The development of China’s national carbon market: An overview

Tsinghua University Press

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Timeline of the development of China's emissions trading system, from pilot programs to the launch of the national market.

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Credit: Energy and Climate Management, Tsinghua University Press

The launch of China’s national carbon market has doubled the emissions covered by global carbon pricing mechanisms, making it the world’s largest carbon market. It is expected to be a crucial tool for China in achieving its climate goals of peaking CO2 emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.

 

A research team composed of members from Tsinghua University and Carnegie Mellon University, recently published a review article in the journal Energy and Climate Management, outlining the development background and process of China’s national carbon market, introducing the policy design principles and prominent features, and summarizing the significant progress and challenges faced by the current national carbon market in China. This research helps to promote transparency and knowledge sharing among carbon pricing researchers and scholars in the field of climate policy.

 

“China’s national carbon market integrates economic theory with international experience in its design, and more importantly, it fully considers China’s situation,” said Xiliang Zhang, the corresponding author of the paper and director of the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University. “This is particularly reflected in its rate-based design instead of a mass-based system, which is essentially a multi-sector tradable performance standard.”

 

This paper systematically reviews the evolution of China’s policies in the field of carbon dioxide emissions reduction and the development of the carbon market in the past two decades. Since the energy conservation law of the people’s Republic of China in 1997 and the renewable energy law of the People’s Republic of China in 2005 established the legal framework, China has effectively promoted the improvement of energy efficiency through a series of institutional arrangements (such as incorporating energy conservation and emissions reduction targets into the local government performance evaluations), and actively participated in the practice of the clean development mechanism, accumulating valuable experience for the construction of the domestic carbon market. Since 2011, China has launched carbon emissions trading pilots in seven provinces and cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hubei, and Guangdong, and explored the operation mode of carbon market in line with China’s national conditions through regional practice. The official launch of the national carbon market marks the transformation of China’s climate policy tools from relying mainly on administrative measures and financial subsidies to market-based mechanisms.

 

After years of institutional construction, China’s national carbon market started trading on July 16, 2021. “The release of Interim Regulation by China’s top administrative body marks the first administrative regulation aimed at strengthening the governance of China’s carbon market, providing a critical legal framework,” said Xiliang Zhang.

 

The article details the main policy designs of China’s national carbon market, primarily covering sectoral coverage, cap setting, allowance allocation, and the MRV system. It also systematically summarizes the progress and the inadequacies. “Although achieving significant milestones in its initial stage, China’s national ETS faces several challenges -- lack of an official phased development roadmap and effective market stability measures, moderate market activity, unclear coordination with other energy and climate policies, and the role of local government needs to be further leveraged,” Xiliang Zhang mentioned.

 

The research team hopes this paper will offer valuable insights for researchers and policymakers worldwide on carbon pricing. Xiliang Zhang stated, “It is vital to construct China’s carbon market in phases that align with its climate goals and socio-economic development needs, gradually establishing an effective, active, and influential carbon market.”

 

Other authors include Runxin Yu from the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University, and Valerie J. Karplus from the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

 

This work was supported by the special project No. 72140005 of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

 

About Energy and Climate Management

Managing the changing climate and energy transition are two closely related scientific and policy challenges of our society. Energy and Climate Management is an open access, peer-reviewed scholarly, policy-oriented academic journal dedicated to publishing interdisciplinary scientific papers on cutting-edge research on contemporary energy and climate management analysis. The Journal is exclusively available via SciOpen and aims to incentivize a meaningful dialogue between academics, think tanks, and public authorities worldwide. Contributions are welcomed covering areas related to energy and climate management, especially policy, economics, governance, and finance. Online submission portal available at https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/jecm.

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Journal

Energy and Climate Management

DOI

10.26599/ECM.2025.9400015 

Article Title

The development of China’s national carbon market: An overview

 

Socioeconomic status linked with brain health, study suggests

A person’s level of social and economic status can shape their brain heath in later life, a study suggests.

University of Edinburgh

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The world-first study analysed data from nearly one million people to determine links between genetics and measures of occupation, income, education and social deprivation.  

They found that three quarters of the genetic effects linked to each of these four socioeconomic measures are common across them all.

