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TOP STORY
Hopes fade for progress on a CDM transition this year
Governments are not expected to offer much clarity on how the CDM will transition into the post-2020 Paris Agreement era as year-end UN talks in Katowice get bogged down in other issues, observers say.
AMERICAS
Canadian emitters to face 12 Mt shortfall under OBPS in 2019 -analysts
Large Canadian emitters to be regulated by the federal government’s output-based pricing standard (OBPS) from 2019 will face a compliance unit deficit of nearly 12 million tonnes during the market’s inaugural year, according to a new report released Monday.
Oregon Clean Fuels Program registers first credit deficit as amendments approved
The Oregon Clean Fuels Program (OCFP) in Q2 saw more deficits than credits generated for the first time in the regulation’s history, data showed, while a state agency approved a minor amendment package to expand eligible credit types.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australian businesses want steeper climate targets and CO2 markets to help meet them, survey shows
An overwhelming majority of Australian business and industry thinks the government should strengthen its climate ambitions and develop a suite of market-based policies to meet them, a survey has found.
Australia’s Woodside starts approval process for LNG project
Australia’s biggest oil and gas exploration company has initiated the environmental approval process for a new LNG project that would emit enough to erase around a third of the carbon output saved through the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs recover from early weakness to stick near €19 for third day
European carbon prices recovered from an early fall and a weak auction on Monday to close near €19 for a third straight session.
ICYM
California punts endorsement of Tropical Forest Standard to 2019
California regulator ARB on Friday postponed a decision until next spring on whether to approve the Tropical Forest Standard (TFS) that could allow jurisdictions to link their sector-based offset programmes to the state’s carbon market, with stakeholders warning of the standard’s environmental and social ramifications.
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Job listings this week
- Climate Governance Manager, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – London
- Internship, Sustainable Energy Policy and Markets, SD Strategies – Berlin
- Climate Policy Analyst, New York Department of Environmental Conservation – Albany
Or click here to see all our job adverts
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Everybody’s protesting for the weekend – 85 were arrested as thousands of ‘Extinction Rebellion’ climate campaigners occupied five bridges in central London in one of the biggest acts of peaceful civil disobedience in the UK in decades. They want the UK to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and establish a citizens assembly to devise an emergency plan of action similar to that seen during the second world war. Events have been planned in seven other countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Australia and France. Meanwhile, one protester has died and more than 200 were injured as more than 250,000 people took to the streets of France, angry at rising fuel prices. The country’s domestic levy on natural gas, heating oil, coal and transport fuels rose to €44.60/tonne of CO2 under this year, en route to targets of €56 in 2020 and over €100 by 2030. The price of diesel, the most commonly used fuel in French cars, has risen by around 23% over the past 12 months to an average of €1.51 (£1.32, $1.71) per litre, its highest point since the early 2000s, AFP reports. (The Guardian, BBC)
Strings attached – France is pushing the UK to incorporate future European climate change directives into law automatically in return for an ambitious trade deal with the EU, according to the Observer. A large number of member states fear that the UK could enjoy an economic advantage after Brexit if it were able to diverge from European laws and regulations, and they want to use their leverage now to force a commitment from future British governments. The demand by Emmanuel Macron for the UK to be tied into the EU’s Paris 2030 targets was just one of a series of interventions made by member states during recent meetings with Michel Barnier and his negotiating team.
