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California ETS extension bill amendments seek ’emissions caps within the cap’
California lawmakers have amended a proposed bill seeking to extend the state’s carbon market post-2020, adding potentially controversial clauses that would bar emitters from increasing their emissions.
Canada CO2 price plan could present $120 bln opportunity to low-carbon innovators -researchers
Companies developing low-carbon technologies are in line for an opportunity worth up to $120 billion as Canada kicks off a carbon pricing programme aimed at cutting the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to researchers.
Delta Air Lines prepares for CORSIA compliance as worries emerge over scheme
With the rules dictating what types of offsets can be used under the UN’s aviation carbon market still unclear, Delta Air Lines – one of the world’s top three carriers – is hoping that credits it bought to offset growth after 2012 can be used to inform the company’s new compliance obligations from 2021.
EU needs to address ETS policy overlaps, be wary of effect of trader exit -report
The EU needs other policies than an ETS to tackle climate change but is yet to properly address how the bloc’s carbon market overlaps with other tools, several experts said in a report assessing the state of the EU ETS on Thursday.
EU Market: EUAs slump further below €5 to two-week low
EU carbon fell for a third straight day to reach a two-week low, leaving prices within reach of the lowest level of the year as the annual compliance deadline nears.
SK Market: Korea CO2 price unchanged for 2 weeks even as fresh supply appears
Korean CO2 allowance prices have remained unchanged for two weeks even as major supply sources have opened following the latest government interventions.
Hanergy carbon subsidiary blames losses on China’s offset restrictions
The Hanergy Carbon Asset Management Co., the carbon arm of one of China’s biggest renewable energy firms, posted a loss for the third successive year in 2016 amid tighter offset restrictions in the regional pilot CO2 markets.
CN Markets: Chongqing CO2 allowances crash to all-time lows
Carbon prices in China’s least active emissions trading market fell to record lows this week, after plummeting by some 91% over the past month as a flood of allowances came to market.
SAVE THE DATE – Carbon Forward 2017 Conference: The Impact of Brexit, Trump, Paris, EU ETS Phase 4, and More
Following the immense success of the inaugural Carbon Forward 2016 conference and training day last October, we are pleased to announce the dates for Carbon Forward 2017.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Outsourcing away – Vox takes a look at the extent to which developed nations ‘outsource’ their emissions to developing economies, noting that this trend has slowed since the previous decade as rapidly advancing major polluters like China consume more of their energy-intensive materials within their own borders. The piece examines how any carbon tax is likely to fall foul of efforts to accurately counter such outsourcing via border adjustments.
Highway from the endangerment zone – The WSJ argues ($), reluctantly, that US EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is right to avoid a fight over the so-called endangerment finding which ruled in 2009 that CO2 be regulated as a pollutant: “Mr Pruitt is already taking on difficult and controversial challenges, so better for the Administration to use scarce political capital where it will make a difference instead of burning it on a doomed mission … A future Democratic President could use the endangerment finding to revive something like CPP, but then that same Administration could restore endangerment too.” (Carbon Brief)
Review time – The EPA will review two rules regulating emissions from the fossil fuel industry, rewarding industry interests in a one-two punch this week. On Tuesday, the agency asked a federal court to push back a court challenge to a 2012 regulation limiting emissions of mercury and other toxins from power plants. And on Wednesday, EPA chief Scott Pruitt sent a letter to industry interests promising an agency review of Obama-era rule regulating methane emissions at oil and gas drilling sites. Pruitt’s letter kicks off a 90-day stay of compliance on the rule for industry, following a directive from President Trump to review the rule in an executive order signed last month. (Climate Nexus)
GIB sale – The British government has agreed a £2.3 billion sale of the Green Investment Bank to the Australian bank Macquarie, it announced on Thursday. The privatisation of the bank was expected in January but signoff was delayed in the face of stiff political opposition and wrangling over the final price. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green party have criticised the sale, questioning Macquarie’s track record and commitment to green energy. (Carbon Brief)
Project Gigaton – Wal-Mart on Wednesday announced a strategy, dubbed Project Gigaton, to reduce GHGs resulting from their operations and supply chains. The initiative will provide an emissions reduction toolkit to suppliers that seek to eliminate one gigaton (or one billion tons) of emissions by 2030, focusing on manufacturing, materials and use of products. Suppliers that agreed to participate include Colgate-Palmolive Company, Unilever, Dairy Farmers of America, General Mills, Land O’Lakes and Kimberly Clark. (Retail Dive)
Cleaner driving – New cars sold in the EU in 2016 emit around 1% less CO2/km than those sold in 2015, according to provisional data from the European Environment Agency. However, the increase in fuel efficiency has slowed compared to previous years, the European Commission said. The average emissions level of a new car sold in 2016 was 118.1 grams of CO2 per km, significantly below the 2015 target of 130 g. Since monitoring started under current legislation in 2010, emissions have decreased by 22 g CO2/km (16%). Manufacturers will nevertheless have to further reduce emissions to meet the target of 95 g CO2/km by 2021.
Terror link – Climate change will fuel acts of terrorism and strengthen recruiting efforts by terrorist groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram, a report by think-tank Adelphi commissioned by the German foreign office has found. Terrorist groups will exploit the natural disasters and water and food shortages expected to result from climate change and allow them to recruit more easily, operate more freely and control civilian populations. (The Guardian)
And finally… Handcuffs and gallows – Poland’s environment ministry is distancing itself from comments made by one of its directors calling for European Council President and former Polish PM Donald Tusk to be hanged. Beata Nowosielska, director of education and communication at the ministry, posted on social media that Tusk should face “handcuffs and gallows”, amid allegations that he is abusing his EU position to meddle in domestic affairs and was politically responsible for the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed former Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others. “Beata Nowosielska’s views, as well as the way they are expressed on social networks, are not the position of the ministry of the environment. These views are exclusively a private opinion of Mrs. Nowosielska. The ministry of the environment expresses disapproval,” it said in a statement. (Fakt24.pl)
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