China Green Bulletin: Central Bank Calls for Clearer Classifications for Green Finance

PBOC official pushes for green finance to be classified more clearly

At the 2022 Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum, Wang Xin, head of the research bureau of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), called for separating carbon emission reduction from eco-environmental protection projects in green finance.

Wang said the green finance concept is currently quite broad. To better formulate incentive and constraint policies, carbon emission reduction, biodiversity preservation and environmental protection activities should be better differentiated and defined. For example, he said, the production and use of clean coal, which had been removed from the 2021 Catalogue of Projects Supported by Green Bonds, did not reduce carbon emissions, but was beneficial to eco-environmental conservation. Financing carbon emission cuts have taken on greater importance since China announced its ambitious carbon goals. By the end of 2021, the balance of green loans in China was about 16 trillion yuan, among which loans that encourage carbon emission reduction accounted for 67%.