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TOP STORIES
Schwarzenegger unveils online climate bill catalogue to help US lawmakers counteract Trump
Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday unveiled an online catalogue of existing US climate change laws aimed at helping state lawmakers pass their own measures to counter the Trump administration’s decisions to exit the Paris Agreement and roll back other environmental regulations.
Energy Aspects ups EUA price views after July weakness fails to materialise
Energy Aspects has raised its EUA price views for the rest of 2017 and 2018 amid stronger-than-expected demand stemming from several bullish factors that have emerged in the past few months.
AMERICAS
Virginia starts work on carbon market, with RGGI in focus
A Virginia advisory panel this week started work on plans to roll out Governor Terry McAuliffe’s directive to introduce a market-based mechanism to cut power sector emissions, with one senior official saying linking to RGGI would be their main focus.
NA Markets: Prices drop on bearish data, positioning ahead of quarterly auctions
RGGI allowance prices dropped sharply this week after data showed emissions in Q2 fell by around 20% compared to last year.
CBL Markets hires broker to help drive US carbon and renewables trading
Exchange operator CBL Markets has hired a former environmental commodities broker to help drive its North American sales and trading activity.
ASIA PACIFIC
Chinese generator comes under fire for funding coal plant with green bonds
A Tianjin-based power generator has won regulator permission to issue green bonds worth 1 billion yuan ($150 million) and use the proceeds to fund a coal-fired power plant, drawing criticism from climate campaigners.
NZ Market: New Zealand carbon a touch weaker in market stand-off
New Zealand carbon allowances edged downwards on thin volume in Friday trade, with neither side of the market willing to move prices much.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Aug 4, 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.
EMEA
EU Market: Carbon knocked by auction, energy after lodging fresh 2-week high
European carbon prices dipped Friday on a lacklustre auction and weaker energy market, but still managed to notch a weekly 3.3% gain after recording a fresh two-week high.
Norway joins Under 2 Coalition, signs climate deal with California
Norway has become the 16th country to join the Under 2 Coalition, an alliance of national and sub-national governments that pledge deep greenhouse gas emission cuts by mid-century in order to keep global warming below 2C.
VOLUNTARY
Voluntary carbon market data from CTX for Aug. 4, 2017
A table of Verified Emission Reduction (VER) prices and offered volumes, based on voluntary market data provided by CTX.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
They’re live – Carbon Trade eXchange (CTX) has listed the first CERs on its voluntary platform, it announced on Friday, allowing for the purchase, sale and voluntary cancellation of the UN-backed credits by organisations and individuals looking to offset their carbon footprints. “Many businesses wish to offset using UN certified credits but have lacked the confidence to do so via the opaque and sometimes ‘dark over the counter’ market. Surely a company wanting to offset can’t be happy paying up to 10 times more because the OTC broker has a ‘good story’?” said Wayne Sharpe, CEO & Founder of CTX. Read Carbon Pulse’s story about the partnership.
€1.4 trillion is small & positive – The effect on the German economy of the bid to cut GHGs by 80% by 2050 will be small and positive, according to an unpublished study by Boston Consulting Group and Prognos covered by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The study, commissioned by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), estimates that an additional investment of €1.4 trillion is needed to meet the goal. The largest sum was needed in the transport sector, with €450 billion, €400 billion to refurbish buildings, and energy suppliers had to invest €370 billion. The final report is due to be published after the election and is meant to supply “reliable numbers” for discussions about a long-term climate protection strategy. (Clean Energy Wire)
Not as gassy – Natural gas used for US electricity generation has peaked thus far in 2017 at 41 billion cubic feet per day, a burn rate achieved on July 2 according to data from PointLogic Energy and noted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While the summer is not over yet, that peak daily burn rate would be slightly below last year’s peak of 42 Bcf/d which occurred on Aug. 11, Utility Dive reports. But for the full year, EIA expects gas burn to be about 9% lower than in 2016. While gas prices are higher than they were last year, Morgan Stanley predicts this could be a good summer for gas drillers as power plants are still burning large amounts and prices have moderated somewhat.
No new plants – Sri Lanka’s electricity regulator has ruled out building new coal plants for the next two decades after finding the environmental and social costs of the fuel made it uneconomical. The plan effectively marks the end for new coal generation in Sri Lanka, given the country’s pledge under the Paris climate accord to add no new coal power to the system after 2030. (Climate Home)
They don’t make good pets – Feeding cats and dogs plays a ‘significant role in causing global warming’, according to new research from Research from the University of California, Los Angeles. Their meat-based diets require more energy, land and water to produce, and so feeding cats and dogs is creating the equivalent of 64 millions tonnes of CO2 a year in the US alone. The study found that this has the same impact on the climate as a year’s worth of driving from 13.6 million cars. Pets are responsible for 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption in the US, the Mail Online writes. (Carbon Brief)
And finally… The Trump Forest #MEGA – Activists are urging supporters to plant trees in President Trump’s name to fight back against his environmental policies. The Trump Forest campaign, called “Make Earth Great Again,” was started by a New Zealand-based group in March. The organisation offers a portal for supporters to donate money to organisations that plant trees and urges them to make the donations in Trump’s name specifically. Organisers are then planning to create a digital map based on tree-planting receipts from supporters. (The Hill)
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