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Surprise addition to judicial line-up boosts US Clean Power Plan survival odds
A surprise addition to the panel of judges who will next week hear oral arguments over the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan may have just tipped the odds in favour of the measure surviving the landmark legal challenge.
ANALYSIS: The overload risk in China’s embrace of environmental markets
China’s recent creation of a fifth type of environmental market risks spreading a regulatory overlap that could leave officials dangerously overstretched as they grapple with designing ever more complex mechanisms.
EU Market: EUAs climb 5% as buyers pile into auction
EU carbon prices climbed towards €4.50 on Thursday as a government auction showed signs of a big jump in demand, with traders anticipating that fatter profit margins would tempt utilities into the market.
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
*** The OECD will hold a webinar to launch its new report, Effective Carbon Rates – Pricing CO2 through Taxes and Emissions Trading Systems on Monday Sept. 26 at 1430 CEST. The report presents the think-tank’s first full analysis of the use of carbon pricing on energy in 34 OECD member countries and 7 partner economies: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa ***
Climate change is a code red – President Obama signed a presidential memorandum establishing a policy that climate change must be considered while developing issues pertaining to national security. The White House directed 20 federal agencies and offices to collaborate under a Federal Climate and National Security Working Group and prepare a national security action plan in 90 days. A separate report released by the National Intelligence Council declared that climate change impacts pose a national security challenge for the country. (H/T Climate Nexus)
EPH in the hotseat – EU regulators cleared the sale of Vattenfall’s German lignite assets to Czechia investor EPH, ending any remaining doubts over the transfer of carbon assets equivalent to 8% of last year’s entire ETS emissions.
Wanna buy a coal plant? – Vattenfall wants to sell its Hamburg coal power plant Moorburg, according to a report by Daily Tageszeitung. Vattenfall CEO Magnus Hall did not rule out a sale within five years, as the company did not need Moorburg in the long term. A Vattenfall Germany spokesperson said there were no concrete plans for a sale yet, but added that the plant did not fit to the company’s philosophy in the long term as it wanted to become climate neutral by 2050. (H/T Clean Energy Wire)
ICAO count – Major airline hub UAE has joined Malaysia and Kenya as the latest to pledge to join ICAO’s aviation carbon market from the 2021 first phase, while New Zealand has also shown backing for the measure. And in a separate letter to its general show of support earlier this week, Japan did the same, taking the total to 56 nations.
Justin’s bustin’ out – Vermont’s Secretary of Administration, carbon market backer and Australia native Justin Johnson will leave state government on Sept. 30 to join Montpelier-based lobby firm MMR, where he will be heading up a new practice focused on international projects, helping businesses and governments meet their goals and obligations under the Paris Agreement. (vermontbiz.com)
And finally… The Duncanator – After a fruitful chat on the sidelines of the Paris UN climate talks last year, the EU ETS’s lead EU Parliament envoy Ian Duncan is to join the board of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s think-tank, where he will advise the Institute on energy policy and climate change. **Come hear MEP Duncan speak at Carbon Pulse’s Carbon Forward conference in London on Oct. 12-14. Tickets are going fast**
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