Industrial Bank launches China's first low-carbon credit card in Beijing

Industrial Bank and China Beijing Environment Exchange jointly launched a "low-carbon credit card" in Beijing on January 28. It is the China's first low-carbon credit card. It signifies that China has begun to encourage individual consumers to save energy and reduce emissions.

According to Yan Xuewang, manager of the Credit Card Division of Industrial Bank, as China's first low-carbon credit card, the card not only has basic functions, but also enables the Industrial Bank to build a carbon emission reduction platform with China Beijing Environment Exchange. On the basis of this platform, a cardholder can realize carbon neutrality by first estimating his/her annual carbon emissions and then paying for them.

So-called carbon neutrality means that a company, organization or person calculates the total amount of the greenhouse gases they have directly or indirectly released over a certain time period, and then they fund energy conservation and emission reduction projects that meet international standards by buying carbon credits in order to remove their carbon footprint and protect the environment. According to statistics, China's annual carbon emissions per capita are about 5.7 tons of carbon dioxide.

According to Yan, after obtaining a "low-carbon credit card," the cardholder will voluntarily pay for a certain amount of carbon emissions for the first year after the card is activated. The emission standard is 2 tons for a golden card, and 1 ton for an ordinary card. A cardholder needs to pay 35 yuan (5 US dollars) for 1 ton of carbon emissions. Relevant spending will be deducted on the cardholder's account and the cardholder can apply to purchase more carbon credits.

It is worth noticing that Industrial Bank and China Beijing Environment Exchange have also jointly established China's first "green records" system which can be browsed and searched for the purpose of advocating a low-carbon life and encouraging card holders to participate in the reduction of carbon emissions.

In addition, the design of this kind of credit cards also reflects low carbon and environmental protection ideas. Making use of a new, green, biodegradable material, the cards can decrease the threat to the environment posed by the old plastic PVC cards; adopting electronic bills, the cards can reduce the resource consumption and carbon emissions that go along with paper bills, and a new low carbon credit card exclusive website will be established to make it easy for cardholders to calculate their carbon emissions and purchase the emission reduction amount to enable them to stay carbon neutral.

Reporters learned that in order to actively advocate the green card idea, the Industrial Bank will establish a "happy low carbon life" carbon purchasing fund. The owners of the low carbon credit cards will donate one penny to the fund each time they use the card. They can purchase the carbon emission reduction on April 22 every year, allowing each cardholder to make an impact on reducing carbon emissions.

Bi Jianzhong, assistant of the general manager of China Beijing Environment Exchange, said in an interview that compared with businesses and other institutions, the amount of individual carbon emission reduction exchange is small, even though it is taking place in a developed country. The exchange of individual carbon emission reductions, however, will play a decisive role in strengthening the whole society's awareness of saving energy and reducing the carbon emissions.