Data-related challenges and solutions in building China’s national carbon emissions trading scheme

Abstract

China is now in the process of building its national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS). Data are the foundation for the design and operation of an ETS. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the data requirements for China’s national ETS construction and the existing ETS-related data for enterprises in China. In doing so, it identifies the underlying data gap in building China’s national ETS in terms of data availability and data quality. Based on the experiences of international ETSs, and experiences at national and pilot levels in China, we propose two short-term strategies and four long-term solutions to meet the challenges from technical and management perspectives. Key policy insights The major data requirements for China’s national ETS can be categorized into six groups: production, emissions, technology, management, economy and policy data. The ETS-related data are generally available in China except for parts of data on emissions, such as energy carbon content and the oxidation factor. The data challenges that are faced by China’s national ETS include differences in corporate data availability and imperfect data quality. Short-term strategies to address the challenges include establishing data collection guidelines based on existing data and prioritizing major emissions or sectors with better data for inclusion under the ETS. Long-term solutions to address the challenges include introducing the concept of tiers, clarifying data sources and introducing a monitoring plan, conducting MRV capacity building and establishing a rigorous third-party verification system.