The Shanxi Department of Ecology and Environment and the Shanxi Department of Finance recently issued a joint plan to promote the construction of near-zero carbon emission demonstration projects in North China's Shanxi province. 

The plan proposes four tasks – furthering low-carbon pilot project construction, promoting the construction of near-zero carbon emission demonstration projects, piloting a mechanism for quantifying and recording the emission reduction behavior of enterprises and the public and realizing their value through consumption channels, as well as piloting carbon footprint certification. 

The existing national low-carbon cities, provincial-level low-carbon cities, counties and districts will step up construction on low-carbon pilot projects in combination with national peak carbon emission and carbon neutrality goals, as well as the requirements of local high-quality development. 

Shanxi will encourage the creation of near-zero carbon emission pilot industrial parks, counties, communities, public institutions, buildings and enterprises. 

The province will encourage the public to actively live a low-carbon lifestyle, reduce carbon emissions, and form an incentive mechanism that rewards residents for their energy-saving and low-carbon behavior. 

It will promote the carbon emission accounting and carbon label certification of key products, so as to accelerate the green and low-carbon development of industries. 

In 2022, the province will collect the above-mentioned pilot projects and complete the evaluation of the creation plan and the recognition of the pilot projects; in 2023-24, it will track and evaluate the development of these projects; and by the end of 2025, it will complete the construction of the first near-zero carbon emission demonstration projects. 

To ensure the success of the projects, Shanxi will urge financial institutions to offer new financial products targeting low-carbon and zero-carbon pilot projects, encourage the research, development, and application of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies in the projects, and support the development of industrial clusters involved in the transformation of low-carbon, zero-carbon and negative-carbon technologies. 

Shanxi will offer a one-time reward for each near-zero carbon emission demonstration project that completes the objectives and tasks laid out in the plan.