Japan starts carbon credit trading trial to meet climate goal (updated)
22/09/2022 11:01
(Adds govt official comments and trading results)
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Japan started a trial trading
of carbon credits on Thursday at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE)
as the world's fifth-largest carbon emitter aims to create a
nationwide market mechanism to meet its goal of becoming carbon
neutral by 2050.
The TSE, a unit of Japan Exchange Group Inc 8697.T , has
been commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
(METI) to conduct the pilot project as the ministry prepares to
set up the first exchange-based market for trading carbon
credits in Japan, to help participants offset their emissions or
monetise reduced emissions.
"The use of carbon credits is an essential initiative to
achieve efficient emission reductions throughout society,"
Makoto Nagamine, parliamentary vice-minister of METI, told an
opening ceremony.
"Putting a price on the value of carbon reductions through
the credit trading will increase the predictability of
decarbonisation investments," he said.
Under the trial, registered members, numbering 145 as of
Thursday, can trade existing carbon credits, known as J-Credits,
certified by the government. They have been traded
over-the-counter on a voluntary basis since 2013.
The J-Credit scheme is designed to certify as credits the
holder's emissions reductions or removal of greenhouse gases
such as carbon dioxide through energy-saving devices, forest
management and other methods.
At the TSE, trading hours are 9:00-11:29 a.m. and 12:30-2:59
p.m. (0000-0229 and 0330-0559 GMT). Transaction prices are set
twice a day and published after trading hours.
A total of 627 CO2-tonnes was traded in the four categories
under the J-Credit scheme on Thursday, with the most-active
renewable energy credit settling at 3,300 yen ($23) per
CO2-tonne, TSE said.
The trial will continue through the end of January, followed
by a government review and possible improvements to the system
before it is formally launched.
"We want to go into full-scale operation as early as next
April if all goes well," an official at the industry ministry
said.
The ministry is also preparing to create Japan's version of
an emissions trading system (ETS), called "GX League," next
business year that starts in April. GX stands for green
transformation.
A group of participants, 440 as of end-March, would be
required to pledge and disclose their emissions reduction
targets in accordance with methodology set by the government. If
the target is not met, they will trade emissions through the
market on a voluntary basis.
($1 = 142.5100 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Jane
Merriman)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))