In carbon credit trading, emission rights are primary trading products, which can also be called basic trading products. IET market established according to Kyoto Protocol is mainly engaged in AAU and its forward and option trading; EU ETS mainly trades EUA and its forward and option transactions; CER-related products are mainly traded in the primary and secondary markets of clean development mechanism; Trading ER-related products in Hebei market; This voluntary market trades its own quotas and VER-related products. All these products are the same in emission reduction, based on tons of CO2 equivalent, but basically cannot be traded across markets.

Derived carbon financial instruments are financial products derived from original carbon financial instruments, including forwards, options, futures, swaps and structured bills. The value of derivative carbon financial instruments depends on the price of related primary carbon financial products. Its main function is not to adjust the surplus and deficiency of funds and directly promote the transformation from savings to investment, but to manage the risk exposure related to primary carbon financial instruments.

AAU under international emissions trading, EAU under EU emissions trading system, ERU under joint implementation mechanism, CER under clean development mechanism and so on. They all belong to the category of carbon credit, have some characteristics of financial derivatives, and are widely used in the carbon financial market of developed countries. From the transaction form, EUA is settled by the exchange, which can adopt two different trading methods: on-site and off-site, while CER is adopted by more off-site exchanges; From the product form, EUA shows more characteristics of futures and options contracts, while CER shows more characteristics of forward contracts. Diversified carbon financial trading tools greatly enliven the carbon financial market and meet the needs of different investors and enterprises.