Recognize the contribution to achieving the "Dual Carbon" goals

Achieving the "dual carbon" goals is a systematic project that requires strong leadership from the Party and government, leveraging the institutional advantage of a nationwide unified approach, and relies on the joint efforts of various localities, industries, fields, and professional technical institutions as well as other social forces.

Let's first look at a case of mutual recognition cooperation between the civil aviation sector and professional technical institutions:

Recognition supports carbon reduction efforts in the civil aviation sector

In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted the "Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation" (CORSIA), the world's first industry-wide emission reduction market mechanism. It requires all airlines of a certain scale to record emissions from international flights starting January 2019 according to specific guidelines, and clearly states that verification bodies serving CORSIA must be accredited by members of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in accordance with ISO14065 standards and meet CORSIA-related requirements.

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

China is a member of the International Civil Aviation Organization. To better fulfill international aviation emission reduction obligations, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recognizes the greenhouse gas verification and validation accreditation system established by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS). In November 2018, CAAC issued the "Interim Measures for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Management of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Civil Aviation Flight Activities," explicitly stating the use of accreditation results in energy conservation and emission reduction management.

Currently, seven greenhouse gas verification and validation bodies in China have obtained CNAS accreditation. After recognition by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, they have been included in the ICAO's list of registered bodies, qualifying them to conduct international civil aviation transport carbon emission verification under the CORSIA mechanism, thereby safeguarding China's national interests in related fields.

Insight 1: Characteristics of Recognition

The "recognition" mentioned in this case is an important component of the national quality infrastructure.

Recognition originated from international trade, with the fundamental mission to "confirm competence and convey trust." It mainly provides competence confirmation services for conformity assessment bodies such as inspection, testing, certification, verification, and validation based on international standards. Around 1980, the concept of recognition was introduced to China and gradually penetrated various fields of economic and social development, becoming a universal technical language and an important bridge connecting the world.

In this case, the Civil Aviation Administration of China uses recognition technology to carry out emission reduction management based on two important characteristics of recognition:

First, a centralized and unified national accreditation body. In 1993, China's accreditation body officially began accreditation work. In the early development stage, accreditation work was managed in a decentralized manner, resulting in multiple authorities and overlapping efforts. In 2001, after China joined the World Trade Organization, unified management of certification and accreditation work began. In 2002, the China National Accreditation Center for Conformity Assessment was established, marking the formal establishment of a unified legal entity for accreditation in China. After six integrations, in March 2006, the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) was founded, achieving a centralized and unified accreditation organization system in China. Practice has proven that a centralized and unified national accreditation system is a historically chosen correct path. The "unified system, joint participation" accreditation work system has become an important pillar of China's accreditation development and plays an increasingly important role in the diversified quality governance framework.

Internationally, it has become a common practice and development trend for governments to authorize the establishment of centralized and unified national accreditation bodies.

Second, the international mutual recognition network of accreditation. Internationalization is a fundamental feature of the accreditation system. There are two major organizations for international mutual recognition cooperation in accreditation work: the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Their common goal is to enhance the consistency of implementing international standards and system guidelines related to conformity assessment worldwide by establishing and operating a global multilateral recognition system, facilitating trade, supporting government regulation, protecting consumers and the environment, and promoting sustainable development. Currently, more than 100 economies have signed the ILAC/IAF international multilateral recognition agreements, accounting for 96% of the global economy. CNAS represents China in signing 15 international multilateral recognition agreements and bilateral mutual recognition agreements with accreditation bodies from 27 countries, building a platform of competence trust for the broad international acceptance of China's inspection, testing, and certification results.

Insight 2: The Role of Recognition

What benefits can the technical support of recognition bring to energy conservation and emission reduction management?

1 For government departments

● Recognition is an effective means that government regulation can rely on. Due to the technical nature of recognition, government management of energy conservation and emission reduction can fully utilize the technical capabilities and resources of accreditation bodies, using the authoritative technical evaluation of accreditation bodies as technical support in the qualification management of verification and validation bodies, and entrusting accreditation bodies to carry out most specific technical evaluation work. This allows the government to save resources and effort required for direct technical evaluation, thereby reducing regulatory costs, minimizing administrative risks, and optimizing resource allocation.

