Recently, the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting Green and Low Carbon Transformation and Strengthening the Construction of the National Carbon Market" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"). The "Opinions" focus on the construction of China's carbon market and propose specific measures from gradually expanding the scope of implementation and expanding the participating entities, aiming to promote the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society. In this context, how can financial institutions actively participate in the construction of carbon markets? What areas still need to be improved in terms of financial measures? The reporter interviewed industry insiders on the relevant issues. Standardizing the implementation of carbon pledge financing in the carbon market is an important policy tool for actively addressing climate change and accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development through market mechanisms. At present, China has established a national carbon emission trading market for key emission units to fulfill their mandatory emission reduction responsibilities, and a national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market to incentivize society to reduce emissions independently. In recent years, the competent authorities have allocated carbon quotas to emission control enterprises, consolidated their emission control responsibilities, and promoted energy conservation, emission reduction, and a virtuous cycle through market-oriented means. Financial power empowers the carbon market, mainly through carbon finance innovation, to "assetize" corporate carbon quotas and achieve dual improvement in ecological and economic benefits. In response, the Opinion proposes to support banks and other financial institutions to standardize their carbon pledge financing business, steadily promote qualified financial institutions to participate in national carbon market transactions under the premise of legal compliance and controllable risks, and timely introduce other non compliant entities. Zhao Tingchen, a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Bank of China, believes that carbon asset pledge financing refers to the financial activity in which the holder pledges their carbon assets (carbon quotas or carbon credits) as collateral to the funding provider to obtain loans, and then releases the collateral by repaying principal and interest at maturity. The Opinion clarifies for the first time that eligible financial institutions can participate in the national carbon market trading. In the past, only emission control enterprises (i.e. "performing entities") were able to participate in carbon market trading. Although several securities firms have received non objection letters from the China Securities Regulatory Commission regarding their self operated participation in carbon emission trading, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has not yet allowed non performing enterprises to open accounts. The Opinion proposes in the chapter "Focusing on Enhancing the Vitality of the Carbon Market" to "prudently promote the participation of qualified financial institutions in the national carbon market trading under the premise of legal compliance and controllable risks, and timely introduce other non compliant entities". This move means that it will light up the "green light" for future orderly participation of financial institutions in carbon market trading. Referring to international experience, financial institutions participating in carbon market trading can provide a better price discovery mechanism and liquidity for the carbon market; Can play the role of a broker, providing convenience for carbon asset trading and reducing transaction costs. In recent years, banks have actively focused on carbon quota pledge loan business to help enterprises activate their carbon assets. After learning that a specialized and innovative enterprise in Kaizhou District, Chongqing urgently needed stocking funds and had surplus carbon quota assets, the Chongqing Branch of Construction Bank quickly organized a financial service team to design a tailored "commercial housing mortgage+carbon quota pledge" green financing plan for the enterprise, and successfully issued the first 12 million yuan carbon quota pledge loan, effectively activating carbon quota assets, expanding the financing channels of the enterprise, and also encouraging the enterprise to actively strengthen energy conservation and emission reduction management in production and operation, achieving an effective balance between economic benefits and green development. The person in charge of relevant business of Chongqing Branch of Construction Bank stated that the bank has formulated the "Environmental Rights Pledge Financing Service Plan", which identifies the key areas for expanding carbon emission pledge financing business, clarifies the carbon asset certification process, standardizes the carbon asset pledge registration procedure, and establishes a regulatory mechanism for the use of relevant loan funds. At the same time, in the annual green finance product innovation plan, carbon finance products are listed as a key innovation direction, and attention is paid to the integration and innovation of carbon finance, technology finance, and inclusive finance. Carbon asset pledge financing is a common form of business carried out by commercial banks during the carbon market pilot phase, and this type of business is currently widely accepted in the market. However, the current carbon pledge financing business still faces many challenges. Qian Lihua, executive vice president of Industrial Carbon Finance Research Institute, said that financial institutions still face some risks in carrying out carbon finance business at present. For example, the carbon quota mortgage financing business still needs further clarification and regulation of the legislation of carbon asset pledge and the mortgage registration system. At the same time, there is also some uncertainty in the way financial institutions dispose of pledged carbon assets. At present, domestic commercial banks are not yet able to directly participate in the national carbon market trading. Once there is a default in carbon asset pledge financing, domestic commercial banks cannot directly sell pledged carbon quotas in the carbon market, which increases the risks faced by financial institutions in carrying out carbon asset pledge financing business. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the supporting system for carbon finance business and standardize the process of carbon asset pledge business. The Opinion proposes to establish and improve policies and systems such as carbon pledge and carbon repurchase, standardize financial activities related to carbon emission rights, and expand channels for enterprise carbon asset management. Dong Ximiao, Chief Researcher of Zhaopin and Deputy Director of Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, believes that the next step should be to improve the legal, regulatory, and policy system, and clarify the legal attributes of carbon assets; Strengthen the construction of the national carbon market, establish and improve policies and systems such as carbon pledge and carbon repurchase; Establish a comprehensive carbon pricing mechanism with the national carbon market as the main body, fully utilize the price discovery function of the national carbon market, and provide effective price signals for financial support of green and low-carbon development. In addition to carbon asset pledge business, financial institutions can also explore carbon related financing services linked to carbon asset returns, such as carbon asset linked loans, carbon bonds, etc. The Opinion proposes to prudently promote the exploration and development of green financial products and services related to carbon emission rights and voluntary emission