Shenzhen will hold China’s first auction for carbon sinks related to mangrove forest protection in Futian.

According to the auction announcement unveiled September 5, a total of 3,875 tons of carbon sinks out of the carbon credit accumulation of 38,745 tons related to mangrove forest conservation from the first monitoring period (from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2020) in the Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve will be publicly auctioned September 26.

The starting price for the auction will be 183 yuan per ton, with a bidding deposit of 360,000 yuan, the auction announcement shows.

Carbon sinks, like forests and grasslands, absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and fix it in vegetation or soil, thereby reducing concentration of the gas. China boasts the world's largest area of planted forests, and more than 60 percent of its forests are young or half-mature with high carbon sequestration rates and great potential for carbon sink expansion.

Shenzhen has actively formulated the pilot implementation plan for the realization of ecological product value in the field of natural resources.

As one of China’s first batch of pilot cities approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources to carry out the ecological product value realization mechanism, Shenzhen’s Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau has actively teamed up with top experts from domestic universities such as Beijing Forestry University, Tsinghua University and Beijing University.

Based on a 10-year biodiversity conservation survey in the Futian nature reserve, extensive literature research, interdepartmental inquiries and seminars, the bureau has conducted studies on the methodology for carbon sinks in mangrove forest conservation projects.

On May 25, China's first methodology for mangrove forest conservation carbon sinks, which aim to protect biodiversity and address climate change, was unveiled, filling the gap in methodologies for carbon sink projects in domestic natural ecosystem conservation and accelerating the transformation of marine carbon value.

In July 25, Shenzhen’s Urban Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, by teaming up with the Shenzhen bureau of theNational Financial Regulatory Administration, launched the country's first mangrove carbon sink index.

According to the auction announcement, Shenzhen Trading Group Co. (Shenzhen Public Resource Trading Center), entrusted by the Guangdong Inner Lingding Futian National-level Nature Reserve Administration, will be responsible for the auction of the carbon sinks related to the mangrove forest conservation in the Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve.

Verified by a third-party organization, the carbon sinks generated from the approximately 126 hectares of mangrove forest protection activities within the Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve during the first monitoring period (from January 1, 2010 to January 1, 2020) amounted to 38,745 tons. The 3,875 tons to be auctioned off make up approximately one-tenth of the total carbon sinks.

The auction announcement provides strict and detailed regulations regarding transaction conditions, qualifications of bidders, application procedures and the determination of winning bidders.

The qualifications for bidders require them to be legal persons or other organizations in China, while joint bidding is not accepted for this transaction.

After the winning bidder has paid the money, they can apply for a carbon credit certificate from the Shenzhen Natural Resources Authority with the "transaction confirmation" and payment receipts.

The promotional event for the mangrove forest conservation carbon sink auction will be held September 8 at Shenzhen Trading Group.