Interview: China's carbon emissions set to peak before 2030, says green finance expert

LONDON, July 8 (Xinhua) -- China's efforts to address climate change are laudable, impressive and give proof of confidence that the country will meet the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, Sean Kidney, chief executive officer (CEO) of the London-based Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"We have confidence in the work that is underway in China," Kidney said. He is a renowned advocate and promoter of global green finance and the founder of the international non-profit green bond organization.

"In my view, 2025 is when emissions will peak in China," he said, applauding the country's progress in a number of areas, including emissions trading schemes, industrial policies, clean energy policies and green finance development.

According to the "China Green Bond Market Report 2021," the country's "cumulative issuance of green bonds by Climate Bonds definition reached nearly 200 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2021. Annual issuance made a record high to 68.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 186 percent from a year earlier."

China is now the second largest green bond market in the world by both the above accounts. The country's green bond issuance grew the most among major markets in 2021, said the report, which was co-produced by the CBI and the China Central Depository and Clearing Research Centre.

China's green bond market grew rigorously in 2021, the report said. In 2021, the country's labeled green bond market experienced the highest growth rate since the introduction of the green financial policy framework in 2016.

In terms of green bonds, China has gone from nothing to the second-largest market in the world in less than ten years, Kidney recalled. "China is the fastest-growing large market in the world and we expect it to keep going."

But Kidney stressed that with all the progress made, there is still a long way to go. The CBI report showed that labeled green bonds accounted for around 1 percent of China's overall bond market in 2021, indicating the vast potential for further growth.

For carbon dioxide emissions to peak by 2030 requires a lot of work and significant changes have to happen, Kidney said. "It's like shifting the course of a supertanker."

He told Xinhua that certain sectors have yet to be brought into the green bond market in China, such as green buildings, railways and agriculture.

Kidney also called for the sharing of knowledge and experiences between sectors and industries, among provinces and regions, and with the general public.

China has been learning quite a lot from the history of European countries and the United States and has been applying these lessons at home. Today, China could share that knowledge with others, Kidney said, referring to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Looking at the prospects of green finance development, Kidney, who is also a green finance advisor for several governments and organizations across Europe and the world, urged stronger international collaboration.

"This year I would like to see deeper conversations between China and Europe in particular about how to join up efforts on greening finance and greening industry and ensure that we have green free trade."

The question is how to collaborate despite the differences among countries; how to respect each other's economies and systems; and how to engage in collaboration from which industries, corporations and governments can all benefit, Kidney said.

"We have to be more ambitious," he reiterated. "We're making progress, but I want to see more."