Tianjin to launch China's fifth carbon market on Dec 26
(Reuters) - Tianjin will launch China's fifth of seven planned emissions trading scheme on Dec 26, aiming to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from more than 100 of the city's biggest emitters.
The northern city of more than 10 million people with a GDP the size of Ireland's will follow Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangdong province in launching carbon markets, as the world's biggest-emitting nation strives to control its impact on climate change.
The Tianjin carbon market will go live on Dec 26, a source involved in preparing the scheme who declined to be named, confirmed to Reuters.
Tianjin is rushing to launch its emissions market before the end of 2013, in order to comply with the central government policy that China's regional pilot markets should begin this year, the source said.
Hubei province and Chongqing will not meet that goal.
Tianjin's carbon market will regulate emissions from around 110 companies within power and heat, iron and steel production, petrochemicals, oil exploitation and residential buildings that emit more than 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
The municipal government plans to release legislation backing up the establishment of the market next week, a government source.
Local authorities have established a registry through which companies can transfer emission permits, but have not been able to open accounts for all the participants, according to government sources.
The news comes a day after Guangdong province launches its market, the world's second-biggest in terms of carbon dioxide covered, with an annual cap for participants set at 388 million tonnes.
The Tianjin government has not yet announced an annual emissions cap for its scheme. (Reporting by Kathy Chen and Stian Reklev, editing by William Hardy)
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