Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here
Expectations grow that China ETS might kick off at half steam
With significant preparations yet to be made, expectations are growing that China’s emissions trading scheme might launch later this year with only a few of the covered sectors participating from the start.
Opponents warming to offset rule changes in California carbon market extension bill
Amendments to a bill extending California’s carbon market beyond 2020 would prioritise carbon offsetting in the state’s disadvantaged communities, prompting environmental justice campaigners to suggest they are open to a compromise on the controversial issue.
Global shipping needs a firm GHG goal amid EU threat -EU’s Delbeke
Nations must agree on an explicit emissions goal for international shipping to help earn the trust of EU lawmakers and avoid regional measures, according to Europe’s top climate official.
COMMENT: EU ETS threat to shipping is ‘wake-up call’, says EU climate boss Delbeke
Europe’s top climate official Jos Delbeke outlines why the global shipping sector needs a firm emissions objective in its climate action plans and why doubts among EU lawmakers that such work will be sufficiently robust are a wake-up call to all.
China eyes 4% carbon intensity cut in 2017
China will aim to cut the carbon intensity of its economy by 4% this year, the government said Sunday, a target that will likely guide the allocation of CO2 permits in the first year of its emissions trading scheme.
EU states have completed 70% of their 2017 EUA allocations -data
EU member states have distributed 70% of the 753.1 million carbon allowances to be allocated free to industrial emitters in 2017 under the bloc’s emissions trading scheme, according to data released by the European Commission late Friday.
EU Market: EUAs dip as traders stay mindful of industrial selling
EU carbon prices dipped slightly on Monday but held near €5.50 to consolidate last week’s 4% gain, despite caution over industrial companies selling newly-issued free allowances.
Slovakian firms slow to grasp loans with EU ETS price support
Slovakian firms have been slow to take advantage of EBRD-backed loans for energy efficiency measures despite guarantees the bank will buy EUAs at a fixed level to ensure repayments.
Ontario publishes updated cap-and-trade participant list
Some 232 entities are registered to participate in Ontario’s cap-and-trade programme, according to updated data released by the province’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
———————————
**Navigating the American Carbon World (NACW) 2017: San Francisco, Apr. 19-21 – NACW brings together the most active and influential players in North American climate policy and carbon markets to address the most pressing topics in domestic and international policy, subnational leadership, carbon markets, climate finance, and carbon management initiatives. Visit the website**
———————————
Job listings this week:
Climate Change Specialist, Carbon Markets Innovation Practice, World Bank Group – Washington DC
Emissions Trader, ALLCOT – Zug, Switzerland
Sales Manager, Sustainability Services, ALLCOT – Zug/Madrid
Market Risk Analyst, Power, LNG & Emissions – London
Project Analyst – Forestry, Climate Trust – Portland, Oregon
Program Officer, Landscape Standard Team, VCS – Washington DC
International Program Manager, ClimateWorks Australia, Monash University – Melbourne
Consultant, Stress Test of the VCS AFOLU Pooled Buffer Account, VCS – Flexible Location
Climate Change Policy Adviser, Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance – Jakarta
Senior REDD+ Research Officer, CIFOR – Bogor, Indonesia<
Climate Impact and Adaptation Expert, Climate Analytics – Dakar, Senegal
Or click here to see all our job adverts
———————————
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
In the pipeline – The Trump Administration is expected to sign new executive orders this week aimed at instructing the EPA to rewrite its Clean Power Plan and withdrawing a 2015 moratorium on new coal leases on federal lands, Politico reports. In addition, the administration is set to change course on strict vehicle emissions standards established under Obama, according to multiple reports. But one thing that apparently won’t be coming is a decision on whether to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. “A decision might still be months off with an official position timed to the May G7 summit in Italy or the July G20 summit in Germany,” sources told Politico, though the timing remains in flux amid reported disagreement in the White House between Trump advisor Steve Bannon and Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
Carbon trading support grows – Support for an intensity-based ETS in Australia’s electricity sector is increasing, with EnergyAustralia CEO Catherine Tanna telling the Australian Financial Review that such a scheme “is the appropriate way to go”. That came on the heels of AGL, the country’s biggest carbon emitter, expressing its support for an emissions intensity scheme (EIS) in its submission to the Finkel review on Friday, just hours after BHP Billiton had done the same. For the time being, the conservative Coalition government remains firmly opposed and has rejected making an EIS part of the upcoming climate policy review.
Australian banks slow to turn – All four major Australian banks invested more in fossil fuels than renewables in 2016, according to a report picked up by the Guardian. The Commonwealth Bank had the most skewed lending profile, lending $14 to fossil fuel projects for every dollar that went to renewable energy. The National Australia Bank had the most balanced strategy, lending A$1.35 ($1.02 billion) billion to fossil projects vs A$1.3 billion to clean energy.
Infeasible – Oil major Chevron says it could face litigation because of its role in global warming, reports the Independent. The firm adds that its oil and gas resources could be rendered economically infeasible by regulations, the paper says. The admissions are made in an official filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. (Carbon Brief)
Whoops – California gas utilities let 6.6 billion cubic feet of methane escape in 2015 – more than was lost in the Aliso Canyon leak discovered in 2015, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. EDF said that based on wholesale gas prices, the leaks could be costing California customers $18 million annually in addition to posing a significant environmental threat. (Utility Dive)
Atomic ambition – Hungary is set to substantially decarbonise its energy mix from 2025 after getting the green light from Brussels for a major expansion of its Paks nuclear plant, which already generates over half the country’s electricity, Reuters reports. The €12 billion project for two Russian-built reactors may also shift Budapest’s stance in EU climate negotiations after years of alliance with Poland aiming to apply the brakes to EU climate action.
Saudi strategy – Climate Home examines how Saudi Arabia and China’s employment of the Maldives as a strategic anchor for future oil trade rubs against the island country’s vulnerability to climate change.
Cleared for takeoff – ICAO’s Council on Friday unanimously adopted the Aeroplane Carbon Dioxide Emissions Certification Standard that was recommended last year by the body’s Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP). After seven years of development, the new standard is part of the ICAO ‘basket of measures’ to reduce aviation emissions and is intended to encourage more fuel-efficient technologies into aeroplane design, covering propulsion, aerodynamics and structures. (GreenAir Online)
Ethiopian vision – Mongabay profiles Ethiopia’s huge Oromia Forested Landscape Program, covering over a third of the country’s land mass, and how it underpins Addis Ababa’s NDC to be net carbon neutral by 2025. It aims to tap two World Bank programmes for a decade of funding and drive its transition towards receiving REDD+ credits.
And finally… Victorian times – That’s the last time that UK emissions have been at their current levels, according to Carbon Brief. The country cut its emissions by 5.8% last year, mostly thanks to a 52% reduction in coal consumption, Carbon Brief found through analysing energy data. “The fall means it is likely the UK has already met its 2020 carbon target, which is to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 35% below 1990 levels,” it added. The drop is due to the UK’s domestic carbon floor price, which acts as a top-up tax to EUA prices. It also means that should the country leave the EU ETS as it Brexits, the market will be less oversupplied as it will have lost one its largest net exporter of emissions reductions.
Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com
