China specifies rules for emissions trading

China is making progress on the design of its new Emissions Trading System. This week, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued more concrete regulations for the new system, as well as regulations for emissions reporting by participating state-owned companies. Both indicate that the system is now showing some teeth. From now on, the regulation of emissions trading will be elevated to the State Council level instead of ministry level – which means greater enforcement power (the highest level is laws passed by the National People’s Congress). They already include penalties for non-compliance. But the draft is now under review. The rules on reporting also include penalties for incorrect data.