RPT-China to launch clean energy fund in March-Xinhua
Source: Reuters
(Repeats for wider distribution) SHANGHAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - China is set to launch a fund in March to help finance clean energy projects and plans to set up a global carbon credit trading exchange in Beijing, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The Clean Development Mechanism Fund will collect carbon credit transaction income and donations from international financial organisations and individuals, Xinhua said. The fund has received a $6.4 million loan from the World Bank, and Europe would provide loans worth 500 million euros, Xinhua quoted Ju Kuilin, a senior official with the Ministry of Finance, as saying. China and the United Nations also plan to set up a carbon trading exchange in Beijing, "making the city an important center for multi-billion-dollar trade in global carbon credits," Xinhua said, without giving details. The Kyoto Protocol on global warming sets rich countries emissions reductions targets through to 2012 but allows them to meet these by funding emissions cuts in poor countries. Buying carbon credits is considered cheaper than making domestic cuts. China has dominated as a selling country, so far attracting approved investments to cut emissions through 2012 by some 300 million tonnes -- U.N. data shows -- worth over 3 billion euros ($3.90 billion). It has become a honeypot for investors because some of its carbon credits are achieved at very low cost, for example, by destroying especially potent greenhouse gases which qualify for huge multiples of carbon credits for every tonne of emissions saved. Xinhua said the Chinese government had approved nearly 300 Clean Development Mechanism projects by the end of January, including wind power, hydropower and landfill gas power generations. When all of the projects take off, the fund will absorb around $2 billion, Xinhua said. The fund will be managed by a group formed by seven government authorities, including the the National Development and Reform Commission, it said. China now accounts for one-third of the global carbon credits market, behind India. The UN predicts that China will become the largest carbon credits provider by 2012, covering 41 percent of the global market, according to Xinhua.
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