At the round table meeting of the 2021 Boao Forum for Chinese Entrepreneurs held on December 4, Mr.Sun Chuanwang, chief expert of the research team of Xiamen University's China Energy Economy Research Centre and Xiamen University's "Carbon Neutral Development Power" project, introduced the innovative practices and effective outcomes of the Quzhou’s carbon accounts project, which aroused attendee’s keen interests.

According to Mr.Sun Chuanwang, “the Quzhou government attaches great importance to and takes the lead in promoting this project, which is quite rare, and it could serve as an example that loans are granted to enterprises on the basis of carbon credit reports, so that all enterprises can participate."

The Boao Forum for Chinese Entrepreneurs has been successfully held for six consecutive sessions and is a high-end communication platform for Chinese entrepreneurs to share. This year's Forum, with the theme of "Pursuing Together for a Digital Era and Winning Together for Green Development", will provide in-depth observations and forward-looking judgment on the endogenous dynamics of China's economy, and take the pulse of the digital and green development of China's economy.

Mr.Sun Chuanwang presented the "China Carbon Neutral Development Power Index" idea at the first national carbon neutral development power index seminar on 22 September this year, which is also the first comprehensive index to evaluate the carbon neutral development power of regions in China. Mr. Sun said that promoting emission peak and carbon neutrality will help control climate change for the whole world and prevent the global temperature from continuing to rise; for China, it can promote green and low-carbon transformation and realize the harmonious coexistence of man and nature; for enterprises, it can help them quickly achieve efficient and green transformation. Quzhou City has given full play to its pioneering advantage in the construction of the national green financial reform and innovation pilot zone, setting up a special team and taking the lead in exploring the establishment of carbon accounts in six major areas, including industry, energy, construction, transportation, agriculture (forestry) and daily life, and has built a set of carbon account-based data collection, quantitative accounting, evaluation and labelling and scenario application system. "Quzhou's experience is worth promoting nationwide." Mr. Sun said.

"Carbon accounting is the cornerstone of green transformation, which is of great importance and urgency, but few people are concerned about it now." Mr.Sun Chuanwang believes that only on the basis of carbon accounting can a carbon account be established, and then a green responsibility account can be formed to determine the responsibility of each subject to reduce emissions. "Quzhou City attaches great importance to the ground-laying and long-term work of green transformation, which is very rare."

In late November, Quzhou released the first local standard of carbon account system for industrial enterprises in China - the carbon emission accounting and evaluation guide for industrial enterprises' carbon accounts. Through front-end data collection and fixed algorithm models, the data is categorised and assigned against preset industry standards and labelled in four colours, achieving real-time data collection, accurate scientific accounting and dynamic evaluation and labelling. At the same time, terminal energy collection equipment has been installed in industrial enterprises, and the frequency of carbon data collection has been shortened from once a year to once every 15 minutes.

At present, Quzhou has 1.7 million enterprises and individuals with carbon accounts. Relying on carbon accounts, the city has developed 34 low-carbon financial products such as the "Industrial Carbon Reduction Loan", and enterprises can get loans up to 1.5 times the normal credit limit and related tax benefits by virtue of the "Carbon Credit Report". Up to now, the scale of carbon account loans has reached 4.34 billion yuan, leveraging enterprises to invest 3 billion yuan in emission reduction and carbon technology reform. In addition, Quzhou is also actively preparing for the establishment of a "double carbon" laboratory, making every effort to promote the development of multiple application scenarios such as dual control of energy consumption, transportation emission peak, carbon benefit, and industrial product carbon footprint, and continuously expanding and enhancing the role of "carbon account" reform in the "double carbon" work.