On November 22, five departments including the national development and Reform Commission issued the opinions on accelerating the establishment of a product carbon footprint management system (hereinafter referred to as the opinions), proposing to encourage social capital to invest in the construction of a commercial carbon footprint background database, and guide financial institutions to gradually establish a product carbon footprint oriented enterprise green low-carbon level evaluation system.

"Product carbon footprint is a kind of carbon emissions accounting, which generally refers to the total carbon emissions generated by the processes of raw material processing, transportation, production and ex factory sales. It is an important indicator to measure the green and low-carbon level of production enterprises and products." the relevant person in charge of the national development and Reform Commission said that after the issuance and implementation of the opinions, it will play an important role in three aspects, namely, it is conducive to promoting industrial upgrading, Help enterprises save energy and reduce carbon; It is conducive to promoting green consumption and expanding the supply of low-carbon products; It is conducive to properly dealing with trade barriers and enhancing the competitiveness of China's foreign trade products.

According to zhangyingjian, director of the asset and Environmental Business Department of China International Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd., the opinions responds to the urgent needs of the market for establishing a product carbon footprint management system in recent years, fills the institutional gaps in relevant fields, and is a comprehensive document guiding the construction of a domestic product carbon footprint management system, which is of great significance.

According to the opinions, by 2025, about 50 carbon footprint accounting rules and standards for key products will be issued at the national level, a number of carbon footprint background databases for key industries will be initially completed, the national product carbon labeling certification system will be basically established, the application scenarios of carbon footprint accounting and labeling in the fields of production, consumption, trade and finance will be significantly expanded, and the carbon footprint accounting rules, standards and carbon labeling for several key products will achieve international mutual recognition.

In terms of content, the opinions has deployed five key areas of work to build the overall framework of the product carbon footprint management system: the first is to develop standards for product carbon footprint accounting rules, the second is to build a carbon footprint background database, the third is to establish a product carbon identification certification system, the fourth is to enrich the application scenarios of product carbon footprint, and the fifth is to promote the international convergence and mutual recognition of carbon footprint.

"The five key works of carbon footprint management system construction have jointly formed a relatively perfect system design." Zhang Yingjian believes that the first three cover three key links of basic capacity construction of carbon footprint management system. That is, the rules link, the database link and the certification link. The latter two are mainly to strengthen the application of product carbon footprint from both domestic and international aspects. From the domestic perspective, enrich the application scenarios of product carbon footprint, and the focus is to give full play to the role of carbon footprint management in promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of enterprises, encourage leading enterprises to establish a product carbon footprint management system, timely incorporate the relevant requirements of carbon footprint management into the government procurement demand standards, orderly promote the promotion and application of carbon labeling in the field of consumer goods, and support the results of carbon footprint accounting as an important acceptance basis for green financial products.

In addition, the opinions specifically pointed out that Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay area should actively promote the pilot construction of product carbon footprint certification and accelerate the formation of beneficial experience and institutional achievements.

"The opinions are of great significance for standardizing and orderly national carbon footprint management, effectively coping with the impact of European and American carbon related trade barriers, accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of production and consumption, and helping to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization." xushaoshan, member of the Party committee and Deputy director of China Quality Certification Center, said.