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Chances fade for swift EU ETS reform deal as lawmakers jostle
Agreement on post-2020 EU ETS reforms will “most probably” not happen before July because lawmakers have been unable to agree on a schedule of meetings.
EU Market: EUAs post 8.7% weekly gain after hitting 1-month high
European carbon prices rose for a fourth straight day on Friday to post an 8.7% weekly gain on the back of buying from both utilities and speculators.
Oregon-based Climate Trust seeks two new board members
The Climate Trust, a mission-driven, Oregon-based nonprofit that specializes in mobilizing conservation finance, is actively seeking candidates for two open seats on its enterprising Board of Directors.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending May 19, 2017
Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.
Voluntary carbon market data from CTX for May 19, 2017
Carbon Trade eXchange (CTX) is delighted to be a Gold Member at this year’s Innovate4Climate conference in Barcelona alongside parent company Global Environmental Markets (GEM). Read about CTX’s key appearances at the event.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Quick win? No thanks – Jerry Brown’s top advisor said on Twitter that the California Governor won’t accept anything less than a two-thirds vote to extend California’s cap-and-trade programme post-2020, the LA Times reports. The higher threshold is needed to insulate the scheme from legal challenges. The tweet came in response to an earlier story from the Times that discussed how some lawmakers were considering pushing forward with only a majority vote, which could make it easier to reach a deal but would leave the programme more vulnerable. Brown said last week that he’s working hard towards reaching a deal by next month’s state budget deadline.
Arrivederci coal? – The National Energy Strategy drafted by Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development and the Environment suggests an exit from coal power could be achieved by 2025 or 2030. The strategy flags a coal phase-out could cost up to US$3.3 billion for the development of wind, solar and investments in energy efficiency and upgraded transmission infrastructure. According to the Global Coal Plant Tracker Italy has 32 coal units operating which have a combined capacity of 9,640 MW. (CoalWire)
Pruitt face-off – US EPA boss Scott Pruitt will be heading the June 10-11 G7 environment ministers meeting in Italy, where he will come head-to-head with his counterparts strongly in favour of international climate action.
Playing by the rules – Application of the rules that underpin the EU ETS is improving, with more complete data being reported by EU Member States in 2015, according to a new assessment published by the European Environment Agency. However, improvements are still needed in monitoring and reporting, both by operators and countries. The assessment identified where improvements would enhance the application of the EU ETS Directive, including: better reporting by operators on possible improvements to monitoring; more detailed verification procedures; better reporting of biofuel use and better implementation of monitoring and reporting requirements by aircraft operators; better notification of authorities by operators on changes to their installations; better coordination between different authorities within countries; or improved reporting by countries on penalties for non-compliance.
Al Gore’s Carbon Pricing 101 – The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by Al Gore, on Thursday released its 2017 Handbook on Carbon Pricing Instruments, a practical guide for policymakers and stakeholders working on market solutions to the climate crisis. Climate Reality unveiled the handbook at a panel discussion with leading experts on the issue, who discussed the viability of carbon pricing in the US and around the world, highlighting the ways in which sound carbon pricing instruments can drive and incentivize the mitigation of GHG emissions.
And finally… We may suck at sucking – In a Perspectives article for the journal Science, two researchers argue that “betting the future on planetary-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere is risky.” With the current pace of more traditional mitigation techniques – such as energy efficiency, renewables and decreasing deforestation – “far from sufficient” to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement, CDR techniques are increasingly asserted as key to climate policy, they say. But many scenarios “bet the future on CDR technologies operating effectively at vast scales within only a few decades.” “The meteoric rise of CDR technologies in planning for climate solutions has stirred up discomfort and debate,” they write. “The question now is not whether to either reduce emissions or deploy CDR … The answer is both.” (Carbon Brief)
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