Green Finance Weekly Report: Deepening Sino-British Green Finance Cooperation, Active Carbon Market, and Emerging Regional Green Finance Innovations

Green Finance Weekly Report: Deepening Sino-British Green Finance Cooperation, Active Carbon Market, and Emerging Regional Green Finance InnovationsThe green finance market is booming, leading to a constant stream of innovative green finance practices. This week's Green Finance Weekly Report will focus on the latest developments in Sino-British green finance cooperation, the national carbon market trading situation, and regional innovations in green bond issuance, transition finance loans, and Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) accounting

Green Finance Weekly Report: Deepening Sino-British Green Finance Cooperation, Active Carbon Market, and Emerging Regional Green Finance Innovations

The green finance market is booming, leading to a constant stream of innovative green finance practices. This week's Green Finance Weekly Report will focus on the latest developments in Sino-British green finance cooperation, the national carbon market trading situation, and regional innovations in green bond issuance, transition finance loans, and Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) accounting.

I. Deepening Sino-British Green Finance Cooperation: Building a Green Future

On January 11th, the eleventh Sino-British Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in Beijing. Both sides reached several important agreements in the field of green finance, reaffirming their strategic partnership in this area. They agreed to establish new working groups in key areas such as sustainable information disclosure, transition finance, and biodiversity finance, to promote deeper cooperation.

Specific cooperation includes: China's plan to issue its first RMB-denominated sovereign green bond in London by 2025, welcomed by the UK, which also encouraged more Chinese financial institutions to issue green bonds in the UK. Both sides actively promoted cooperation in financial market infrastructure to foster the joint development of the green bond market and continued to deepen cooperation under the biodiversity bond framework. Furthermore, both recognized the importance of transition finance and committed to continued cooperation and knowledge sharing to jointly promote the green transition.

The Fourth Sino-British Financial Services Summit was held concurrently, providing a platform for sharing successful experiences and practical achievements. The Sino-British Green Finance Working Group plans to hold its sixth meeting in the first half of the year to ensure the effective implementation of the dialogue's outcomes.

The 21 Carbon Neutrality Research Group believes that against the backdrop of numerous uncertainties in the global economy, the resumption of dialogue and the fruitful results achieved by China and the UK, as major world economies and financial powers, not only serve the interests of both countries but also meet the common expectations of the international community. The consensus reached by the two countries in green finance and sustainable development will provide valuable experience and reference for global green finance international cooperation. This marks a further strengthening of cooperation between the two countries in addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development, setting an example for global green finance development. The deepening of cooperation will greatly facilitate the efficient allocation of financial resources, promote innovation and application of green technologies, and contribute to global sustainable development. This is beneficial not only to the economic growth of China and the UK but also to the achievement of global green and low-carbon transformation goals. The success of this cooperation also provides new models and inspiration for green finance cooperation between other countries. In the future, the deepening of cooperation will further promote the unification of green finance standards, promote the mutual recognition of green financial products, and thus build a more perfect global green finance system.

II. National Carbon Market Remains Active, Carbon Price Steadily Rises

On January 17th, the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange (SHEN) released the weekly comprehensive price trend and trading information for the national carbon market from January 13th to 17th, 2025. The data shows that the comprehensive price of the national carbon market last week reached a high of 94.95 yuan/ton, a low of 94.47 yuan/ton, and closed 0.51% higher than the previous Friday.

Last week, the national carbon market's listed agreement transactions totaled 34,100 tons, with a transaction value of 3,211,995.08 yuan; bulk agreement transactions totaled 100,000 tons, with a transaction value of 9,320,000.00 yuan. Last week's total trading volume of national carbon emission allowances reached 134,100 tons, with a total transaction value of 12,531,995.08 yuan. As of January 17th, the cumulative trading volume of national carbon market carbon emission allowances in 2025 reached 285,786 tons, with a cumulative transaction value of 26,795,093.64 yuan; the cumulative trading volume of national carbon market carbon emission allowances reached 630,554,450 tons, with a cumulative transaction value of 43,059,522,197.15 yuan.

