant departments under The State Council.

Within the same province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central Government, a technical service institution shall not engage in the compilation of annual emission reports and the technical audit business at the same time.

Article 14 Key emission units shall pay their carbon emission quotas in full according to the verification results of the annual emission report by the competent ecological environment department of the people's government at the provincial level and within the time limit prescribed by the competent ecological environment department under The State Council.

Key emission units may buy or sell carbon emission allowances through the national carbon emission trading market, and the carbon emission allowances purchased by them may be used for settlement.

Key emission units may, in accordance with relevant state regulations, purchase certified greenhouse gas emission reductions for the purpose of clearing their carbon emission quotas.

Article 15 Trading of carbon emission rights may take the form of transfer by agreement, one-way bidding or other spot trading in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State.

No unit or individual is allowed to manipulate the national carbon emission trading market or disrupt the order of the national carbon emission trading market by means of fraud, malicious collusion, or spreading false information.

Article 16 The competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall establish a national carbon emission rights trading market management platform, strengthen the supervision and management of the whole process of the allocation and settlement of carbon emission quotas and the greenhouse gas emissions of key emission units, and realize information sharing with relevant departments under The State Council.

Article 17 The competent department of ecological environment and other departments responsible for supervision and administration may, within the scope of their respective duties, conduct on-site inspections of key emission units and other trading entities and technical service institutions.

The competent department of ecological environment and other departments responsible for supervision and management shall carry out on-site inspection, and may take measures such as consulting and copying relevant materials, inquiring and checking relevant information systems, and may ask relevant units and individuals to make explanations on relevant matters. The inspected person shall truthfully reflect the situation and provide information, and shall not refuse or obstruct.

On-site inspection shall be conducted by no less than two inspectors, who shall present their law enforcement documents. The inspectors shall have the obligation to keep confidential the state secrets and commercial secrets they learn during the inspection.

Article 18 Any unit or individual shall have the right to report any act violating the provisions of these Regulations to the competent department of ecological environment and other departments responsible for supervision and administration. The department receiving the report shall deal with it in a timely manner according to law, report the result to the informant in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, and keep the informant confidential.

Article 19 Any staff member of the competent ecological environment department or any other department with supervisory and administrative responsibilities who abuses his power, neglects his duty or engages in malpractices for personal gain in the supervision and administration of carbon emission trading and related activities shall be punished according to law.

Article 20 Where the personnel of the competent department of ecological environment, other departments responsible for supervision and administration, the national carbon emission rights registration authority, the national carbon emission rights trading institution and the technical service institutions provided for in these Regulations participate in the trading of carbon emission rights, the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall order the disposal of the trading products such as carbon emission quotas held in accordance with the law, and confiscate the illegal income. It may also impose a fine of less than the equivalent value of the price of such products as carbon emission allowances traded; If they are state workers, they shall also be given sanctions according to law.

Article 21 Where a key discharge unit has one of the following circumstances, the competent department of ecological environment shall order it to make corrections and impose a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan; Those who refuse to make corrections may be ordered to stop production for rectification:

(1) Failure to develop and implement greenhouse gas emission data quality control plans in accordance with regulations;

(2) Failure to submit emission statistical accounting data and annual emission report in accordance with regulations;

(3) failing to disclose to the public information such as the amount of emissions, discharge facilities and statistical accounting methods in the annual emission report in accordance with regulations;

(4) Failure to maintain the original records and management ledgers of the data involved in the annual emission report as required.

Article 22 Where a key discharge unit has any of the following circumstances, the competent department of ecological environment shall order it to make corrections, confiscate its illegal income and impose a fine of not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times its illegal income; If there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 500,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 2 million yuan shall be imposed; The persons directly in charge and other persons directly responsible shall be imposed a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; If it refuses to make corrections, its carbon emission quota for the next year shall be reduced in accordance with the ratio of more than 50% to less than 100%, and it may be ordered to stop production for rectification:

(1) failing to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with regulations;

(2) Major defects or omissions in the annual emission report prepared, tampering with or forgery of data, using false data or committing other acts of fraud in the process of compiling the annual emission report;

(3) Failure to produce and submit samples for inspection in accordance with regulations.

Article 23 Where a technical service institution issues an untrue or false inspection and testing report, the competent department of ecological environment shall order it to make corrections, confiscate the illegal income, and impose a fine of not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times the illegal income; If there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 20,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed; If the circumstances are serious, the inspection and testing qualification shall be cancelled by the department responsible for qualification recognition.

Where there are major defects or omissions in the annual discharge reports or technical audit opinions issued by technical service agencies, tampering with or forging data or materials, using false data or committing other acts of fraud during the preparation of annual discharge reports or technical audit of annual discharge reports, the competent department of ecological environment shall order corrections and confiscate the illegal gains; Shall concurrently be fined not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times the illegal income; If there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 200,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 1 million yuan shall be imposed; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be prohibited from engaging in the compilation of annual emission reports and technical audit business.

Where a technical service institution is punished for the illegal acts prescribed in the first and second paragraphs of this article, the person in charge directly responsible for it and other persons directly responsible for it shall be fined not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan, and shall be prohibited from engaging in greenhouse gas emission related inspection and testing, annual emission report preparation and technical review for five years; If the circumstances are serious, the aforesaid business shall be prohibited for life.

Article 24 Where key emission units fail to pay their carbon emission quotas in accordance with regulations, the competent department of ecological environment shall order them to make corrections and impose a fine of not less than 5 times but not more than 10 times the average transaction price of the market transactions one month before the time limit for the payment of the outstanding carbon emission quotas; If it refuses to make corrections, its carbon emission quota for the next year shall be reduced by an equal amount according to the outstanding carbon emission quota, and it may be ordered to stop production for rectification.

Article 25 Whoever manipulates the national carbon emission rights trading market shall be ordered by the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council to make corrections, confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than 10 times the illegal income; If there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 500,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 5 million yuan shall be imposed. Where a unit is punished for the aforementioned illegal acts, its directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be given a warning, and a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 1 million yuan shall be imposed.

Those who disturb the order of the national carbon emission trading market shall be ordered by the competent department of ecological environment under The State Council to make corrections, confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than 10 times the illegal income; If there are no illegal gains or the illegal gains are less than 100,000 yuan, a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 1 million yuan shall be imposed. Where a unit is punished for the aforementioned illegal acts, the person directly in charge and other persons directly responsible shall be given a warning, and a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 26 Whoever refuses or obstructs the competent department of ecological environment or other departments responsible for supervision and administration to carry out supervision and inspection according to law shall be ordered by the competent department of ecological environment or other departments responsible for supervision and administration to make corrections and be imposed a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan.

Article 27 The competent department of ecological environment under The State Council shall, in conjunction with relevant departments under The State Council, establish a credit record system for trading entities and technical service institutions such as key emission units, and include information such as administrative penalties imposed by trading entities and technical service institutions such as key emission units for violating the provisions of these Regulations into the state