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EMEA
One jump forward, two steps back for European CCS as challenges remain
The newly-formed Netherlands’ government has given a shot in the arm to the prospects of carbon capture in Europe, but stumbles in the UK and Norway illustrate the hurdles the technology still faces in getting a foothold.
EU Market: EUAs inch higher despite further coal gains
EU carbon prices rose slightly on Monday in the face of coal prices climbing to fresh three-year highs, further denting generator margins.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia Cabinet approves energy plan that ditches clean target to focus on reliability -media
Australia’s Cabinet has cleared a new energy plan that scraps the recommended Clean Energy Target (CET) and instead imposes obligations on electricity retailers to supply a certain share of coal and natural gas in order to ensure reliability, national media reported.
Kazakhstan pledges tighter CO2 allocation as it readies ETS restart
Kazakhstan has introduced benchmarking as an option for CO2 permit allocation as a means to reduce an allowance surplus ahead of the relaunch of its emissions trading scheme on Jan. 1.
New Zealand warned against $14.4 bln over-reliance on carbon credits for ‘impossible’ Paris target
New Zealand’s Paris Agreement emissions target is impossible to meet domestically yet the government risks spending up to NZ$20 billion ($14.4 bln) on international carbon credits that have no long-term value for the nation, its former chief climate negotiator has warned.
AMERICAS
Health concerns lead to offset restrictions in Alberta’s Peace River
Alberta’s energy regulator has tightened regulations over the venting of methane gas in the Peace River area of the Canadian province, leading to potential problems for project operators hoping to generate offsets under the solution gas protocol.
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Job listings this week:
Program Director, Environmental Price Assurance Facility – Portland/remote
Climate Change Specialist, IDB – Washington DC
Executive Secretary, REN21 – Paris
Deputy Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) – Seoul
Renewables policy expert, Abt Associates – Bangkok
Climate and Energy Program Director, Friends of the Earth – Washington DC
Renewable Energy and Carbon Offsets Outreach Associate, 3Degrees – Corvallis/Albany/Dallas, US
Associate, Climate & Energy, WBCSD – Geneva
Or click here to see all our job adverts
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Power of re-greening – Planting forests and other activities that harness the power of nature could account for 11.3 billion tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030, or 37% of all actions needed under the Paris Agreement, according to a study by an international team of scientists led by NGO The Nature Conservancy and published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It found that a “regreening of the planet” would be equivalent to halting all burning of oil worldwide and up to 30% higher than the IPCC UN panel of scientists predicted in a 2014 report. The study said that some of the measures would cost $10 a tonne or less, with others up to $100 a ton to qualify as “cost-effective” by 2030. (Reuters)
Don’t settle it – The Trump administration moved to curb settlements with environmentalists, instead vowing to fight cases designed to force the US Environmental Protection Agency to take action. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said he is ending a “sue-and-settle” practice that has resulted in committing the agency to regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and refineries, among other things. (Bloomberg)
Deny it – President Trump has officially nominated climate change denier Kathleen Hartnett White to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality. White is currently a senior adviser to the Koch-funded Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has two other alumni in senior posts. White has argued against classifying carbon dioxide as a pollutant, claimed coal helped to end slavery and described renewable energy as “unreliable and parasitic.” (InsideClimate News)
REDD, set, go – Vietnam’s minister of agriculture, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, has ordered the General Department of Forestry to finalise by December a plan for how it plans to deliver carbon reductions through REDD under a deal with the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the Vietnamese government said. Under a REDD project spanning six provinces, Vietnam plans to cut some 33 mtCO2e a year, of which the FCPF would pay around $60 mln for 10.3 mt/year, the statement said.
And finally … Holy sad – Pope Francis implicitly criticised the US for pulling out of the Paris Agreement in an address to the UN food agency FAO in Rome. “Thanks to scientific knowledge, we know how we have to confront the problem and the international community has also worked out the legal methods, such as the Paris Accord, which sadly, some have abandoned,” he said. Francis denounced “negligence toward the delicate equilibriums of the ecosystems, the presumption of manipulating and controlling the limited resources of the planet, and the greed for profit.” (Reuters)
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