【英语财经】中国启动“绿色金融”应对环境危机 China gears up for “green finance” to fight environmental crisis

In the 1990s, trade was the defining issue of the US-China economic relationship. Today, as much as any other issue, the environment binds the two giants of the global economy together.

This week, leaders from the international financial community are gathering in Shanghai for preparatory meetings in advance of the G20 summit in Hangzhou this September. Among the most prominent items on the agenda is green finance– public and private investment in environmental protection and climate change mitigation.The US-Chinese economic relationship stands at a critical point. For three decades, China has enjoyed unprecedented growth fueled by government-led investment and the export of manufactured goods, many of them to the American market. China’s leadership is now navigating a difficult transition from an investment-led to a consumer-driven model. In a nation of 1.4bn people with a $10tn economy, this transition is a significant challenge.

Green finance offers an important avenue for China to demonstrate its commitment while delivering positive results for its citizens. China’s environmental challenges are serious. Rapid urbanisation has left nearly two-thirds of China’s groundwater unfit for human consumption and a fifth of its arable land contaminated.

In Beijing alone, last December saw the Chinese leadership issue its first red alert warning citizens of dangerously high smog levels. Later in the month, they had to issue the warning again. Environmental challenges, moreover, can no longer be confined to any one country or continent. Carbon emissions or environmental degradation from China, as with those from any other country, pose a threat to the world’s shared environment.

The Chinese leadership recognises the severity of this challenge and has embarked on a series of green finance initiatives to respond. For the first time in Chinese Communist Party history, green finance was written into the party’s latest five-year plan last November.

The Green Finance Task Force of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environmental Development also released recommendations last year for establishing a modern green finance system. These included creating a green stock index, a green ratings system, public-private green funds, and nationwide carbon and pollution trading markets.

In December, the People’s Bank of China established a green bond market to complement green bank lending. China was also the first country to publish national guidelines on the issuance of green bonds.

Green finance in China presents a massive opportunity for international investors. The chief economist of the Research Bureau at the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), Ma Jun, and leader of the green finance effort for China, estimates that China will need to invest at least $320bn per year in green sectors over the next five years. Yet, current fiscal resources can cover no more than 15 per cent of that total.

The opening of China’s green market can bring significant private sector investment to meet this shortfall. Investors are interested: Goldman Sachs estimates that “green services” is a $1tn potential market over the next five years. Clean energy is another significant market opportunity. Harnessing market principles and innovative financial structures such as securitisations and yield vehicles can catalyze access to deep liquid public capital markets.

Green finance also offers an opportunity to further embed investment within the broader framework of US-China relationship, where the environment has been an important pillar of cooperation. In 2014, the United States and China signed a bilateral agreement on carbon reduction.

Our two countries worked closely with the international community to successfully reach a global climate agreement at the COP21 negotiations in Paris in November. I for one am optimistic that ongoing negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty can lead to further market opening in multiple areas, including green finance.

China is also making green finance a focus area of its G20 presidency. As part of these efforts, the PBoC, together with Bank of England, is chairing a Green Finance Study Group to develop recommendations to mobilise green investment globally.

Of course, China still has significant steps to take to align its green finance efforts with global standards. China’s current guidelines support some broader definitions for what green bonds can be used for and there is room for international harmonisation. Implementation and enforcement of green finance efforts have to follow.

Progress on green finance, nevertheless, can help restore international confidence that China is committed to a balanced and sustainable future — an outcome that China’s population and investors worldwide would welcome.

Mr. Schwartz is a vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the Beijing-based chairman of Goldman Sachs in the Asia-Pacific region.

上世纪90年代，贸易是美中经济关系中的决定性议题。如今，跟其他议题一样，环境使这两个全球经济大国联合起来。

最近，国际金融界领袖齐聚上海，为9月将在杭州举行的20国集团(G20)峰会举行筹备会议。最重要的议题包括绿色金融——公共和私人部门投资于环境保护和气候变化减缓。美中经济关系正处于一个关键点。此前30年，中国实现了前所未有的增长，得益于政府主导的投资和制成品出口（其中很大一部分流向美国市场）。如今，中国领导层正在推动一场由投资驱动向消费拉动的艰难转型。在人口达14亿、经济规模达10万亿美元的中国，这一转型是一个重大挑战。

绿色金融为中国提供了展示自身承诺、同时为国内民众带来积极成果的一条重要途径。中国的环境挑战是严峻的。快速城市化的结果是，中国近三分之二的地下水变得不适合人类使用，五分之一的耕地受到污染。

去年12月，北京首次启动了空气重污染红色预警。当月晚些时候，北京再次发布红色警报。此外，环境挑战再也无法局限在任何单一国家或大洲了。正如其他任何国家一样，中国的碳排放或环境恶化对世界的共享环境构成威胁。

中国领导层认识到了这一挑战的严重性，并启动了一系列绿色金融项目作为应对。去年11月，绿色金融被写入了中共的最新五年计划，这在中共历史上是第一次。

去年，中国环境与发展国际合作委员会（CCICED，简称国合会）绿色金融改革与促进绿色转型课题组也公布了建设现代绿色金融体系的建议。建议包括创建绿色股票指数、绿色评级体系、公私合营绿色基金，以及全国性的碳排放和污染配额交易市场。

去年12月，中国央行(PBoC)建立了一个绿色债券市场，对银行绿色贷款进行补充。中国也是世界上第一个发布全国性绿色债券发行指导意见的国家。

中国的绿色金融为国际投资者提供了一个巨大机遇。中国央行研究局首席经济学家、中国金融学会绿色金融专业委员会主任马骏估计，未来5年里，中国每年需要对绿色行业投入至少3200亿美元。不过，当前的财政资源仅够覆盖所需资金总量的15%。

中国绿色市场的开放，可能会引来大量的私人投资，弥补资金缺口。投资者对此是感兴趣的：高盛(Goldman Sachs)估计，未来5年期间，“绿色服务”市场的潜在规模达到1万亿美元。清洁能源是另一个重大的市场机遇。利用市场原则以及证券化和收益工具等创新金融结构，有望形成深度大、流动性好的公开资本市场，造福于各方。

绿色金融还带来了在美中关系整体框架内进一步嵌入投资的契机。环境一直是美中合作的一根重要支柱。2014年，美国和中国签订了一份双边碳减排协议。

我们两国与国际社会密切合作，在去年11月巴黎的联合国气候变化框架公约缔约方大会第21届会议(COP21)谈判中，成功地达成了一项全球气候协议。我个人乐观地认为，正在推进的美中双边投资条约谈判，有望带来很多领域（包括绿色金融）的进一步市场开放。

中国也把绿色金融作为担任今年G20轮值主席国的一个重点关注领域。在这方面，中国央行和英国央行(BoE)共同主持一个绿色金融研究小组，集思广益，为动员全球绿色投资出谋划策。

当然，中国仍需采取重大措施，使本国的绿色金融项目符合全球标准。中国当前的指导意见支持一些有关绿色债券可以用到哪些地方的宽泛定义，同时仍存在国际协调空间。绿色金融项目的实施与执行必须跟上。

然而，绿色金融的推进，可能会促进国际社会重新相信，中国正致力于打造平衡的、可持续的未来。中国民众和全世界投资者都将欢迎这一结果。

本文作者是高盛集团(Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)副董事长、常驻北京的高盛亚太区董事长

译者/邢嵬