SFW to form part of a ten-man team, assembled by Ecofys and including renowned Chinese institutes that will assist Tianjin Climate Exchange to design and pilot emissions trading scheme for the Tianjin Municipality.

Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 6th August 2012 – Ecofys has been selected as consultant for a technical assistance (TA) project, officially launched in May 2012, which will help Tianjin develop a pilot emissions trading scheme (ETS). The project is the first major ETS project commissioned by a large international donor, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in support of ETS development in China. The Chinese government plans to launch a national carbon market by 2015 utilising experiences gained from developing seven regional pilot schemes. The municipalities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chongqing, and the provinces of Guangdong and Hubei are the chosen Chinese regions selected to develop the pilots.

Ecofys will assist Tianjin Climate Exchange, the lead agency for the project, to design the trading platform and support its implementation, amongst other tasks. The ADB granted $750,000 under the TA project to cover technical consultancy and other expenses. The Tianjin carbon market is expected to be ready for operation in 2013. The project should provide valuable experience to guide the future development of a national trading scheme, which aims to help China meet its target of reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

“This pilot project will offer valuable lessons for the design of a nationwide system to reduce the carbon intensity of the Chinese economy,” said Pradeep Perera, Principal Energy Specialist in ADB’s East Asia Department.

Recognised as a founding father of the European ETS, Ecofys has assembled a ten-man team, including experts from renowned Chinese institutes and the UK Company SFW Ltd, to contribute their substantial expertise to this project. “Ecofys is looking forward to working closely with Tianjin to build a solid carbon market. For us, this represents a significant and important project that will help China lead the way in building successful domestic ETS schemes,” stated Alyssa Gilbert, Unit Manager Market based Mechanisms at Ecofys’ London office. “Ecofys is already advising governments across three continents on the implementation of ETS schemes.”

“SFW is delighted to be providing expertise to support this project” said SFW Director, Peter Hornsby. “From a technical implementation perspective, I believe that SFW’s deep and practical knowledge of carbon market tools will be a great asset in the development of a successful scheme.”