LONDON (Thomson Reuters Point Carbon) - A Chinese plan to set absolute caps on industrial CO2 emissions is unlikely to persuade the EU to continue paying for project-based emission reductions under the U.N.'s clean development mechanism (CDM), market observers say.
A high-level official in China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) told a conference in Beijing last week that China is considering a plan to set absolute caps on greenhouse gas emissions from sectors such as iron, steel and cement production.
For China, the world's biggest emitter and supplier of U.N.-issued carbon offset credits, this would represent a significant policy change, as Beijing has previously only been willing to set relative carbon targets based on efficiency levels.