Carbon trade in Beijing tops 100m yuan

BEIJING - Carbon trade volume in Beijing has reached 105 million yuan ($17 million) since a carbon emissions trading plan was launched in the city a year ago, the Beijing Environment Exchange announced.

According to Wang Yang, head of the exchange's carbon trade center, a total of 719 deals worth 2.1 million tons in carbon quotas had been traded as of Friday.

Beijing, home to one of seven pilot carbon emissions trading plans, started carbon trading on Nov 28, 2013.

More than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide had been traded across the country as of early December, with a trade volume of more than 500 million yuan ($80.8 million).

The country has pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 40 to 45 percent per unit of GDP by 2020 compared with 2005 levels.