This common signal, termed the genetic factor of socioeconomic status, was then analysed in the 947,466 individuals.

Using a research technique called a genome-wide association study – which looks for links with genetic variations and traits in the brain and behaviour – they found 554 regions in the human genome associated with socioeconomic status.

Using these data, they found that differences in socioeconomic status are a likely causal risk factor in the accumulation of white matter hyperintensities, a condition which could affect thinking skills, dementia risk, and brain function in later life.

Researchers say the findings show socioeconomic status may marginally help explain differences in brain health.

However, the majority of differences in cognitive health are explained by other environmental and social factors such as social conditions, specific policies and even luck, the team say.

An international team of researchers from the UK, Netherlands and Italy analysed genetic data from nearly one million people from the age of 30 to older age.

A common genetic variation accounted for nine per cent of the differences in socioeconomic status, researchers said. The majority of the reasons why people differed in social and financial standing was not due to genetic factors, they added.

The team then studied MRI brain scans from a separate group of around 40,000 people to determine if socioeconomic status influences brain structure and whether brain structure, in turn, affects socioeconomic status.  

They found evidence that a higher level of socioeconomic status leads to lower levels of white matter hyperintensities in the brain.

Researchers say the results show the value of genetic data in identifying the role of changeable environmental risk factors – such as socioeconomic status – in how our brains age.

The study lead, Dr David Hill, an MRC Research Fellow of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: “We found that there is a common genetic signal across measures of occupation, income, education, and social deprivation. By using this common socioeconomic status factor, we were able to capture aspects of socioeconomic status shared between the individual, the household, and the area in which one lives. This enabled us to better identify the causal effects of socioeconomic status on brain structure.”

Dr Charley Xia of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: “Studies examining traits such as socioeconomic status using genetic data can be easily conflated – we have not shown that brain health is genetically determined – rather that through the use of genetic data we were able to identify socioeconomic status as a modifiable environmental influence on brain health in older age.”

The study is published in Molecular Psychiatry (link to paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-025-03047-4)

The study contains an extensive FAQ (Link to FAQ) to serve as a guide for understanding how genetic differences can be linked to socioeconomic status differences, and highlights the value of genetic data as a tool to examine environmental influences in human trait variation.

The study used data from the UK Biobank, a major genetic study into the role of nature and nurture in health and disease and the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium.

The research was carried out by researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Bristol, University College London, Modena in Italy, Vrije University in the Netherlands and Amsterdam University Medical Center.

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Journal

Molecular Psychiatry

DOI

10.1038/s41380-025-03047-4 

Article Title

Deciphering the influence of socioeconomic status on brain structure: insights from Mendelian randomization

DEI

Corporate boards with more women in positions of power lead to safer workplaces

University of Notre Dame

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The most coveted position in corporate America — the board of directors — historically has been criticized for excluding women and other underrepresented groups. Over the past several decades, however, state legislation and pressure from investors have motivated firms to increasingly recruit female directors.

Prior research has shown that having female directors on corporate boards can improve a firm’s financial performance, social responsibility, operations, product quality and recall decisions.

New research from the University of Notre Dame takes a first look at how workplace safety is affected by female board representation, finding similar benefits. There are fewer accidents and injuries on the job when boards have more women.

“However, simply adding women directors is not enough,” said Kaitlin Wowak, the Robert and Sara Lumpkins Associate Professor of Business Analytics at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. “Their influence on future workplace safety increases significantly when they hold powerful positions on key board committees because they feel more comfortable speaking up and get better traction on their ideas.”

Wowak, along with Yoonseock Son, assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at Mendoza, and Corinne Post from Villanova, analyzed a unique dataset covering 1,442 firm-year observations across 266 firms from 2002 to 2011.

Their findings are forthcoming in the Journal of Operations Management paper “From the Boardroom to the Jobsite: Female Board Representation and Workplace Safety.”

The team looked at OSHA workplace safety data and director-level variables from Institutional Shareholder Services, along with information from Violation Tracker including fines and penalties levied by U.S. regulatory agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice, state and regulatory agencies, and state attorneys general.

