With this goal in mind, YF Capital – founded by Jack Ma – established the Macau International Carbon Exchange (MEX) at the end of last year. According to the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raymond Tam, the Exchange will serve as a “hub linking Chinese and international standards.”
In the opening speech of the first edition of the Global Forum on Carbon Market Development, which kicked off this year’s MIECF, Tam highlighted that the MSAR is aligning itself with national goals by integrating sustainable development into efforts to diversify the economy.
For Solheim, the Belém Climate Conference, scheduled for this November, will be a crucial opportunity to strengthen this strategy and Macau’s positioning as a strategic platform in the carbon credit market (see box).
He Kebin, Director of the Carbon Neutrality Research Institute at Tsinghua University in Beijing, believes Macau can play three key roles in the future development of green finance: mutual recognition of national and international carbon credit mechanisms; expansion of green capital channels; and establishment of an international platform.
During his speech at the forum, He Kebin also stated that “Macau should enhance high-quality carbon credit projects, support companies’ voluntary emission reduction commitments, and increase the transparency and credibility of global carbon trading.”
According to a report published by the Macau International Carbon Exchange (MEX), Asia is now the largest global supplier of carbon credits, representing 56.19% of the total – primarily due to China (48.15%) and India (23.23%).
Speaking to PLATAFORMA, Solheim said there is “no doubt that China is at the forefront of any green technology,” leading globally in solar and hydroelectric energy, as well as electric vehicles. This leadership position offers significant opportunities for the rest of the world, which can also “benefit from investments and carbon credit trading.”
MEX, which provides standardized carbon credit contracts and international trading solutions for carbon and green energy assets, can help attract investment from Chinese companies for carbon credit issuances abroad, Solheim believes.
During the Forum, MEX launched, in collaboration with Ant Digital Technologies and the DeepRock Group, a plan to ‘tokenize’ green assets using technologies such as IoT, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence, in order to “ensure traceability and prevent fraud” in the carbon credit market.
