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The writer is UN special envoy on climate action and finance and a former governor of the Bank of England
本文作者是联合国(UN)气候行动和金融问题特使，曾任英国央行(Bank of England)行长
The brutal reality of climate physics is that the carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5C will be exhausted within a decade if the world remains on its current trajectory. That makes emissions reductions today especially crucial because they create time for the enormous investments needed in clean technologies, while extending the horizon to commercialise such innovations.
气候物理学的残酷现实是，如果世界继续沿着目前的轨迹发展，将升温限制在1.5摄氏度以内的碳预算将在十年内耗尽。这使得今天的减排尤为重要，因为它们为清洁技术所需的巨额投资创造了时间，同时扩大了将此类创新商业化的视野。
Voluntary carbon markets can play a key role in realising this time value of carbon. At present, VCMs are small — just $2bn annual issuance globally. This is largely because they have lacked integrity. There are valid questions about the credibility of claims made for projects and by buyers, the negative impacts on local and indigenous communities and whether the expansion of credits could disincentivise absolute emissions reductions.
自愿碳市场(VCM)可以在实现碳的时间价值方面发挥关键作用。目前，自愿碳市场规模较小，全球年发行量仅为20亿美元。这在很大程度上是因为他们缺乏整合。人们对项目和购买者提出的要求的可信度、对当地和土著社区的负面影响以及信用额度的扩大是否会抑制绝对排放量的减少等问题提出了合理的质疑。
Policymakers are now stepping up to address these concerns. The US government took a groundbreaking step last month in announcing its principles for responsible participation in VCMs. It is putting to work the power of market-based solutions to build a clean economy that supports jobs, communities and growth. This is a vital first move. To reach the scale needed, major economies should work together to build globally integrated markets, not least to expand dramatically the decarbonisation opportunities for emerging and developing economies that are currently starved of capital.
政策制定者现在正在加紧解决这些担忧。上个月，美国政府迈出了开创性的一步，宣布了负责任参与自愿碳市场的原则。它正在发挥以市场为基础的解决方案的力量，建立一个支持就业、社区和增长的清洁经济。这是至关重要的第一步。为了达到所需的规模，主要经济体应共同努力，建立全球一体化市场，尤其是为目前资金匮乏的新兴和发展中经济体大幅扩大脱碳机会。
High-integrity VCMs can promote a smoother, more efficient transition. If well designed, they can accelerate the pace of absolute emissions reductions. They catalyse investment by accelerating the deployment of clean energy, improving the economics of new technologies and funding a socially just transition. They can play decisive roles in catalysing the enormous capital needed to transition from coal to clean generation in Asia and to accelerate nature-based solutions everywhere.
高整合的自愿碳市场可以促进更平稳、更有效的过渡。如果设计得当，它们可以加快绝对减排的步伐。它们通过加速清洁能源的部署、提高新技术的经济性和为社会公正的转型提供资金，来促进投资。它们可以在促进亚洲从煤炭发电向清洁发电过渡所需的巨额资本，以及在各地加速以自然为基础的解决方案方面发挥决定性作用。
But none of this will be possible unless these markets are built on solid foundations, with the right principles. The authorities must establish standards for end-to-end integrity — of supply, demand and markets. Social integrity must also ensure that benefits flow to local communities.
但是，除非这些市场建立在坚实的基础之上，并遵循正确的原则，否则这一切都不可能实现。有关当局必须为供应、需求和市场建立端到端的整合标准。社会整合也必须确保当地社区受益。
Supply integrity ensures projects deliver credible emissions reductions that would not have occurred otherwise. To that end, the carbon market is coalescing around the new supply-side standards established by the independent Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market to ensure credit developers have robust governance and transparent reporting, and provide compensation if projects don’t deliver. These standards need to be supported by third-party monitoring, assurance and risk mitigation.
供应的整合确保项目提供可信的减排，否则就不会发生。为此，碳市场正在围绕由自愿碳市场整合委员会(Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market)制定的新的供应方标准进行整合，以确保信贷开发商拥有健全的治理和透明的报告，并在项目未能交付时提供补偿。这些标准需要得到第三方监测、保证和风险缓解的支持。
Demand integrity means companies that invest in carbon credits do not delay the decarbonisation of activities over which they have most control. Only those performing against ambitious targets and transition plans should earn the right to invest in credits.
需求的整合意味着，投资于碳信用额度的企业不会推迟它们最有控制权的活动的去碳化。只有那些实现了雄心勃勃的目标和过渡计划的企业，才应该获得投资信用额度的权利。
The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative has taken up the challenge of determining how companies can use credits for their net zero transitions, without compromising their incentives to reduce operational emissions. Policymakers must support and build upon these standards, buttressed by an assurance ecosystem for transition plans and credit use that is akin to auditors verifying the accuracy of financial accounts.
自愿碳市场整合倡议(Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative)已经接受了挑战，即确定企业如何在不损害其减少运营排放的积极性的情况下，利用碳信用额度实现净零转型。政策制定者必须支持和建立这些标准，同时还需要一个类似于审计师验证财务账目准确性的保证生态系统，来支持过渡计划和碳信用的使用。
Market integrity is fundamental to ensuring the equitable treatment of participants and to developing the infrastructure for VCMs to scale up. This can be reinforced by innovations such as the Global Carbon Market Utility, which was launched at COP27 and will help ensure the markets have strong data transparency as well as management, supporting standardised contracts, robust audits and verification processes and effective dispute resolution mechanisms.
市场整合对于确保公平对待参与者和发展基础设施以扩大自愿碳市场规模至关重要。全球碳市场公用事业(Global Carbon Market Utility)等创新可以加强这一点。全球碳市场公用事业在COP27上启动，将有助于确保市场具有强大的数据透明度和管理，支持标准化合同、健全的审计和核查程序以及有效的争议解决机制。
The prize is huge if we get this right. Carbon markets can provide hundreds of billions of dollars in annual cross-border capital flows to emerging markets, promote the end of high-emitting assets and help prevent new coal generation in Asia. They can also create significant financing for biodiversity and indigenous peoples, including the essential reforestation of the Amazon. Far from a distraction, there is growing evidence they will help more companies commit to ambitious net zero goals and decarbonise faster.
如果我们做对了，我们将获得巨大的回报。碳市场每年可以为新兴市场提供数千亿美元的跨境资本流动，促进高排放资产的终结，并有助于防止亚洲产生新的煤炭。碳市场还可以为生物多样性和原住民创造大量资金，包括在亚马逊地区进行至关重要的重新造林。越来越多的证据表明，它们不仅不会分散人们的注意力，反而会帮助更多企业实现宏伟的净零碳排放目标，更快地实现去碳化。
Now is the time for the G20 to build on the US initiative, and grasp the nettle to create a globally integrated, high-integrity carbon market. No more debating while the world literally burns.
现在正是二十国集团(G20)在美国倡议的基础上，抓紧时间创建一个全球一体化、高度整合的碳市场的时候了。不要在世界真的烧起来的时候争论不休了。