China just got serious about global warming. Now we’re really out of excuses.

The world's biggest polluter will set up a carbon market as early as 2016. Here's why that matters.

Over the weekend, China announced it was moving forward with plans for a massive, nationwide cap-and-trade program intended to help combat global warming. Here’s why China is doing this now, and what we know about the plan so far.

Global Carbon Emissions

Carbon pollution

world's biggest carbon market

carbon intensity

carbon trading pilot programs

international market carbon prices

china as carbon market hub

This story was produced as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

A message from

All donations matched for a limited time!

Grist is the only award-winning newsroom focused on exploring equitable solutions to climate change. It’s vital reporting made entirely possible by loyal readers like you. At Grist, we don’t believe in paywalls. Instead, we rely on our readers to pitch in what they can so that we can continue bringing you our solution-based climate news.

Donate Now Not Now