The continued active trading data indicates that the national carbon market mechanism is gradually improving, the enthusiasm of market participants is constantly increasing, and the steady rise in carbon prices reflects the market's attention to carbon reduction. This shows that China's carbon market construction has made significant progress, the market mechanism is becoming increasingly mature, and it is playing an increasingly important role in promoting corporate emission reduction and achieving carbon neutrality goals. Active trading has also attracted more and more institutions and investors, providing more abundant financial support for carbon reduction. In the future, with the continuous improvement of the carbon market mechanism and strengthening of regulation, the national carbon market will play a greater role in promoting China's green and low-carbon economic transformation.

III. Continued Emergence of Green Finance Innovation Applications, Empowering Green Development

1. Macau Carbon Exchange Facilitates Brazil's First Blockchain-Based Household Solar International Green Certificate Transaction: On January 10th, the Macau International Carbon Emission Rights Exchange (Macau Carbon Exchange) successfully facilitated the first international green certificate (I-REC) transaction from a Portuguese-speaking country, originating from a household photovoltaic project in Paran state, Brazil. This project utilizes Ant Chain's blockchain and IoT technology, integrating small-scale, decentralized household photovoltaics. Data is authentic, traceable, and transmitted in real time, effectively reducing certification costs and improving the transparency and efficiency of green certificate trading. The Macau Carbon Exchange, as a platform connecting global climate-related products and opportunities, fully played its bridging role in international climate cooperation. This shows that the application of blockchain technology in international green certificate trading is becoming increasingly mature, providing new technical means for promoting international carbon market cooperation. This not only promotes the development of international green certificate trading but also provides valuable experience for other countries and regions. In the future, with the continuous development of technology and the expansion of application scenarios, blockchain technology will play a greater role in the international carbon market.

2. Wuxi Grain Group Issues Nation's First Dual-Focus Green Bond: On January 14th, Wuxi Industrial Group's subsidiary, Wuxi Grain Group, successfully issued the nation's first dual-focus green bond in the fields of food security and energy security. The bond issuance totaled 200 million yuan, with a 5-year term and a coupon rate of 2.19%, setting a new record low for comparable bonds nationwide. The proceeds will be used for the green warehousing project of the Wuxi City Food and Materials Emergency Guarantee Service Center, which has significant environmental and social benefits. The project received the highest green rating of G1, saving 47.16 tons of standard coal, 93.76 tons of CO2, 13.02 tons of SO2, 20.86 tons of NOx, and 2.67 tons of particulate matter annually. This marks the active empowerment of key national strategic areas by green finance, expanding the application of green finance into new fields and providing new financing channels for food security. This provides a reference for other industries to issue green bonds and promotes the application of green finance in more fields. In the future, with the continuous development of green finance, the issuance of dual-focus green bonds will become more common, providing stronger financial support for the implementation of national strategies.

3. Zhaoqing Launches Nation's First Batch of Cement Industry Transition Finance Loans: Recently, the People's Bank of China Zhaoqing branch facilitated Zhaoqing Rural Commercial Bank in issuing a 10 million yuan transition finance loan to a local cement company, marking the nation's first batch of such loans in the building materials industry. The cement company's comprehensive utilization project of blast furnace slag powder aligns with low-carbon transformation goals. By the end of 2025, the company is expected to invest approximately 40 million yuan in the transformation project. Zhaoqing's active efforts in exploring standards and guidelines for transition finance targeting local characteristic industries have provided strong policy and financial support for the green transformation of regional characteristic industries. This provides replicable experience for other regions to develop transition finance and provides financial support for the green transformation of high-carbon emission industries. In the future, with increased policy support for transition finance, more high-carbon emitting enterprises will actively participate in the green transformation, promoting sustainable economic and social development.

4. Shanghai Baoshan Completes First GEP Accounting: Recently, Shanghai Baoshan District completed its first Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) accounting, a significant innovative measure as the district serves as a "city-wide green and low-carbon transformation model area" and a "core functional area of the green and low-carbon supply chain." This accounting was completed for Gucun Park by United Equator Environmental Assessment Co., Ltd., assessing the contribution value of the natural ecosystem to the city and its residents. Through this accounting, Baoshan District explored the establishment of an ecosystem product value realization mechanism, created a "green ecological bank," accelerated the promotion of ecological industrialization and industrial ecologization, and strived to achieve dual