ISSUING AUTHORITY:

Ministry of Finance

DATE OF ISSUANCE:

September 28, 2026

STATUS:

Draft for public consultation

The Ministry of Finance has released draft application guidelines for the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standard No. 1 — Climate (Trial) (the “Climate Standard”), together with nine industry-specific application guides covering power, steel, coal, petroleum, fertilizer, aluminum, hydrogen, cement, and automobiles. Public comments are due by October 26, 2026.

The general application guide provides step-by-step operational methods for companies applying the Climate Standard: identifying, analyzing, confirming, and disclosing climate-related impacts; assessing physical and transition risks and opportunities; analyzing current and anticipated financial effects; and conducting climate resilience assessments using scenario analysis. It also details greenhouse gas accounting across Scope 1, 2, and 3, including organizational boundary selection, data collection, and emission factor application.

The nine industry guides follow a consistent structure: industry scope and value chain characteristics, industry-specific climate risks and opportunities, financial impact examples, common greenhouse gas emission sources, and industry-specific indicators and targets. For example, the power sector guide covers carbon intensity of electricity generation, clean power development, grid resilience, and carbon market compliance. The steel guide includes product carbon footprint, energy management, and carbon market compliance. The coal guide covers methane emission management and green mine construction. The automobile guide includes product carbon footprint, fleet electrification, and supply chain emissions management.

For foreign-invested enterprises in these sectors, the draft guides signal the specific disclosure metrics and methodologies that will likely become mandatory under China’s sustainability disclosure framework. Companies should review the draft indicators relevant to their operations and consider submitting comments before the October 26 deadline.

Reference:

关于征求《〈企业可持续披露准则第1号——气候（试行）〉应用指南（征求意见稿）》及电力等9项行业应用指南（征求意见稿）意见的函