Pig in a poke – Germany’s agriculture ministry plans to boost sustainable forestry and sees the need for more climate-friendly livestock farming in order to achieve the agricultural sector’s emission reduction targets, federal agriculture minister Julia Kloeckner (CDU) told the Rheinsche Post. A 10-point plan drafted by her ministry would ensure that the sector cut its annual GHG emissions by 14 Mt by 2030, she said. And this would come “without a carbon tax, which the environment minister has proposed and now obviously does not pursue further. That tax is unnecessary,” she added. Forestry was one of the key levers for climate protection. “Put simply: the use of wood from sustainable forestry qualifies as active climate protection.” (Clean Energy Wire)
Reforms needed – The German system of taxes and levies needs a comprehensive reform to allow for the introduction of an effective carbon price without creating a major burden for power customers, think-tank Agora Energiewende has found in an analysis (in German). It says “many arguments have been exchanged many times: it’s time for a decision” on a price scheme for CO2 emissions. While such a reform would have to “inevitably entail higher prices for diesel, petrol, heating oil, and natural gas,” it can be made “cost-neutral” for citizens by lowering their expenses elsewhere in the system of taxes and levies. A comprehensive reform “has remained wanting for years now but can be implemented quickly.” Agora says Germany will not be able to reach its 2030 emissions reduction target without carrying out reforms soon and warns that such a policy’s “potential for antagonistic media propaganda” must not deter policymakers from pursuing it. (Clean Energy Wire)
5C for fighting – The current climate policies of Canada, China, and Russia would push the world above a “catastrophic” 5C of warming by the end of the century, according to new research, The Guardian reports. A study published in the journal Nature Communications ranked the climate goals of different countries, with the US and Australia close behind the three largest contributors in driving global temperatures over 4C above pre-industrial levels. Even the EU is on track to more than double the 1.5C temperature threshold above pre-industrial levels. (Carbon Brief)
Warmer, colder – The western US will experience warmer-than-normal temperatures this winter, while below-normal weather chills the eastern and central parts of the country, according to the latest forecasts from the IBM-owned Weather Company. The most significant cold, relative to normal, is expected to be across the northeastern US, it said, which is home to the RGGI carbon market. “After a long, hot summer, the expected pattern change toward colder weather in October has persisted through November, with records being shattered across many parts of the central/eastern US,” said Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company. “Further, we are now seeing indications of a weakening polar vortex, which is typically a sign that the winter ahead will be skewed toward the colder side in much of the eastern/central US. The new El Nino event is maturing and will favor NE Pacific and NW North American ridging that will allow Arctic air to continue to move southward into the US. Finally, some of the better climate models are also indicating a colder-than-normal winter in parts of the eastern/southern US. Our latest forecast is now colder than previous forecasts for all three winter months.”
Backstop backup – New Brunswick will begin work on a plan to reduce carbon emissions, but still won’t give up on being part of a court challenge to the Canadian federal government’s ‘backstop’ carbon tax. New Tory Premier Blaine Higgs on Friday said that if the federal plan is implemented in the province beginning next year, the province will pay a significant premium to its Maritime neighbours Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia on the price of gasoline. While his Progressive Conservatives explore joining lawsuits already filed by Ontario and Saskatchewan, Higgs said that his government will develop a carbon reduction plan as a backup, though that plan would not likely check all of Ottawa’s boxes, including the opposition to the carbon tax from both the PCs and fellow right-wing People’s Alliance. Former Liberal Premier Brian Gallant had redirected a portion of New Brunswick’s existing gas tax to a climate fund, which the federal government said did not meet its carbon pricing mandate. (The Canadian Press)
Sing team – The cross-stakeholder Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition has launched a chapter in Singapore in conjunction with business group Global Compact Network Singapore, aiming to spur private sector collaboration on reducing carbon emissions. Read Carbon Pulse’s latest on the state’s carbon tax due from next year.
And finally… Gimme a rake – Trump visited California this weekend to survey the damage left by wildfires in the state that are still only partially contained. He met with both current governor Jerry Brown and the governor-elect Gavin Newsom. Trump was separately asked by a reporter whether seeing the devastation in California changed his opinion on climate change. “No, no,” he said. “I have a strong opinion. I want great climate.” And when asked about the factors contributing to the severity of the fires in a Fox News interview, Trump delivered an offhand remark that climate change was “maybe” contributing “a little bit”. The president also pointed to other countries’ forest management, where he said “they do it differently.” Specifically, Trump said the president of Finland told him that in that country “they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem” – a claim Sauli Niinisto later disputed. And displaying their sense of humour, Finns have started posting pics of themselves vacuuming their forests! (Politico)
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