Assessing barriers to the internationalization of China’s certified emission reductions (CCERs): a Delphi survey

China’s certified emission reductions (CCERs) are generated under the China GHG Voluntary Emission Reduction Programme. In 2020, this programme was approved by the technical advisory board of the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) set up under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), making CCERs an eligible reduction unit to be used for compensating emissions stemming from the aviation sector. While such an achievement represents a cornerstone in China’s strategy on internationalizing CCERs, there remains significant practical and quality-related issues which prevent CCERs from playing a more significant role in the international carbon market. To identify these issues and understand their relative importance, we employed a Delphi approach to elicit consensus views from 17 experienced CCER practitioners on potential issues and adjustments needed for the improvement of international recognition, acceptance, and the use of CCERs. We identified defects in eight key areas: social and environmental risk management; reversal of emissions reductions; pricing mechanisms; verification systems; evaluation systems for sustainable development contributions; transaction channels for international actors; CCER methodologies; and legal and asset attributes. Based on these findings, the authors make policy recommendations for improving the China GHG Voluntary Emission Reduction Programme.Key policy insights Being selected as eligible offset credits for CORSIA does not guarantee that CCERs can contribute significantly to compensating aviation emissions.To increase the degree of internationalization of CCERs, the governing body of CCERs should address both quality-related and practical issues.Substantial efforts should be made towards managing environmental and social risks and the risk of emission reversal of CCERs.