The research shows that boards with a higher representation of female directors prioritize and enhance workplace safety, likely because they tend to consider a wider range of stakeholders in their decision making, exhibit more risk aversion and favor regulatory compliance.

These findings are underscored by prior studies showing that female directors, in contrast to male directors, often have more experience in community outreach and philanthropy, making them more likely to advocate for prosocial issues. The team demonstrates that women are more likely to show greater consideration and care for employee well-being — including a desire not to harm in their decision making.

Greater focus on risk aversion and regulatory compliance at the board level may improve rule-following and protocols for properly using equipment. For example, the board could request that management monitor and report on safety precautions.

With workplace accidents estimated to cost U.S. employers more than $170 billion annually, Son said their findings can help firms avoid prioritizing efficiency at all costs — a critical determinant of unsafe work behaviors — while avoiding backlash from investors and stakeholders.

“A board with more women will specifically ask the top management team to report to them on workplace safety,” Son said. “Women will set the tone at the top that employees must strictly follow rules, including safety guidelines.”

In an empirical extension of their main analyses, the team looked at racial/ethnic minority (non-white) directors and got the same result, presumably because both groups have unique safety-relevant, social perspectives, yet share the characteristics of being underrepresented, non-prototypical board members whose views tend to be overlooked. 

Further, the team found a synergistic effect with female and minority board representation.

“With more females in the upper echelons, the effect of similar minority representation on future workplace safety becomes even stronger, and vice versa,” Wowak said.

As the first study to suggest that board diversity can enhance a firm’s operations through workplace safety benefits, the team recommends companies also steer women and minorities onto influential board committees and boost accountability measures.

“Having power reduces their inhibitions, limits interference from others and provides more opportunities to speak up and steer discussions,” Son said. “And boards facing greater scrutiny are more likely to leverage their unique perspectives.”

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Journal

Journal of Operations Management

Article Title

From the Boardroom to the Jobsite: Female Board Representation and Workplace Safety

Article Publication Date

1-Jun-2025

 

FAPESP goes to France to expand international research collaboration

Researchers affiliated with São Paulo’s universities, research institutions, companies, and science and technology-based startups participate in another edition of FAPESP Week in Toulouse and Paris.

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

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A session on health was organized in partnership with the Cancer Research Center of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of Toulouse 

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Credit: INSERM, Toulouse

From June 10th to 12th, a group of Brazilian researchers affiliated with universities and research institutions in São Paulo, as well as science and technology-based companies and startups, will present their research and innovation results in the areas of health and aeronautics in Toulouse, the capital of the Occitanie region in southern France. These activities are part of the initial program for FAPESP Week France.

Now in its 25th edition, this series of international symposiums has, since 2011, created opportunities and facilitated scientific collaboration between Brazilian scientists, particularly those from the state of São Paulo, and scientists from other continents.

“These events raise the profile of research carried out in the state of São Paulo and supported by FAPESP, strengthen existing collaborations with the partners involved, and create new dynamics for cooperation based on the international cooperation tools of the institution and similar research and innovation funding agencies,” said Raul Machado, advisor to the Presidency of FAPESP and coordinator of the FAPESP Week initiative.

The FAPESP Weeks bring together leading São Paulo researchers and their colleagues from the target region for various activities, including presentations, roundtable discussions, startup pitches, and networking opportunities. In recent editions, FAPESP has also encouraged the participation of startups supported by its Innovative Research in Small Businesses Program (PIPE).

The Foundation and its partners organize the events in the chosen country, which may be held at one or more institutions and one or more cities within the same region or country. For example, FAPESP Week France will take place in Toulouse and Paris.

In Toulouse, the session on aeronautics will be held at the Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-SUPAERO). The session on health will take place at the Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Jacques, in partnership with the Cancer Research Center of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and the University of Toulouse, in parallel with the session on aeronautics.

The session on health is an offshoot of a health research workshop promoted by FAPESP and the Consulate General of France in São Paulo in June 2024 (read more at: agencia.fapesp.br/52160).

“The state of São Paulo has established expertise in the two topics that will be addressed in Toulouse [health and aeronautics]. Health is the primary area of research supported by FAPESP, and São Paulo has the most consolidated and dense aeronautical research environment in Latin America,” emphasizes Machado.

