Legal Regulation Of Initial Allocation Of Carbon Allowances In Carbon Trading System

The carbon trading system is a major institutional innovation to deal with climate change.At present,my country’s national carbon trading market has been officially launched.The initial allocation of carbon allowances is the basis and key to the operation of the carbon trading system,and it is the premise for emission control enterprises to participate in the carbon trading market.Carbon quota refers to the carbon emission quota allocated by the government to emission-control enterprises within a specified period.As the main trading product in my country’s carbon trading market,carbon allowances have natural administrative control.The initial allocation of carbon allowances is based on the Coase Theorem and the Climate Justice Theory,and follows the principles of climate benefit,responsibility,fairness and efficiency.The initial allocation of carbon allowances means that under the total amount control system,the competent authority allocates a certain amount of carbon allowances to emission-controlled enterprises for the first time according to certain standards and methods.The initial allocation of carbon allowances in my country’s carbon trading system is mainly based on free allocation methods such as historical method and benchmark method,supplemented by paid allocation methods such as auction method.As China is in the foremost stage of the development of the carbon trading system,there are still problems in the design of rules for the initial allocation of carbon allowances.The legislative level of relevant legal documents is low and the regulations are vague.The total amount of carbon allowances is set loosely and the proportion of paid allocation is low.Not only that,different pilot carbon trading systems result in fragmented management of carbon allowance allocation among regions,rough allocation schemes,and incomplete relief methods and monitoring models.In order to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,many countries and regions have established and developed carbon trading systems.The carbon trading systems of the European Union,the United States and Australia started early and developed relatively maturely.We can learn from the successful experience of the initial allocation of carbon allowances in the extraterritorial carbon trading system,such as the EU’s perfect legislative system,gradually tightening the total amount setting,the higher proportion of paid allocation in the RGGI system in the United States,and the division in the California total control system.Enterprise-type approaches and carbon pricing mechanisms in Australia,as well as well-established remedies and effective oversight in extraterritorial carbon trading regimes.To solve the problems related to the initial allocation of carbon allowances in my country,we should combine the overall goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,adhere to legislation first,speed up the introduction of national-level carbon trading legislation,and formulate special management regulations for the initial allocation of carbon allowances to improve my country’s carbon trading legislative system.The initial allocation of carbon allowances should serve atmospheric environmental protection rather than economic development.According to the reality of the development of my country’s carbon trading system and the phased goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,the total amount of carbon allowances should be set gradually and the proportion of paid allocation should be increased.The Ministry of Ecology and Environment should coordinate the design of rules for the initial allocation of carbon allowances between industries and regions,and classify different emission-controlled industries and emission-controlled enterprises to refine the initial allocation of carbon allowances,and consider the uneven development between regions and industries.In addition,administrative agencies should strictly control the initial allocation of carbon allowances,and strengthen supervision over the initial allocation of carbon allowances.