GreenfinancepolicieswillgainmomentumafterthecentralbankannouncedonNov.8theestablishmentofafinancialsupporttoolforcarbonemissionreduction.Thecombinationofanumberofpoliciesisexpectedtocreateeconomiesofscaleandleveragemorebankstoprovidefinanceforgreenandlow-carbondevelopment.
"ThispolicyisbasedonChina'sactualsituationanddemonstratesourfirmdeterminationtopursuethecarbonpeakandcarbonneutralgoals(hereinafterreferredtoasthe'dualcarbon'goals)."IndustrialBankchiefeconomist,HuafuSecuritieschiefeconomistLuZhengweiinaninterviewwiththeFinancialTimesreporterssaid.
Itisofgreatsignificancetopromotecleanandefficientutilizationofcoal
Chinais"richincoal,poorinoilandlittleingas".ThischaracteristicofenergyresourcesendowmentdeterminesthatChinamusttaketheroadofcleanandefficientutilizationofcoal.Coalaccountsforabout94percentofChina'sprovenfossilenergyresources,accordingtoXieKechang,anacademicianattheChineseAcademyofEngineering.Moreover,althoughtheshareofcoalinprimaryenergyconsumptionhasbeengraduallydecreasing,droppingto57.7%in2019,itsmainenergystatuswillnotchangeforalongtimetocome.
Fromthispointofview,thedecisiontosetupaspecialreloantosupportthecleanuseofcoalenergyisverynecessary.
ThecleanproductionandutilizationofcoalwasincludedintheGreenIndustryGuidanceCatalogue(2019Edition)jointlyissuedbythesevendepartmentsin2019.NationalDevelopmentandReformCommissionofthedepartmentofenvironmentalresources,stressedthatthisisbasedontheconsiderationofChina'snationalconditions.Althoughthecleanproductionandutilizationofcoalwasgenerallyconsiderednottobeagreenindustryintheworldatthattime,itwasalsoincludedintheCatalogueascoalstillaccountedformorethan60%ofChina'sprimaryenergyproduction,andthecleanproductionandutilizationofcoalwascrucialtoChina'sgreendevelopment.
OnApril21,2021,thePeople'sBankofChina,theNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission,securitiesregulatorycommissionissuedbythe"greenbondstosupporttheprojectdirectory(2021edition)"(hereinafterreferredtoasthecatalogofgreenbonds),adoptedtheinternationallyaccepted"nomajordamage"principle,willnolongercleancoalandotherfossilenergyutilizationprojectsintogreenbondstosupportthescope,ItmakesChina'sgreenbondstandardsmorestandardizedandstrict,andachievestheconsistencywiththeinternationalmainstreamstandards.
However,thePeople'sBankofChinaalsostressedthatcleanproductionandefficientuseofcoalandotherfossilenergyisofgreatsignificancetopromotehigh-qualitydevelopmentofChina'seconomyatthisstage,andsaidthat"weareworkingwithrelevantdepartmentstoadheretotheprincipleofsafetyfirst,energyconservationpriority,andactivelystudytherelevantstandardsoftransformationfinance.Withfullconsiderationofthedesignlifeanddepreciationofexistinginvestmentprojects,asmoothtransitionpathisdesignedtoguidefinancialinstitutionstosupportorderlyandgradualgreentransformationoftheenergysystemandenergyusingindustry."
InLu'sopinion,therecentlyheld26THConferenceofthePartiestotheUnitedNationsframeworkConventiononClimateChange(COP26)hasalsoadjustedthewordingoftheuseofcoalandotherfossilenergy.AtCOP26,theissueofcoalandfossilfuelswasincludedinthefinaldecisionoftheConferenceoftheParties,requiringcountriesto"intensifytheirefforts"tophaseout"coalelectricity".Accordingtothereport,themeetingchangedthewordingof"phasingouttheincreasingcoalpowergenerationandinefficientsubsidiesforfossilfuels"to"phasingout"coaluse.
