Forestry Carbon Trades Push China's Green Goals Ahead

• Carbon sinks absorb carbon dioxide and help in offsetting it.
• More carbon-controlling measures are in the offing in other provinces.

Heilongjiang, a province in northeast China, launched the country's first forestry carbon-sink trading system in July. Immediate trades totalled over 4 million yuan ($565,000).

What is a Carbon Sink?

It refers to a natural or man-made system, such as a forest or wetland, that absorbs greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Enterprises can invest in forest growth through the carbon-sink trading system to offset their carbon emissions.

The Ministry of Natural Resources in China says that the nation’s forests and grasslands absorb over 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, placing them first globally in this area. To this end, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration exhorts forest departments to create carbon-sink projects and guides polluting companies to purchase carbon sinks to balance out their emissions.

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Heilongjiang, with its large forest areas, sets a precedent and becomes a model for provincial-level carbon-sink trading in China. The Industrial Bank of China, in 2022, bought forestry carbon sinks to offset emissions from its offices. Efficient and accurate calculations of a forest's carbon capacity depend on factors like tree size and health. Remote sensing technology is also being used to help monitor carbon sinks.

The northeast province has a framework of 41 standards in place for carbon-sink trading. Other provinces—Fujian, Hebei, and Shandong—have adopted similar practices to support environmental goals.

China has been doubling down on its efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2060. The country has piloted several carbon emission control systems, including a national carbon trading market, which is the biggest in the world.

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Source: China Daily