Environmental Law

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By Amin Amirkia

On February 24, 2012, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (“CBRC”) introduced a new Green Credit Guideline (“Guideline”) in order to encourage commercial lenders to facilitate loans to “green” enterprises. The CBRC, China’s top banking regulator, ordered commercial lenders to cut loans to industries with high-energy consumption and high levels of pollution or excessive capacity, and to strengthen financial support for environmentally friendly industries and projects.

The CBRC encouraged banks and financial institutions to evaluate, classify and rate the environmental and social risks in their clients’ businesses and to take such results as a key reference in their ratings and access to credit. It has been reported that the CBRC will, as a next step, establish key indexes in order to make the Guideline more specific.Continue Reading Banking Authority Issues Guideline To Encourage Green Credit

On September 8, 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the Catalogue of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products for Disposal (the first batch) (the “Catalogue”), as a supplementary regulation to the Regulation on the Administration of the Recycling and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products (the “Regulation”) which was promulgated previously and will take effect on January 1, 2011.Continue Reading New Rules on Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products

China has played a leading role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and providing carbon credits under a United Nations-backed trading scheme. According to the World Bank, China was involved in 73% of deals made under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 2007, and 84% in 2008, ranking first in the world. Under the CDM, if developed countries invest in clean energy projects in developing countries, they can receive Certification of Emission Reduction (CER) in return. They can then sell the CERs for profit, or use them to meet the emission targets under the Kyoto Protocol.Continue Reading Preparing For Domestic Carbon Trading In China

The Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China promulgated the White Book of “China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change” on October 29, 2008 in Beijing. This White Book explains the impact of climate change on China and introduces China’s policies and actions addressing climate change, as well as the relevant mechanism establishment.Continue Reading China’s New Effort to Environmental Protection