THE country’s securities regulator said it will work to strengthen the environmental responsibilities of listed companies, promote green finance and focus more on environmental issues when reviewing initial public offerings or mergers.

Responding to a speech on the environment by President Xi Jinping on Saturday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) promised to “actively support” green bonds and encourage environmentally friendly companies to make more use of the capital market.

It would also look into developing new ways of financing environmental protection, and strengthen the obligations of listed companies to disclose environmental information, the CSRC said in a statement published late Monday.

President Xi said the country must fight against waste and irrational consumption as it bids to reverse the damage done to its environment after decades of breakneck growth, Xinhua reported Saturday.

Xi said at a meeting that while China had made great progress in fighting against pollution, the achievements so far had not yet been fully “consolidated.”

“We must speed up the construction of a system of ecological civilization and ensure that the ecology and environment is fundamentally improved by the year 2035, and that our goal of building a beautiful China is basically achieved,” he said.

China launched a “war on pollution” in 2014 in order to reverse the damage done to its skies, rivers and soil since it started opening up its economy.

The country has launched a series of crackdowns on polluters as well as the local governments that protect them, but has also been looking for ways to “normalize compliance” by creating more market incentives to clean up.

The CSRC said it would work to introduce more market mechanisms to help fight the war on pollution, including new types of futures products covering carbon emissions.

The Economic Information Daily reported Monday that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment was looking into the possibility of developing cross-regional emissions quota trading.

China is also planning to launch a mandatory renewable power trading platform that will force regions to source a certain amount of electricity from green sources and buy certificates to make up for any shortfalls.

(SD-Agencies)