GUANGDONG Province will include the aviation sector in the final year of its pilot program for trading carbon emissions permits, Guangdong’s provincial government said Friday.

    The inclusion will help Guangdong prepare its regional program for the national market, due to start next year.

    The local government did not say which aviation companies would participate in the scheme.

    China, seeking to meet a pledge for its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to peak around 2030, will have eight industrial sectors covered by the national carbon market, including some of its largest airline companies such as Air China and China Eastern Airlines.

    In Guangdong, manufacturers in the power, steel and iron, petrochemical and cement sectors have been brought into the program since 2013, when the country started pilot programs in seven regions.

    The four sectors in Guangdong this year will have 189 companies receiving 365 million permits, down 1.4 percent from the number of permits last year.

    The local government will also set aside another 21 million permits for auctions and to allocate to newcomers.

    The quarterly auctions will start from September and 2 million permits in total will be available for sale, the same as in the previous year.

    Some 33 million permits have been traded on the China Emission Exchange in Guangdong as of June 20, the annual deadline for companies to surrender permits to the local government, or 31 percent of the total number traded across the whole country, the exchange said.

    It reported a 100 percent compliance rate this year.

    However, the price of permits has fallen sharply, down 33 percent over the past year to close at 9.8 yuan (US$1.47) Friday, exchange data show.

    A group of government-led think tanks said in a report last week the price of carbon permits would have to rise to at least 60 yuan for CO2 emissions to peak in 2029 at 11 billion tons.

    Prices on China’s seven exchanges currently range from around 10 to 40 yuan.

    (SD-Agencies)