Sectoral crediting mechanism: How far China has to go

Based on the review of the basic design of the sectoral crediting mechanism (SCM) – a promising option for developing countries’ emission reduction commitments – this paper analyzes five important practical issues for China to solve before participating in SCM, which include (1) difficulties in determining a crediting baseline (2) the unsolved over-supply problem in the carbon market (3) the very likely “carbon credits falling short of mitigation costs” problem (4) the immature market-oriented price system jeopardizing the success of motivation incentives and (5) inadequate capacity building. Corresponding suggestions or compromise solutions are given after a discussion of each issue. It is also recommended that in order to witness SCM come into being, researchers and negotiators should endeavor to solve the practical issues that SCM meets now, bearing in mind the balance of interests of both developing and developed countries. Finally we believe that SCM’s political barriers can be overcome when technical, economic institutional and capacity problems are solved.