On September 20, on the platform of Guangzhou Carbon Emission Trading Center, 107 villages in 13 towns of Guangning County successfully bid for forestry carbon sequestration carbon inclusive projects at a transaction price of 36.5 yuan/ton, and sold 145,800 tons of carbon inclusive certified emission reductions, which marked the completion of the trading and realization of ecological value of mountains and forests in Guangning, and directly brought a total of about 5.32 million yuan of economic benefits to the village collective.
This is our county's successful bidding for forestry carbon sequestration carbon inclusion projects in 4 provincial poverty-stricken villages in 2020, and once again successfully unlocked the "forestry carbon sequestration carbon inclusive trading". The sale of 145,800 tons of carbon inclusive certified emission reductions is also the largest auction transaction in Guangdong Province in recent times.
Forestry carbon sequestration refers to the process mechanism of using the carbon storage function of forests to absorb and fix carbon dioxide in the atmosphere compared with natural conditions through artificial activities such as afforestation and forest management, and combining it with carbon sink trading in accordance with relevant rules. Forestry carbon sequestration trading, commonly known as "selling air", is a measure to compensate for the ecological value of forests through market mechanisms, that is, to trade carbon inclusive emission reductions through the entrusted carbon emission rights exchange.
The forest coverage rate of Guangning County is as high as 82.17%, and the county's bamboo forest area is about 1.08 million mu, with a history of more than 2,000 years of bamboo resource development and utilization, and is known as the "hometown of Chinese bamboo". In recent years, Guangning County has continued to pursue "new" and "green", and has taken the development of forestry carbon sinks as an important measure to practice the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and solve the "difficulty in trading" and "difficulty in realization" of the value of ecological products in the county.
Seize the opportunity to promote carbon inclusion at a high level
In April 2020, since the province issued the "Guangdong Forestry Carbon Sequestration Carbon Inclusive Methodology (2020 Revised Edition)" plan, the Guangning County Party Committee and the county government have attached great importance to the work of carbon inclusion, cultivated a group of forestry carbon sequestration technical teams that understand policies, have technology, and can practice, and effectively incorporate the development of forestry carbon sequestration and carbon inclusive projects into the county's key work as an annual livelihood matter.
In 2021, the declaration of forestry carbon sequestration carbon inclusive projects was launched, and after three rounds of verification, in January 2024, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment approved the forestry carbon sequestration carbon inclusive projects in 13 towns and 109 villages to be recorded as provincial carbon inclusive emission reductions.
In order to better implement the application and auction of carbon inclusive projects, Guangning County organized environmental protection, forestry and other departments and carbon inclusive declaration technicians to go deep into the towns (streets) to carry out 9 forestry carbon sequestration and carbon inclusive publicity meetings, so that villagers can deeply understand the specific policies of carbon inclusiveness.
Fully mobilize the enthusiasm of town and village cadres, give full play to the service functions of third-party companies, and contact village (neighborhood) committees online and offline, guide the collection of public opinions, application materials, etc., and receive positive responses from administrative villages and communities.
Helping and working together to promote the "realization" of air
It is reported that after the forestry carbon sequestration project was filed and issued by the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment on January 10, 2024, the main leaders of the Guangning County Party Committee and the county government listened to the special report many times, and the Guangning Branch of the Municipal Environment Bureau and the "Millions of Projects" longitudinal assistance team in Guangning County convened (town) street and village committees to hold special work meetings for many times to strive for support from multiple parties and unremittingly promote the auction work in the spirit of nailing. In the end, the forestry carbon sequestration project sold 145,800 tons of emission reductions, bringing a total of about 5.32 million yuan of village-level collective economic benefits to 107 villages.
The relevant person in charge of the "Hundreds of Thousands Project" vertical assistance team in Guangning County said: "The task force will be based on the advantages of Guangning's ecological resources, give full play to the role of the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Yuecai Holdings, and GF Securities in the vertical assistance, continue to explore the development and reserve of carbon sink projects, coordinate and promote a number of financial institutions to deeply connect with the investment and financing needs of Guangning's 'ecology + industry', accelerate the pace of integration into the carbon inclusive trading market, let the masses benefit from carbon sink trading, and realize the greening of the earth, the efficiency of forestry, and the increase of farmers' income." ”
Simultaneous management and protection to build a green ecological barrier
The success of this forestry carbon sequestration transaction not only increased the income of the village's collective economy, but also an important breakthrough in the green development of Quang Ninh County. In recent years, Guangning County has conscientiously implemented the work requirements of the Provincial Party Committee to further promote the ecological construction of Lumei Guangdong, strengthened the ecological construction of forestry in an all-round, all-region and whole-process manner, accurately improved the quality of forests, enhanced the function of carbon fixing and carbon neutrality, and built a new pattern of ecological construction in Lumei Guangdong. Since 2023, 34,900 mu of forest stand optimization, 21,600 mu of new afforestation and tending have been completed, 45,980 mu of forest tending have been completed, and 1,933,900 seedlings have been planted, continuously improving the carbon sequestration capacity of forests.
At the same time, we will continue to promote the action of loving green plants and protecting greenery for the whole people, adhere to the principle of "protection first, scientific planning, rational utilization, and sustainable development", carry out the tree-planting activity of "one small plant per week, one large plant per month", carry out 429 voluntary tree-planting activities in the past two years, plant 180,000 seedlings and bamboos of various types, and build 205 theme forests such as "enterprise forest", "women's forest" and "youth forest" to build a solid green protection barrier.
Since 2023, a total of 114 cases of forestry violations have been filed and investigated, involving an area of 1,598 mu of forest land, and a fine of 8.72 million yuan has been imposed to effectively maintain forest ecological security.
In the next step, Guangning County will give full play to the advantages of rich forest resources, promote the development of forestry carbon sinks in the county through the successful radiation of carbon inclusive trading, gradually realize the organic unity of the three major benefits of ecology, economy and society, and constantly explore a better successful path for carbon inclusive trading, so as to make Guangning's responsibility and contribution to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to achieve "carbon peak" and "carbon neutrality" ahead of schedule.
At the same time, combined with the "Millions and Thousands Project", the village committee will be organized to invest the benefits of forestry carbon inclusion in public construction, and carry out in-depth policy publicity on the construction of ecological civilization, carbon sink benefiting the people, carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and responding to climate change, so as to enhance the enthusiasm of the masses to participate in carbon inclusiveness, and form a good atmosphere in the whole society to consciously protect the ecological environment and support and cooperate with the promotion of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.
Source: Quang Ninh release