In contrast, Toulouse is the European capital of aeronautics and aerospace engineering. It is home to one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers and an internationally recognized oncology research center. “These were some of the reasons for choosing this French city to host part of the FAPESP Week France program,” explains Machado.

Program in Paris

In Paris, two scientific forums will be held in partnership with the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN). The first forum, which focuses on museology, will take place from Thursday, June 12th, to Friday, June 13th, and will address the question “What kind of natural history museum is needed in the 21st century?” The second forum, focusing on forests, biodiversity, and human societies, will be held from June 16th to 18th.

In parallel with the scientific forums, FAPESP will also be present at the VivaTech international fair in Paris in partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP). VivaTech is one of Europe’s leading technology and startup events and will take place from June 11th to 14th.

During the four-day event, startups and researchers from USP, supported by FAPESP, will have the opportunity to expand strategic connections, increase the international visibility of their research and products, and attract new investors. They will showcase Brazilian expertise in science and innovation and in the generation of high-impact, applied solutions to address today’s global challenges, at a 100-square-meter stand.

The program for the USP and FAPESP space includes thematic sessions by professors and 19 startups, nine of which are PIPE-FAPESP supported. There will be interactive demonstrations of technologies for investors and the general public, as well as virtual reality experiences and an exhibition of prototypes and models. The startups will also participate in a competitive pitch.

Of the nine startups supported by PIPE-FAPESP that will participate in VivaTech, four will also be part of the lecture program in Toulouse: two in biotechnology and two in aeronautics. “The presentations by these startups will be interspersed with scientific lectures,” says Machado.

The activities of FAPESP Week France are part of the Year of Brazil in France calendar, which includes various activities in more than 50 French cities.

For more information about FAPESP Week France, visit fapesp.br/week/2025/france. 

 

Concordia researchers examine the triumph of social media animal content

Ghalia Shamayleh and Zeynep Arsel describe how sharing adorable images makes the Internet a more paws-itive space

Concordia University

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Social media gets a lot of criticism over its platforming of toxic, divisive or polarizing content. But if you took away the awful material, much of what’s left would be unimaginably cute: clumsy puppies, fuzzy kittens, roly-poly pandas, grinning chimps. The animal kingdom is beloved online, and users want their friends to share in the warmth.  

As a new paper by Concordia researchers shows, sharing animal content goes far beyond eliciting some “awwws” and likes/hearts/hugs. Writing in the Journal of Consumer Research, the authors argue that sharing animal photos and videos, often with a cute hashtag or humorous text, creates a “digital affective encounter” — an online experience that elicits positive feelings.

Sharing these digital tokens acts as a marker of affection in a parasocial or interpersonal relationship. It can be compared to pebbling, where certain types of penguins share pebbles with potential mates during courtship rituals.

The authors assert that the circulation of animal content creates digital affective networks — the relationships and encounters centred on and facilitated by digital mood-elevating content.

“The creation, consumption and circulation of animal photos has become a social phenomenon,” says co-author Zeynep Arsel, a professor in the Department of Marketing at the John Molson School of Business. “It has gone well beyond animals advertising animal products.”

The paper is built on the MSc thesis of Ghalia Shamayleh, MSc 19, PhD 24. She is now an assistant professor at the ESSEC Business School outside Paris, France.

Embedded affection

To better understand the phenomenon, the researchers created a framework that explains the digital object’s journey from creation to circulation, working mostly on the social media platform Instagram. They interviewed content creators, animal page managers and their followers and used their own personal experiences with their own animal companions to map out how an image makes its way across a digital affective network.

The first step is indexicalization. This is taking an image, gif or video of an animal and adding an emotional cue or meaning to signify one’s relationship with it. This can take the form of putting an animal in clothing, adding a hashtag, captioning it with loving language or puns and so on. This imbues the loving relationship between the human and animal into a digital representation. Sharing it with a small network or an individual can be considered a form of pebbling.

Next comes re-indexicalization. This occurs after the content is shared in a network and interacted with in what is called a techno-affective encounter. This leads to additional cues being embedded into the content either with or without additional text. Re-indexicalization makes the cues understandable exclusively to a social network based on shared histories and creates a parasocial relationship between the human consumer and the animal.