reduction certification by financial institutions, and increase support for greenhouse gas emission reduction. In addition to carbon collateral business, more green financial products should also be explored. Liu Jintao, associate researcher of Chongyang Institute of Finance, Renmin University of China, said that when exploring green financial products, the combination of carbon emission quotas and certified voluntary emission reductions is of great significance in the market. Carbon quotas mainly serve the demand for mandatory compliance, while voluntary emission reductions are more targeted towards forestry carbon sinks, renewable energy and other projects, with both environmental and social benefits. By combining the two, we can explore an innovative financial service model that combines "performance+voluntary" dual market linkage. For a long time, China has been cautiously controlling the development of carbon finance and restricting financial institutions from participating in the national carbon market, mainly due to concerns about excessive speculation, which could lead to disorderly increases in carbon prices and increase the cost burden on emission control enterprises. The Opinion proposes to strengthen the supervision and management of carbon finance activities, guide financial institutions to provide financial services in accordance with market-oriented and rule of law principles, and safeguard the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks. Qian Lihua said that "strengthening the supervision and management of carbon financial activities" and "holding the bottom line of not generating systematic financial risks", which echoed to a certain extent the "steadily and prudently promoting financial institutions to explore and develop green financial products and services related to carbon emission rights and certification of voluntary emission reductions" mentioned in the Opinions, which not only showed the importance of carbon financial activities, but also showed the attitude of attaching importance to risk prevention for their development. In view of this, various regions have carried out some pilot projects and explorations in recent years. It is reported that the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau has issued operational guidelines for carbon emission pledge loans, and jointly issued the "Shanghai Carbon Emission Pledge Loan Operational Guidelines" with the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China. By clarifying the various links and processes of carbon emission pledge, a total of 39 pledge businesses have been completed, activating over 3.7 million tons of various carbon assets and raising a total financing amount of over 104 million yuan. At the same time, encourage financial institutions to innovate carbon finance products, including carbon neutral bonds, carbon index linked structured deposits, carbon asset repurchase performance guarantee insurance, carbon quota pledge loan guarantee insurance, carbon sink insurance, etc. In addition, Shanghai launched a carbon inclusive pilot program in October 2024 and officially launched the Shanghai Carbon Inclusive Platform in June 2025. Currently, there are four participating banking and insurance institutions. At present, while encouraging financial institutions to develop carbon finance, it is also necessary to promptly follow up on the supporting services and supervision management of the carbon finance market. Zhao Tingchen believes that in the future, financial institutions should steadily participate in the construction of the national carbon market on the basis of strict restrictions on speculation, and research and create a national carbon quota reserve and adjustment mechanism. The Opinion proposes to establish a quota reserve and market regulation mechanism. It is expected that the functions will be similar to the current oil and gas reserves and grain reserves in China. When carbon prices are too low, carbon reserves will be collected and stored, and when the market is overheated, carbon quotas will be released to stabilize market prices. Liu Jintao stated that at the level of financial institutions, it is necessary to adhere to the principles of risk control and capital adequacy for banks, securities, insurance and other institutions, establish access and quota management for carbon pledge financing, carbon bond issuance, and carbon derivative trading, establish a risk classification and stress testing mechanism for carbon finance business, and strengthen supervision of carbon asset valuation, pledge registration, and disposal processes. At the level of information disclosure, ensure the authenticity and transparency of the monitoring, reporting, and verification system for corporate carbon emissions, and encourage and guide financial institutions to regularly disclose the scale, risk status, and green investment ratio of carbon finance business. At the level of market regulation, while the carbon market continues to develop and grow, it is also necessary to severely crack down on market manipulation, false trading, insider trading and other behaviors, monitor and warn of carbon price fluctuations, prevent excessive speculation and price manipulation, and maintain a reasonable price range through quota adjustment and market intervention mechanisms when necessary. In recent years, the financial management department has continuously strengthened policy guidance and better played the incentive and guiding role of structural monetary policy tools. China's green finance product spectrum and green bond market have developed rapidly, and more financial resources are continuously flowing into the fields of green development and low-carbon transformation. The People's Bank of China released the Report on the Implementation of China's Monetary Policy in the Second Quarter of 2025, which shows that the balance of green loans at the end of June was 42.4 trillion yuan, an increase of 14.4% over the beginning of the year. Carry out verification of the use of funds raised from green bonds and continue to promote high-quality development of the green bond market; A total of 4.6 trillion yuan of green bonds have been issued, including 2 trillion yuan of green financial bonds, providing a stable source of funding for financial institutions to invest in green credit. In order to promote green and low-carbon transformation, China has accelerated the allocation of new loans to the field of green environmental protection, and the guiding role of monetary policy tools has become increasingly evident. Green finance provides strong support for sustainable economic development and achieving the "dual carbon" goals. Data shows that the balance of green loans has increased from 9.9 trillion yuan at the end of 2019 to 36.6 trillion yuan at the end of 2024, with an average annual growth rate of over 20%. In addition, the People's Bank of China provides low-cost funds to financial institutions through carbon reduction support tools, guiding them to provide carbon reduction loans to enterprises in key areas of carbon reduction, and helping to achieve the "dual carbon" goal. Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, stated that structural monetary policy tools themselves play a motivating and guiding role, allowing more funds to flow into specific areas, thereby better serving key areas and weak links. For green development, the introduction of structural monetary policy tools has reduced the funding cost for banking and financial institutions to serve green development, thereby helping to enhance the enthusiasm of banks to serve green development. Next, how to optimize policy tools to guide credit empowerment in key areas to reduce carbon emissions and increase green growth. Lou Feipeng suggested that structural monetary policy tools are key means to guide credit resources towards green and low-carbon areas. In the future, green finance policies will continue