Regulation (EU) 2024/3234 of the European Parliament and of the Council has been published in the Official Journal of the EU, delaying by one year the application of the EU’s Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (the EUDR). Hong Kong traders may recall that pursuant to urgent pleas made by some of the EU’s trading partners, most notably the U.S., as well as some Member States, that industry was simply not ready to comply with the EUDR, the EU institutions agreed to delay its onset by one year.

Guidelines announced by Guangdong on 5 December on the promotion of scientific and technological innovation in the energy industry seek to boost its high-quality development by 2027. The plan’s main tasks include strengthening overall planning and guidance, accelerating the commercialisation and application of the results of innovation, fostering energy industry clusters and increasing natural resource guarantees.

The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission released a Plan for the Pilot Project of Promoting Product Carbon Footprint Certification in the Greater Bay Area on 17 December. The plan seeks to achieve mutual recognition of carbon footprint labelling in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by 2027. The main tasks outlined involve establishing a product carbon footprint management and service system, accounting rules, a basic database, certification and application scenarios, as well as cooperation on mutual recognition arrangements.

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has imposed another round of tariffs on solar panels imported from four Southeast Asian countries. Crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and related components from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam will now be subject to anti-dumping duties from 21.31% to 271.2%, according to a preliminary decision posted by the DoC on 29 November 2024.

The 2025 edition of the National Catalogue of Hazardous Wastes, recently released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Reform and Development Commission, the National Health Commission and other government agencies, will take effect on 1 January. Amendments cover the classification and management of hazardous wastes following improvements to the identification of hazardous wastes. There are also a number of “explanations” of the scope of medical waste, disused medical substances and drugs; waste mineral oils and wastes containing mineral oils; waste coatings and dyes; ether-containing wastes; organohalide-containing wastes; and other types of wastes.

A Comprehensive Implementation Plan for the Pollutant Discharge Permit System, recently released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, aims to have a regulatory system for stationary pollution and a “single permit” pollution control management system in place by 2027. Measures cover reforms to the pollution discharge permit system, implementation of the regulatory system for stationary pollution sources, and the “single permit” management of such sources.

On 3 December 2024, the European Commission announced that it welcomed the (informal) agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission's proposal to grant a 12-month additional phasing-in period for implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This will come as a relief to industry, as it will ensure more time for ensuring compliance and a more proper and effective implementation of the rules.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment released its 2024 Report on China’s Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change on 6 November. The report sums up China’s progress and achievements in addressing climate change this year, including its progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation, its establishment of a national carbon market, improvements to policy systems and support guarantees, and the country’s active participation and leadership in global climate change governance. China’s new deployments and requirements for addressing climate change are summed up, and the basic positions and propositions of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are explained.

Chinese solar-panel manufacturers Wuxi Suntech Power and Zhejiang Sunflower have suffered legal defeats in their challenges against European Union decisions that removed them from a pricing arrangement designed to avoid punitive trade duties. The EU’s General Court, in separate rulings issued on 20 November 2024, upheld the European Commission’s actions, affirming that the Commission acted within its legal authority.

The People’s Bank of China, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and several finance-related authorities have jointly published their Opinions on Maximising the Role of Green Finance and Serving the Construction of a Beautiful China. These Opinions call for optimising the allocation and supply of finance, expanding new forms and models of green finance, and strengthening financial regulation and risk prevention. Suggested measures include increasing support for key fields, enhancing green finance professional service capabilities, and introducing more green financial products and services.