The last step, decontextualization, occurs when the personalized information is stripped or altered by a content curator to appeal to a broad audience without a parasocial relationship. The best (and richest) curators are expert at embedding culturally relevant cues that reflect a strong connection with pop culture and zeitgeist. Through this, animal photos become memes that appeal to a wide range of people outside the initial audience for which they were intended.

Arsel notes that while this paper focused exclusively on animal content, the framework it describes is transferable to other fields, such as content depicting delicious food or cute children.

“This paper has societal implications in the sense that it explains something that we do very often and usually without question,” Arsel says. “We wanted to uncover this hidden network, and it all starts with content creators.”

Read the cited paper: “Digital Affective Encounters: The Relational Role of Content Circulation on Social Media.”

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Journal

Journal of Consumer Research

DOI

10.1093/jcr/ucaf023 

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Digital Affective Encounters: The Relational Role of Content Circulation on Social Media

COUNTERING TRUMP

University of Kansas drives $7.8 billion economic impact in Kansas, study shows

University of Kansas

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LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas is a powerful engine of economic growth and job creation for the state of Kansas, according to a new study detailing the university’s impact.

Conducted by global analytics firm Lightcast, the study quantifies KU’s annual statewide impact at $7.8 billion, which includes KU activity in operations, construction and research, as well as the expenditures of KU startup companies, visitors, students and alumni. This activity supports nearly 88,000 jobs — or 1 in every 23 jobs in Kansas. For context, if KU by itself were its own industry sector, it would be the 10th-largest sector in Kansas.

Additionally, the study finds that for every $1 invested in KU, taxpayers gain $2.90 in added tax revenue and public sector savings — illustrating the magnitude of the return on investment for Kansas residents and lawmakers.

The study encompasses the activities of all KU campuses — including the Lawrence and Edwards campuses, as well as KU Medical Center campuses in Kansas City, Wichita and Salina — and The University of Kansas Health System.

The full economic impact study is available at impact.ku.edu.

“As one of the nation’s leading research universities, KU strives to fulfill its mission of education, service and research while also driving economic growth and job creation in Kansas,” said Douglas A. Girod, KU chancellor. “The numbers in this study confirm we are doing exactly that in a way that benefits students, families, communities and companies across Kansas.”

Key categories comprising the $7.8 billion impact include the following: 

• $4.7 billion in operations spending 
• $52.4 million in construction spending 
• $315 million in research spending 
• $89.4 million in startup company impact 
• $86.6 million in visitor spending 
• $39 million in student spending 
• $2.5 billion in alumni impact.

Additional highlights from the report include the following: 

Workforce 
KU helps fill Kansas’ most crucial jobs. KU alumni hold more jobs in Kansas than the alumni of any other university. Of the 49 most common positions filled by Jayhawks in Kansas, 41 are designated "high-demand, high-wage" by the Kansas Department of Labor. 

Return on investment 
A KU degree is a strong investment for students. Student benefit-to-cost ratio is 5.7, which means graduates receive $5.70 for every $1 they invested toward earning a degree. The average annual rate of return on the student investment is 22.3%. 

KU graduates are a great source of revenue for the state. In FY 2023, Kansas avoided $465.9 million in expenses because of KU graduates. When individuals attain a college degree, they create positive savings on health care, the justice system and income assistance programs sponsored by the state. 

Visitors 
KU attracts more than 422,000 out-of-state visitors annually — the equivalent of more than eight full-capacity NASCAR races at the Kansas Speedway — boosting revenue for the state. 

Startup companies 
There are 54 active startup companies created from KU research or technology. More than half of these companies are based in Kansas. KU is home to KU Innovation Park, which currently houses 70 companies totaling 750 direct private-sector jobs and $49.8 million in annual payroll. 

The economic impact study was performed by Lightcast using primary data from KU and partners and Lightcast’s modeling, analysis and data augmentation. Most of the work was performed in 2024 using FY 2023 data. Generally, the approach to calculating KU’s economic impact was conservative. In addition to the statewide impact report, Lightcast has produced a report specific to the Kansas City metropolitan area.