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TOP STORY

EXCLUSIVE: Hawaii state lawmakers float carbon tax, offset bills

Hawaii lawmakers are introducing a pair of bills that would impose a steadily rising carbon tax on fossil fuels and set up a carbon offset system in the state, according to documents seen by Carbon Pulse.

AMERICAS

New Jersey senate committee advances trio of RGGI re-entry bills

New Jersey’s Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced three bills on Monday that would see the state rejoin RGGI and require it to dedicate revenues from the programme to low-carbon energy projects.

Canada needs higher carbon price for road transport -study

Canada’s federal carbon price would need to be significantly higher than currently planned in order to drive emission cuts in road transport, but a combination of regulatory measures could be a more politically acceptable way of driving abatement, according to new research.

Bluesource Canada partners with Ontario forest certifier to generate offsets

Project developer Bluesource has partnered with an Ontario forest certification organisation to aggregate community forests into larger offset projects ahead of the release of the province’s offset protocols.

US airline Delta, Duke University partner to offset passenger emissions

US airline Delta has partnered with Duke University to help neutralise some of the carrier’s carbon footprint through the purchase of offsets.

EMEA

EU Market: EUAs set fresh five-year high before retreating on weak record auction

EU carbon prices extended last week’s five-year high early on Monday but soon retreated after the day’s auction cleared at an all-time high but with very weak indicators.

Increased interest in EU carbon leads technical analyst to enhance coverage

A UK-based technical analyst is enhancing his coverage of the EU ETS amid increasing demand from clients and soaring EUA prices.

ASIA PACIFIC

Korea’s ETS powerless to stall coal finance boom -report

South Korea’s emissions trading scheme is failing to drive a switch to cleaner fuels domestically while Korean public finance institutions are among the world’s biggest coal funders, seemingly acting in disregard for the nation’s Paris target, according to a report due to be published on Tuesday.

ICIS cancels China offset assessment over lack of market progress

Analysts ICIS on Tuesday cancelled their weekly price assessment of Chinese carbon offsets as the credits are unlikely to trade in the national emissions trading scheme for several years.

BAVARDAGE

Emissions trading group IETA boosts US, EU roster with veteran appointments

Emissions trading association IETA has appointed several market veterans to enhance its work in Europe and the US.

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Job listings this week:

• Head of Iberia, Emissions Trading – Madrid
• Climate Change & Business Specialist, Carbon Market Institute – Melbourne
• Various Roles. MEXICO2 – Mexico City
• Communications Assistant, Climate Action Reserve – Los Angeles
• Communications Associate, Climate Policy Initiative – London
• Summer Trainee, Public Affairs, Carbon Trading Systems, Neste – Espoo, Finland
• Administrative Coordinator, Climate Generation – Minneapolis

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Fake news, German edition – Formal negotiations over a German government coalition will begin after 56% of SPD delegates on Sunday voted to partner once again with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU block. Energy and climate are expected to be high on the agenda. Addressing the party congress, SPD head Martin Schulz dismissed as “fake news” reports that the possible future coalition would be prepared to scrap the country’s 2020 climate target. “Of course, we do not give up on the climate targets. Quite the opposite: we will have a climate protection law in Germany for the first time,” he said. (Clean Energy Wire)

Another renewed partnership – Separately, France and Germany are planning to renew their seminal Elysee Treaty of 1963, which formally ended centuries of rivalry between the two European powers, and will intensify their cooperation in fields ranging from cultural exchanges through security to climate protection and energy transition, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint declaration (in German). “Our goal is to develop common positions on all of the important European and international topics,” they added. (Clean Energy Wire)

Zinke didn’t think-y – Axios reports that US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke went “rogue” when he travelled Florida earlier this month to exempt the state from the administration’s offshore drilling plan, according to a source. The announcement surprised the White House and angered the president. “Trump has made clear to Zinke that he’s angry about this move, according to two sources with direct knowledge. Zinke’s decision is both legally and politically dangerous for the Trump administration,” Axios writes. “Zinke did not coordinate with anybody, and gave the White House no forewarning of his controversial action.” On Friday, acting Bureau of Offshore Energy Management Director Walter Cruickshank said the agency would continue to include the federal waters off Florida in it analysis of possible oil and gas drilling sites, calling Zinke’s Twitter declaration “not a formal action.”

PPA power – Corporations signed a record volume of power purchase agreements, or PPAs, for green energy in 2017, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), with the increase in activity driven by sustainability initiatives and the increasing cost-competitiveness of renewables. A total of 5.4 GW in clean energy contracts were signed by 43 corporations in 10 different countries in 2017, according to BNEF in its inaugural Corporate Energy Market Outlook. This was up from 4.3 GW in 2016 and a previous record of 4.4 GW in 2015, and came despite question marks about how evolving policy could affect corporate procurement in the US and Europe, the two largest markets. Corporations have signed contracts to purchase nearly 19GW of clean power since 2008, an amount comparable to the generation capacity of Portugal, with 76% of this activity coming since 2015.

Heavy handed – Participants of the next UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland could be banned from taking part in spontaneous demonstrations and have their personal data collected, stored and used by Polish police without their consent if a draft piece of legislation becomes law. According to Climate Home, the proposed measures are going through Poland’s legislative process as coal hub Katowice prepares to host the COP24 talks this December. The draft bill, which sets out specific regulations for this year’s climate talks, was passed by the lower house of the Polish parliament on Jan. 10. On Friday, the senate passed the bill almost unanimously with only three MPs abstaining.

REDD talk – Green group WWF is to host a webinar learning session on Wednesday 1500-1600 GMT on how the World Bank-steered BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) will pilot results-based payments for landscapes. The ISFL last year launched a first-of-its-kind comprehensive landscape greenhouse gas accounting approach. The World Bank’s Marco van der Linden will highlight the objectives of the fund and walk participants through these ISFL programme requirements.

And finally… Gas for the shitholes – President Trump’s remarks last week denigrating Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries” could jeopardise a burgeoning effort to sell US natural gas to developing countries, the Washington Post reports. The Trump administration has dispatched its top energy and environmental officials to woo potential buyers of US energy in Africa, a continent home to the “shithole” countries that Trump wants to prevent from sending their citizens to the US, according to remarks in his meeting last week with lawmakers. EPA boss Scott Pruitt and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have both visited Africa in the past four months in a bid to sell governments US gas. “We want to be your partner,” Perry said at an event in South Africa.

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