Shaanxi province, one of China’s biggest fossil-fuel producing regions, has begun preparations for an emissions trading scheme, a senior official said Wednesday, according to state-owned news agency Xinhua.
The province has started designing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and MRV procedures as part of plans to impose detailed CO2 regulations on major emitters, including setting up a carbon market, Xu Dakang, director of the Shaanxi Development and Reform Commission’s climate change department told Xinhua.
He did not specify a timeline, but asked major emitters to join the national registry system to enable them trade in the national market.
China plans to launch its national ETS in the second half of 2016, but it is unclear which provinces and sectors will participate from the beginning.
Preliminary data showed Shaanxi emitted more than 300 million tonnes of CO2 last year, Xinhua reported, roughly the same as Ukraine.
The province, home to 38 million people, is China’s biggest natural gas producer and third biggest coal and crude oil producer.
The news is the latest sign that regional governments are following up the central government’s plans to expand emissions trading activities ahead of the national market launch.
Last month two cities in Gansu province said they would set up a pilot ETS, while a Hunan official said the province would seek to join the national ETS from the start.
Last week, Baotou, a city of 2 million in Inner Mongolia, announced it too had started preparations for an emissions market.
