Mubasher: China has launched the first phase of its emission trading scheme (ETS) to reduce carbon, in the form of an emissions trading system.

The State Council gave approvel to the plans last week and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) highlighted how it will initially cover the country’s heavily polluting power generation plants.

The world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases will focus on the power sector, which produced almost half of the country’s emissions from the burning of fossil fuels last year.

The NDRC’s vice chairman Zhang Yong said at a briefing that trading will be based in Shanghai, involving 1,700 power companies and over 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to Reuters.

The long-awaited scheme could bolster global efforts to combat climate change, especially after the US President Donald Trump’s administration vowed to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

“China’s move to create the world’s largest carbon market is yet another powerful sign that a global sustainability revolution is underway,” the US former vice president and a prominent voice on the environment Al Gore said in a statement.

“With the top global polluter enacting policies to support the Paris Agreement and transition to a low carbon economy, it is clear that we’re at a tipping point in the climate crisis,” Al Gore continued.

The ETS of the world’s No.1 polluter will help companies diminish emissions and carbon-intensified assets through the controlled allocation and trading of carbon emission allowances.

China is not considering to link this scheme with other countries at the moment, director of the NDRC Li Gao said, pointing out that it will also take time to have a national carbon price.

It is worth mentioning that China is the most coal burner in the world and it produces more than a quarter of the world’s human-caused global warming gases.