With China set to introduce a national cap and trade system for greenhouse gases in 2016, “now we’re really out of excuses,” Mother Jones noted September 4. Cap and trade—where emissions are calculated and capped, polluters are issued permits, and companies whose emissions exceed their allowance must either buy additional permits or cut their GHGs—has long been seen as one of the cornerstones of a low-carbon transition. China’s carbon market will be the world’s largest when it opens, and MoJo says the plan is intended to reduce emissions by up to 22% and carbon intensity—the country’s emissions per unit of GDP—by 40-45% by 2050.
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