On March 3, 2025, the Guidelines on Promoting the Voluntary Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emission Information by Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) jointly launched by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision marked an important breakthrough in promoting the transparency of enterprise carbon emission management and accelerating the achievement of the "dual carbon" goal. This policy is not only an important signal for the upgrading of corporate environmental responsibility, but also heralds profound changes in market structure, industrial chain innovation, and international competition. The design of the "Guidelines" covers the entire chain path from technical benchmarks to practical applications, with the core aim of building a comprehensive system for disclosing greenhouse gas information in enterprises to stimulate their internal motivation for independent emission reduction.
To achieve this goal, the "Guidelines" plan six core strategies that directly address the challenges faced by enterprises, such as complex carbon emission data measurement, scarce application scenarios, and differences in international standards. Firstly, by unifying technical guidelines and establishing a national level emission coefficient database and industry-specific accounting guidelines, such as the "Enterprise Sustainable Development Information Disclosure Standard No. 1- Climate", the confusion of "how to accurately measure and report" for enterprises has been solved. Secondly, broaden the channels for information disclosure, encourage enterprises to use various methods such as ESG reports, annual reports, and pollution discharge permit reports, and explore the release of real-time information at critical moments (such as the implementation of major emission reduction technologies). Furthermore, by improving the information application ecosystem, strengthening the verification mechanism of enterprise greenhouse gas information, and integrating it into the sustainable development report evaluation system, green finance incentives (such as loans and bond interest rate discounts), supply chain carbon footprint management, and international market access (such as carbon tax response), information disclosure can become a source of value creation.
In addition, the Guidelines advocate the introduction of third-party professional services to reduce the difficulty of technology implementation for enterprises; Select key areas and industries as pilot demonstration zones, such as carbon peak pilot cities, pollution reduction and carbon reduction innovation parks, as well as high emission industries such as thermal power, steel, and cement, to take the lead in practice and accumulate experience; At the same time, promoting alignment with international sustainable disclosure standards (such as ISSB) provides support for Chinese companies to narrate the "Chinese narrative" of addressing climate change on the global stage.
From the perspective of enterprises, voluntary information disclosure is both a challenge for management innovation and an opportunity for reshaping competitiveness. In the short term, enterprises need to face challenges such as increased costs and technological barriers, including investing in monitoring equipment, building data management systems, and hiring third-party auditors. This is particularly difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises, and they also need to solve the logical connection between organizational and product level carbon accounting, as well as the process reconstruction of cross departmental collaboration. However, in the long run, this measure will bring significant positive effects: firstly, the convenience of financing will be improved, and enterprises with sound information disclosure will be more likely to obtain green financial support. As shown in the "Green Sovereign Bond Framework" of the Ministry of Finance, if projects in clean transportation, pollution prevention and control are linked to corporate carbon data, they will attract more international capital; The second is the enhancement of brand value. With the increasing demand for transparency from consumers and investors, the level of greenhouse gas information disclosure of enterprises will directly affect ESG ratings, thereby promoting market value growth. This is evidenced by the international recognition of enterprises such as CATL through carbon information disclosure; The third is the strengthening of supply chain control. In global procurement, product carbon footprint has become a key competitive factor, such as in the lithium battery industry. The industry synergy emphasized in the Guidelines will promote the sharing of carbon data upstream and downstream of the supply chain, and help enterprises cope with international trade challenges such as the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism.
The issuance of the "Guidelines" marks the transformation of Chinese enterprises from "responsive emission reduction" to "proactive disclosure". Although companies need to overcome cost and technological barriers in the short term, carbon transparency will undoubtedly become a core element of their competitiveness in the next decade. Whether it is seizing opportunities in green finance or crossing the "carbon barriers" of the international market, pioneers will occupy strategic high ground. This change is not only related to the survival and development of enterprises, but also a key strategic step for China to enhance its influence and promote the "Chinese solution" on the global climate governance stage.