Yu Honghui

Climate change is a global challenge facing all countries. As a key participant, contributor and trailblazer in global climate governance, China implements a national strategy to actively tackle climate change, and strives to achieve carbon peak target by 2030 and carbon neutrality target by 2060. One of the key steps to achieve the "dual carbon" goals is to develop forestry carbon sinks. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, pointed out when participating in the annual compulsory tree-planting activity in Beijing in late March 2022, "Forests are reservoirs of water, money and food, and now we should add a 'reservoir of carbon' to them." At this new historical starting point, forests have been given a more profound connotation. Forestry carbon sinks will play an important role in the monetization of ecological products and the rural revitalization strategy. China will also provide new models and new paths for green development, green investment and green ecology for the world, particularly other developing countries.

I. The development of forestry carbon sinks has become a global consensus on tackling climate change

In response to the aggravating problem of global climate change, many countries have been working hard in recent years to promote the fulfillment of commitments on emission reduction within the framework of the Paris Agreement. At the same time, the competition among great powers focused on "low carbon" is intensifying. The E.U. has initially established the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is designed to adjust tariffs according to the carbon content of goods exported to the E.U. in order to keep E.U. enterprises competitive; the U.S. also expressed it was considering imposing a carbon border tax; the U.K. is promoting the establishment of a carbon border tax regime for seven Western countries; and Japan is trying to establish a tripartite framework for Europe, the U.S. and Japan. At the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in November 2021, nearly 200 parties reached the Glasgow Climate Pact, and initially established a global carbon trading framework after fierce discussions.

To achieve the low-carbon goal, it is necessary to realize energy conservation and carbon reduction at the emission side on the one hand, and increase carbon sinks and enhance absorption of emitted carbon on the other hand. Compared with direct emission reduction, there are still obvious weaknesses in the establishment of carbon sink-related institutions and mechanisms. Previously, the international and domestic carbon markets included carbon sinks in carbon trading through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the China Certified Emission Reductions (CCERs), etc., but there are a host of longstanding problems such as a shortage of investment funds and difficulties in monitoring and certification. Therefore, in the context of the increasing competition among great powers over global climate governance, it is crucial to actively promote global carbon trading, cope with the challenge of carbon tariffs, and strengthen the research on carbon sink-related institutions and technologies.