Gong Mengze A few days ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System". This provides a top-level institutional design scheme for confirming the carbon content and carbon footprint of China's automobile products. The basis for achieving the goal of "carbon neutrality" is the effective tracking of carbon footprint, and carbon footprint management includes two core contents: carbon footprint confirmation and carbon footprint accounting. First of all, carbon footprint confirmation means that the carbon emissions come from**. Due to the characteristics of the automotive industry as both industrial chain spillover and discrete, the carbon footprint confirmation of the automobile industry and related industrial chains can be roughly divided into four scopes: first, automobile manufacturing, which focuses on the four major process stages of the vehicle factory;The second is the carbon emissions generated by existing cars on the road;The third is the carbon emissions generated by the production of automobiles and useful materialsFourth, the carbon emissions generated by the upstream and downstream production and first-class links of automobiles. Secondly, carbon footprint accounting, i.e., how large the carbon emissions are. Carbon footprint accounting for automobiles needs to be broken down to specific components, or even to individual materials. Even if the same component produced by two companies is subject to different effects of energy conservation and emission reduction and ultimately the benefits of comprehensive carbon emissions, it cannot be measured by simple data. At the level of carbon accounting methods, there is no official carbon emission accounting standard for the automotive industry in China, and there is no agreement on the carbon accounting method for automotive products. However, the reality is that the increasingly high "carbon barrier" is gradually becoming the new rule of competition in the global automotive market. In May 2023, the EU announced the official decree on the establishment of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and by the end of 2025, the EU will become the first economy in the world to impose a "carbon tariff". In August this year, the EU Battery and Waste Battery Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the "New Battery Law") officially came into effect. According to the provisions of the "New Battery Law", from 2025, the EU will gradually put forward requirements for the carbon footprint of electric vehicle batteries, circular material targets, carbon labels, etc., and those who do not meet the requirements will be subject to market bans and economic penalties. In addition, the Clean Competition Act (CCA) in the United States also requires products exported to the United States to provide proof of carbon footprint, and imposes additional carbon tariffs on products that do not completely reduce emissions and gain a competitive advantage. In the author's opinion, the current development situation and export momentum of electric vehicles in China are booming, and we should accelerate research and deployment from three aspects: establishing a carbon footprint accounting system, promoting international convergence and mutual recognition of carbon footprint, and activating the vitality of carbon reduction in the whole industry chain, and establish and quickly improve the carbon footprint accounting system recognized at home and abroad as soon as possible, which is undoubtedly beneficial and necessary for Chinese brand car companies. In terms of establishing a carbon footprint accounting system, there are many ways to carry out carbon footprint accounting, and the "New Battery Law" gives a new clear accounting idea: the accounting of product carbon footprint based on the bill of materials. In the next step, the relevant departments should compile and release the green development roadmap of China's automobile industry as soon as possible, explore the establishment of a carbon footprint accounting system for the automobile industry, and promote the construction of a green industrial chain. In terms of promoting international convergence and mutual recognition of carbon footprints, it is necessary to confirm with economies such as the European Union and the United States as China's carbon footprint accounting system, policies, and standards are established in the future. By establishing China's independent carbon footprint management system and strengthening international docking, it is not only conducive to promoting industrial upgrading, helping enterprises save energy and reduce carbon emissions, but also properly addressing the best barriers and enhancing the recognition and competitiveness of China's foreign trade products. In terms of activating the carbon reduction vitality of the whole industry chain, the current carbon emission reduction work of the domestic automotive industry has the problem of weak industrial chain coordination, which is composed of weak carbon reduction awareness, weak carbon accounting methods and weak carbon accounting data. To this end, the competent authorities of the automotive industry need to accelerate the development of standards for the identification of carbon footprints of automotive products. Strengthen carbon labeling, guide public consumption and awareness of energy conservation and carbon reduction, and work together with toolboxes such as double credits and carbon trading to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in the automotive industry. Automobile companies should also establish carbon footprint accounting capabilities to cope with the stringent pressure of carbon labeling and carbon disclosure in the future, and establish a good image of practicing social responsibility.
* |Station cool Hailuo production |Zhou Wenrui