Shenzhen implements new environmental protection regulations

Shenzhen's ecological environmental protection regulations have become effective from yesterday, sources from the Shenzhen Municipal Ecology Environment Bureau said.

The latest regulations are the upgrades to the 1994 version to further protect the ecological environment and address related problems.

The 2021 regulations contain a new chapter called Climate Change Solutions, including a raft of measures targeting greenhouse gas emissions reduction. According to the regulations, the city must set up a platform encouraging energy saving and carbon emissions reduction among small- and micro-sized enterprises, communities, families and individuals. Using the platform, citizens can record and calculate their carbon emissions reduction rates in daily life activities, which include taking public transportation.

A citizen surnamed Li showed his low carbon emissions “account book” to a reporter of Shenzhen Evening News, saying that he would reduce 3.2 kilograms of carbon emissions a day by heading to the office from home through the combination of walking, taking a bus and riding a bicycle instead of driving a car.

Enterprises’ greenhouse gas emissions is a major cause of climate change. Shenzhen has led in improving the emissions-trading market in the past decade. Carbon trade is the buying and selling of credits that allow a company or other entity to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. The city has one company, China Emissions Exchange Co. Ltd., which is also one of the country’s earliest markets for carbon emissions trading. It was established with the approval of the city government in 2010.

Shenzhen has also pioneered in climate change legislation. The city’s next step is developing detailed schemes covering industry, construction and transportation.

Furthermore, the regulations highlight the establishment of a biodiversity conservation system to protect the ecological system and genetic and organism diversity, and enhance biological safety management, such as making biodiversity conservation plans to designate protected zones and areas.