China’s Hebei province issued emission trading rules to develop pollution market

The Department of Ecology and Environment of China’s Hebei province issued emission trading rules called the Interim Measures of Hebei Province on Emission Trading on May 11, 2022, and the Interim Measures of Hebei Province on the Allocation of Major Pollutant Discharge Allowances (the “Allocation Measures”) on May 13, both of which came into effect immediately.

In a pilot program for emission trading reform announced in January, the province stated that it aimed to establish a centralized provincial emission trading platform by June 2022, develop emission trading regulations and a pollution market framework, and fully implement paid pollution allowances in 2023. Under this program, the Allocation Measures stipulates what is traded in the pollution market and provides specific procedures for pollution allowance allocation and trading.