중국 탄소 중립 실현을 위한 법적 쟁점 연구

Abstract

China’s carbon dioxide emissions are 9.66 billion tons, accounting for 26.5% of global emissions, and as the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, it is obliged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions above a certain level. As of 2018, China accounted for 8.4 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. Industries that generate electricity and thermal energy are the biggest sources of carbon dioxide emissions in China, and manufacturing and transportation transportation are also the main causes of carbon dioxide emissions in China. In 1997, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China promulgated the Energy Conservation Act, establishing the concept of energy conservation for the first time. The 2005 “Enforcement of Energy Mid- to Long-Term Development Plans” (源长发展规划纲要能: 2004 – 2020) was the first time that the State Council of China explained the current status of energy use in China at the time. In 2010, China’s State Council’s “Decision on Rapid Development and Development of Strategic Emerging Industries” officially proposed the establishment and improvement of pollutants and carbon emission systems as one of China’s key reform tasks. September 19, 2015 “First Joint Statement on Climate Change in Central America” On March 31, 2016, it was jointly announced by the leaders of China and the United States in Washington, United States. The joint statements announces the implementation of a carbon emission trading system throughout China starting in 2017. In September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the “30/60” target, namely carbon neutrality and carbon emission peak. On December 31, 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China enacted the “Carbon Emissions Trading Management Method (Pilot Plan)” to realize the two goals. This paper studies four major areas of China’s carbon neutral legislation: (1) the carbon neutral bond sector, (2) the natural resources sector, (3) the electric vehicle technology sector, and (4) the energy security sector. In China’s carbon-neutral bond sector, legal issues and solutions for subsidized asset securitization items to be received in renewable energy generation are largely classified into three parts. These include the issues and solutions of the transfer restriction clause of the “Electricity Purchase Contract” item, the rights burden and solutions existing in the “Electricity Purchase Contract” trade receivables, and the uncertainty of the cycle of collecting subsidies for renewable energy. It is more appropriate to assume that the right to additional funds for renewable energy electricity prices lies in the aforementioned legal provisions, not in the “electricity purchase contract” as a whole, in accordance with central financial subsidies issued in accordance with Chinese standards. It means that the payment is actually a fund, a renewable energy generation fund, not an electricity buyer of the “Electricity Purchase Agreement.” The restriction of the transfer restriction of the “Electricity Purchase Agreement” shall be that both parties to the contract shall be based on the rights and obligations prescribed by the “Electricity Purchase Agreement”. Even if subsidies for renewable energy generation are contractual bonds and are based on the nature of monetary bonds, the transfer restriction clause of the “Electricity Purchase Agreement” does not affect the effectiveness of the relevant contract if a transfer occurs. Based on the pledge contract or pledge registration document, the items of subsidies for the development of renewable energy should not be excluded outside the scope of the pledge property. And it is required to create afforestation that can absorb carbon, grasslands that can absorb carbon, and wetlands that can absorb carbon, and the most important thing legally for this is the establishment of a carbon trading system. In the natural resources sector, a carbon emission effect evaluation system and an effective cooperative management model should be established, a soil use plan should be restructured considering carbon neutrality, a carbon neutral system considering regional differences, and a UN-level sustainable forest resource management system should be implemented. China’s electric vehicle technology sector is divided into two parts: electric charging technology and control systems in power batteries. The outlook for China’s electric vehicles should be accompanied by measures to strengthen energy conservation for a low-carbon economy, strengthen the smartization of automobiles, and strengthen the establishment of industry standards. There are three areas of energy security that need to be strengthened in the future: international carbon neutrality goals, new energy security risks, challenges facing China’s energy security to realize carbon neutrality goals, and energy security guarantees. There are also many tasks to solve the above-described existing issues and realize Chinese carbon neutrality in the future. China’s local government’s role, carbon neutral fund, policy coordination based on GDP, cost-cutting efforts to realize low-carbon energy, renewable energy science and technology innovation, energy conservation through innovation in China’s domestic industry, Measures such as improving the carbon emission information disclosure system of listed companies and strengthening international cooperation should produce tangible results.