According to the Ministry’s roadmap, China aims to implement both the Basic Standard and the Climate Standard by 2027, and to build a unified national sustainability disclosure system by 2030. The release of this draft accelerates progress toward that goal.
Source: China Securities Journal
China’s Ministry of Finance has released a draft version of its Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standard No. 1 – Climate (Trial) for public consultation, marking the country’s first thematic sustainability disclosure rule focused specifically on climate-related issues. The draft follows the issuance of the Basic Standard for Corporate Sustainability Disclosure (Trial) in November 2024, jointly released by nine government agencies.
Under the draft framework, companies would be required to disclose their total greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3, and structure their climate-related disclosures around four key pillars: governance, strategy, risk and opportunity management, and metrics and targets. Experts say the move will raise the bar for corporate carbon management and urge companies to start preparing now—beginning with simpler disclosures and gradually expanding to more complex requirements.
According to the Ministry’s roadmap, China aims to implement both the Basic Standard and the Climate Standard by 2027, and to build a unified national sustainability disclosure system by 2030. The release of this draft accelerates progress toward that goal.
The draft was developed based on several guiding principles: alignment with the Basic Standard, convergence with international norms, separation of standard-setting from implementation, and responsiveness to sector-specific needs. Recognizing that climate disclosure requirements can vary widely across industries, the Ministry has already begun drafting tailored guidelines for nine sectors: power, steel, coal, petroleum, fertilizer, aluminum, hydrogen, cement, and automotive.
Notably, the draft also sets out Scope 3 disclosure requirements for financial institutions—including commercial banks, insurers, and asset managers—mandating the disclosure of emissions linked to their financing activities. Ma Jun, a leading expert on green finance, noted that financed emissions often account for the majority of financial institutions’ total carbon footprint, making it essential to establish clearer disclosure expectations in this area.
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