2 For the greenhouse gas emission reduction market

● Recognition helps build trust and reduce risks. Recognition enables verification and validation bodies to demonstrate to the market in an internationally accepted and persuasive manner that they possess the necessary technical and management capabilities and that their verification and validation activities are credible. Based on trust in accredited verification and validation bodies, the market ensures that the quantified greenhouse gas results of organizations or projects have the required accuracy, transparency, and credibility through their verification and validation activities. Thus, recognition serves as the source to establish a chain of trust in the greenhouse gas emission reduction market, reducing transaction risks and credibility risks of emission reduction systems.

3 For verification and validation bodies

● Accreditation means confirmation of competence and continuous improvement. Accreditation documents comprehensively and systematically specify requirements for the impartiality, organizational management, personnel competence, and normative business processes of verification and validation bodies. After accreditation, these bodies can confirm their capability to carry out verification and validation activities. Accreditation bodies conduct annual surveillance assessments and comprehensive reassessments every 3 to 4 years of accredited verification and validation bodies; combined with regular performance reports and spot checks of emission organizations or reduction projects, accreditation achieves continuous, timely, and comprehensive supervision of verification and validation bodies to ensure their ongoing self-improvement and enhancement.

Lessons for related work

The case just shared is a practical example from the civil aviation sector. Through this case, we have gained a preliminary understanding of recognition. The next step is how to extract replicable and referable experiences from it? How to promote recognition and mutual acceptance in more fields by referring to such practices, jointly serving the realization of the "dual carbon" goals? This is a new topic we need to think deeply about.

1 From the demand side

● At the 16th G20 Leaders' Summit, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that China will successively release implementation plans and supporting measures for carbon peaking in key fields and industries, establishing a "1+N" policy system for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, continuously promoting the transformation and upgrading of energy and industrial structures, and advancing the research and application of green and low-carbon technologies. The Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Fully, Accurately, and Comprehensively Implementing the New Development Philosophy to Achieve Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality," and the State Council subsequently issued the "Action Plan for Carbon Peaking Before 2030," proposing to improve the testing, evaluation, and certification system for green and low-carbon technologies and products, encouraging the use of certification methods to enhance energy-saving management levels, among other action requirements. These are closely related to accreditation work, especially as the country currently focuses on carbon accounting, emissions, and trading. Financial institutions are also introducing related preferential support policies, which are breakthroughs for us to serve the overall strategy of "dual carbon".

Caption: On June 9, 2021, during the 14th World Accreditation Day event, Director Fang Xiang of the National Institute of Metrology, Director Liu Hongsheng of the China National Institute of Standardization, and Director Xiao Jianhua of the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment jointly released the "Joint Declaration of Metrology, Standards, and Accreditation Supporting Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals."

2 From the supply side

● CNAS has established and developed accreditation systems in energy conservation and environmental protection, including environmental management systems, energy management systems, large-scale sustainability management systems, low-carbon products, forestry, greenhouse gas verification and validation, Energy Star, photovoltaics, wind power, ultra-high voltage, new energy vehicles, environmental testing, EPA composite wood products, and other areas. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the construction of verification and validation accreditation system will be one of the strategic focuses of accreditation work, promoting the establishment of a fourth major category of accreditation systems. Key research will be conducted on accreditation systems for verification and validation bodies related to product carbon footprint, environmental labels and declarations, green finance, and sustainable development report information disclosure, continuously enriching the supply of accreditation systems in the "dual carbon" field.

Caption: On July 14, 2021, CNAS organized a research symposium on verification and validation work.

Caption: On November 2, 2021, CNAS held a kick-off meeting in Beijing for the development of the verification and validation accreditation system.

Next Step Sustainable Towards the Future

Currently, more and more countries regard accreditation systems as important technical support, and an increasing number of laws and regulations use accredited results as the basis for accepting related certification, testing, inspection, verification, and validation conformity assessment results. Especially in China's voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading system, the acceptance of accredited testing, verification, and validation results will help solidify existing work and contribute to forming a complete management system chain at the national level. It is hoped that more government departments and more industries and fields will accept accreditation results, enabling this system to provide more effective technical support for China's energy conservation, emission reduction, and green low-carbon management, and contribute new strength to achieving the "dual carbon" goals.