SHANGHAI—Loopholes in China’s green financing rules could allow big state-owned firms to use proceeds from “carbon-neutral bonds” to fund day-to-day operations including coal-fired power plants, according to research published on Tuesday.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) examined the first batch of yuan-denominated carbon-neutral bonds issued this year by giant state-owned energy corporations such as China Energy Investment Corporation (CEIC) and the China Huaneng Group.