"Infact,fromaglobalperspective,thecleanandefficientuseofcoalneedsmoreefforts."Amajorbreakthroughinthisareawouldnotonlymeanstrongerenergysecurityforcoal-richcountrieslikeChina,butmoreimportantly,itwouldbeahugecontributionformanyemergingeconomiesaroundtheworld."Lucommissarsaid.
Specialre-loanstopromoteorderlyandgradualgreentransformation
Promotingcleanandefficientutilizationofcoalisinseparablefromeffectivefinancialsupport.Specifically,thespecialreloanproposedbytheStateRegularMeeting,inaccordancewiththefocus,moreoperationalrequirementsandmarket-orientedprinciples,supportssafeandefficientgreenintelligentminingofcoal,cleanandefficientprocessingofcoal,cleanandefficientutilizationofcoalpowerandpromotethedevelopmentandutilizationofcoalbedmethane.Thespecificwayisthatnationalbanksindependentlyissueconcessionalloans,andthePeople'sBankofChinaprovidesre-loansupportonthebasisoftheloanprincipal.
"Thepolicyistargetedatmakingstructuraladjustmentsandstrengtheningareasofweakness."Lusaidthatatpresent,amongallkindsofpowergeneration,themoststablewayisgaspowerandcoalpower.Asacountryrichincoalandlowingas,Chinaismakingagreenandlow-carbontransitionbasedonitsnationalconditions.Forexample,themeetingstressedtheneedtopromotethedevelopmentandutilizationofcoal-bedmethane."Thisisbecausecoalbedmethanehasalowercarbonemissionintensitythancoalandoil,soitisalsoconsideredabridgetocarbonneutrality."CommissarLuexplained.
Inaddition,duetotherelativesafetyandstabilityofcoalpowerandmaturetechnology,itshouldalsoencourageexplorationofcleanandefficientprocessingandefficientutilizationofcoalinviewofitshighcarbonemissions.Lusaid,forexample,thecarbondioxidecapture,utilizationandstorage(CCUS)transformationofcoal-firedpowerplantsisthescopeofthepolicytoencourage.
Industryinsiderssaidthattheuseofreloansisflexible,asatargetedmonetarypolicysupporttool,cangiveprecisesupporttothegreenfinancesector;Atthesametime,thereloanrateismorefavorable,andthelowcostofcapitalalsohasincentivesforbankstoaccelerategreentransformation.
Itcanbeseenthat,similartothecarbonemissionreductionsupporttool,thespecialreloancanplayapreciseandefficientroleofdirectionalsupport,anditisalsoonlyapplicabletonationalbanks,whichareinthemodeofloanbeforeloan.However,therearesomedifferencesbetweentheprojectssupportedbythetwotools.Thecarbonemissionreductionsupporttoolhasabroaderscopeandfocusesmoreonthenewenergyfield,whilethespecialreloanhasamoredetailedscopeandfocusesmoreontheupgradingandtransformationoftraditionalenergy.Inaddition,theproportionandscaleoffundsprovidedbythecentralbankaredifferent.Theformerprovidesfundsof60%ofthecarbonemissionreductionloanwithnoupperlimit,whilethelatterprovidesspecialreloansof100%oftheloanprincipalwithascaleof200billionyuan.
"Carbonreductionsupporttoolsanddedicatedrefinancingcanplayagreaterroleinguidingnationalbanks.Byprovidinglow-costfundstothecoalsectorinthisway,itcanacceleratethetechnologicaltransformationandinnovativeapplicationoftheupstreamanddownstreamcoalindustrychain,improvetheefficiencyoftheindustrychain,andpromotethecleanutilizationofcoalresources."AbankinsiderstothefinancialTimesreportersaid.
Inadditiontospecialreloansandotherfinancialsupport,themeetingalsostressedtheneedtocoordinateandstudymeasuressuchasreducingtheproportionofcapitalforprojects,givingappropriatetaxincentives,fundingsupportforspecialgovernmentbonds,andacceleratingdepreciation,toincreasesupportforprojectsthatusecoalcleanlyandefficiently.