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EU Market: EUA prices plunge to new two-year low
European carbon allowances tumbled to a new two-year low on Wednesday after a weak auction result and amid continued selling in the wake of last week’s UK referendum.
New draft doc sheds more light on German climate plans
Support for strengthening the EU ETS through unilateral measures by member states appears to have grown within the German government, according to a new draft climate plan that has emerged following consultation between the country’s environment and economy and energy ministries.
UK MEP Duncan says “would strongly consider” staying on as EU ETS reforms lead
UK MEP Ian Duncan would give strong consideration to continuing as the lead EU Parliamentarian steering EU ETS reforms if asked, he said Wednesday, but he thinks this is unlikely and that the file is more likely to be given to someone else.
CN Markets: Shanghai CO2 price hits 3-month high on compliance, bullish Phase 2 outlook
Shanghai CO2 allowances soared to a three-month high in Wednesday trade, a day before the 2015 compliance deadline, with prices pushed up by traders expecting higher prices when Phase 2 of the city’s ETS begins next month.
Jamaica mulling carbon tax -IMF
Jamaica is exploring whether to introduce a carbon tax as a way of reducing the Caribbean island’s emissions while moving towards a system of indirect taxation, according to an IMF report.
Second firm issues international call for South Korean CERs
A second South Korean company has put out an international call to buy 100,000 CERs from carbon-cutting projects located within the country.
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Do you belieeeve in life after Britain – With all this talk of the implications of a Brexit, Carbon Pulse was wondering what it would mean for the EU’s 2020 target to cut emissions by 20%. The European Environment Agency last week announced that as of 2014, the 28-nation bloc’s emissions were 24.4% below 1990 levels. However, the UK is one of the best performers in the group, having slashed its GHG output by 38% during that timeframe. But a quick ‘back-of-the-envelope’ calculation revealed that without the UK, the EU-27 is still on track having cut by 22.8% by 2014. The 2030 goals will be another story…
They believe in themselves – The UK will “not step back from international leadership… climate change has not been downgraded as a threat,” said the country’s climate and energy chief Amber Rudd at the Business & Climate Summit in London on Wednesday, Climate Home reported. She said Britain would continue to work with partners including the US, China, Japan and India in delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement, while also confirming the UK government’s intention to this week approve Britain’s fifth carbon budget, which will set a goal to cut emissions by 57% below 1990 levels by 2032. Meanwhile, government sources told the BBC that the Brexit vote would not affect plans to ratify the Paris Agreement. And Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom insisted a Brexit would not impact the country’s energy policies, dismissing concerns that companies including Siemens and DONG Energy were concerned about investing in the UK given the current political climate.
Double-dipping – Australian landfills have cashed in around A$200 million ($149 million) from the Emissions Reduction Fund for turning methane emissions into electricity, but the projects already receive payment for that under other programmes, effectively meaning they are double-dipping and that their ERF-registered projects contribute to no additional emission cuts, anonymous sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The green through the trees – In New Zealand, the Whanganui District Council stands to earn NZ$10 million ($7.1 million) if it sells its forestry portfolio, according to the NZ Herald. The sale would come with 61,000 NZUs eligible in the nation’s emissions trading scheme.
Off the hook – German prosecutors have ended their investigation into former Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen for VAT tax fraud linked to the EU ETS, reports Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Durban’s new dawn – Chapter six of IETA’s oral history of the carbon market looks at how the Durban climate talks marked a sea change in the international negotiations and laid the path for the Paris Agreement.
And finally… What are you doing Wales? – Some more questionable decisions by the Welsh this week after a cross-party deal will see the Assembly’s Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee chaired by UKIP member Mark Reckless – marking the right-wing, climate sceptic party’s sole chairmanship in the nation’s legislature. According to the BBC, the position was allocated to UKIP without the party even being consulted, further angering citizens and lawmakers. Separately, IHS put out a note entitled “Brexit paralysis; Tragic irony for Port Talbot steelworks”, in which the analysts said the troubled facility – one of the UK’s major steel plants – has never been further from viability. “Due to current uncertainty, private investment in Port Talbot is unlikely. The political turmoil in both main political parties means that the future of Port Talbot will not feature highly in either party’s near-term planning. This is likely the polar opposite result expected by the Welsh majority that voted for Brexit partly in the belief that Westminster would be able to save Port Talbot once unshackled from EU bureaucracy.” However, local media reported today that pension scheme rescuer and private equity investor Edmund Truell is reportedly working on a £1 bid for the plant’s owner Tata Steel UK.
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