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TOP STORY

Ontario carbon allowances amount to 1% of total holdings in California, Quebec registry accounts

INTERNATIONAL

China CORSIA withdrawal reports inaccurate, official tells media

Reports that China has withdrawn from the voluntary first phases of the UN’s CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme are inaccurate, according to a representative of China’s delegation to ICAO.

Mystery of illegal ozone-depleting emissions solved, say environmental investigators

Environmental sleuths have tracked down what they believe is the location of a large illegal source of ozone-destroying emissions.

AMERICAS

INTERVIEW: Consultations needed over Ontario cap-and-trade unwinding, climate policy -watchdog

New Ontario Premier Doug Ford should hold consultations on his plan for unwinding the province’s cap-and-trade programme and how that will affect Ontario’s emissions reduction targets, according to the leader of the province’s environmental watchdog.

EMEA

EU Market: EUAs streak to new 1-mth high above €16 as power prices keep rising

EU carbon prices climbed above €16 for the first time in a month on Monday as power prices continued their heatwave-induced climb.

ASIA PACIFIC

New Zealand’s Z Energy seals voluntary carbon deal at above-market price

New Zealand fuel supplier Z Energy has bought nearly 60,000 voluntary carbon credits at prices higher than in the nation’s mandatory ETS to offset its operational emissions.

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CARBON FORWARD 2018

SAVE THE DATE: Carbon Forward 2018 – Survive and thrive in the global carbon markets

Don’t miss the 3rd annual Carbon Forward conference and training day – Oct. 16-18, 2018 in London.

Spend two days with top experts, players, and decision-makers from the global carbon markets as they address today’s most attractive opportunities and pressing challenges. And join us for the EU ETS pre-conference training day organised by carbon market experts Redshaw Advisors, where you will learn how to effectively manage your carbon risk ahead of the looming overhaul of the bloc’s emissions trading scheme.

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Job listings this week:

• Executive Director, Carbon Market Watch – Brussels
• Governance Programme Director, IDDRI – Paris
• Energy and Climate Policy Associate, The Nature Conservancy – Richmond, Virginia
• Sustainability Analyst/Associate, Cap-Op Energy – Calgary
• Intern, Landscape Standard, Verra – Washington DC

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Same as the old boss? – New acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has affirmed his belief that not only is climate change real, but that humans have had an impact on the climate. In a Washington Post interview on Friday, Wheeler also said he has no plans to repeal the so-called “endangerment finding” that regulates CO2 as a pollutant in US law. Still, Wheeler confirmed many observers’ opinions when he said the EPA would likely not change much under his leadership after Scott Pruitt resigned as agency head last week, with Wheeler continuing to pursue alternatives to the Clean Power Plan that he said goes “outside the four corners of the Clean Air Act”. (The Hill, Carbon Brief)

By the numbers – World investment in clean energy in the first six months of 2018 came in at $138.2 billion, down just 1% from the same period in 2017, according to the latest numbers from BNEF. Investment in solar in the first half of 2018 was down 19% compared to the same period last year at $71.6 billion, however, wind investment was up 33% at $57.2 billion. Solar is seeing significantly lower capital costs for photovoltaic projects and a cooling-off in China’s solar boom, resulting in lower investment. Wind power investment instead saw a jump due to a stream of large project financings. The top 10 markets in H1 2018 were as follows:

• China investment of $58.1 billion, down 15% compared to 1H 2017
• US investment of $28.8 billion, up 31%
• Europe at $16 billion, up 8%
• India at $7.4 billion, up 22%
• Australia at $4.1 billion, down 1%
• Morocco at $2.5 billion, up 12-fold
• Netherlands at $2.3 billion, up 209%
• Japan at $2.2 billion, down 67%
• Vietnam at $2 billion, up 136-fold
• Mexico at $1.9 billion, down 20%

Insufficiently yours – The EU ETS is not sufficient for ensuring that Germany meets either its CO2 emissions reduction goals or the other targets of its energy transition, the German government said in an answer to a parliamentary inquiry by the Left Party. “More specific and appropriate instruments are necessary to ensure a development in accordance with the medium- and long-term climate protection and Energiewende targets,” such as renewables expansion or higher energy efficiency, and to “guarantee planning security for everyone involved,” it said. The government also said a gap in reaching the 2020 effort-sharing emissions reduction goal of the EU “is to be expected.” It adds that buying emissions allowances from other EU states is a possibility and that the government will say whether Germany will make use of this option “in due course.” (Clean Energy Wire)

Holy divestiture – The Anglican clergy has voted in a symbolic move that the Church of England’s £12bn endowment and investment funds should sell their shares in any fossil fuel companies that “are slow to tackle global warming from 2023″. The church reportedly has more than £190m in fossil fuel companies. Its General Synod was told yesterday that the church would be profiting from climate change if it continued to invest in organisations that did not take bold steps to stop global warming.” (Carbon Brief)

California steamin’ – A massive heatwave shattered temperature records throughout southern California over the weekend, with readings soaring to 115 F (46 C) in San Diego and as much as 10 to 15 F (6 to 8 C) higher than previous records in other locations. The sweltering heat taxed the region’s electric grid, causing outages to tens of thousands of utility customers in the Los Angeles area, while brush fires broke out in Santa Barbara and San Diego counties, killing at least one person. The more intense and frequent heat and fire outbreak follows a pattern becoming increasingly common with global warming. Meanwhile on the other side of the Pacific in Japan, torrential rains kills more than 100 people, while almost 2 million were ordered to evacuate. (Climate Nexus)

And finally… Resiliency rub – Amidst a Trump administration proposal to prop up economically-struggling coal plants, one Virginia power station is already running on an emergency basis to promote grid reliability. As Inside Climate News reports however, the two outdated “zombie” Yorktown 1 and 2 operating units have run into their own problems this summer. Spurred back to life on an intermittent basis in May after a request from grid operator PJM Interconnection, the units emitted 130 tonnes of CO2 per hour, in addition to other pollutants like SO2, soot, and mercury. In June, operator Dominion Power reported that one of the units had “suffered an unexpected failure of a critical component” and would not resume operation until the end of July at the earliest. Researchers Synapse Energy Economics have also said that even when heat waves are on the way – a justification for bringing the units back online to bolster grid resilience – it would take a long time for the plants to begin operation again, with the ability to run the plants on a stop-and-go basis decreasing over time.

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