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TOP STORY
COP24: California, Quebec continuing ETS linkage discussions with New Zealand
California and Quebec are continuing talks with New Zealand about potential linkage opportunities after spending more than a year discussing each other’s carbon schemes, according to an ARB official and documents.
COP24
Roundup for Tuesday, Dec. 11
As negotiators at the COP24 Katowice talks are tasked with producing a cleaner version of the Paris Agreement rulebook by Wednesday morning, a clearer picture of the strength of final agreement is expected to emerge.
Australia faces heat if it deploys AAU plan to plug Paris emission gap
Australia is likely to face widespread international disapproval if it goes ahead with a plan identified by observers that involves using more than 300 million surplus units from the Kyoto Protocol era to help meet a massive shortfall in its Paris Agreement target.
South Korea plans ETS changes to boost liquidity
South Korea is planning a number of amendments to trading rules for its emissions trading scheme in a bid to improve market liquidity and make the programme more effective.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs sink back towards €20 ahead of options expiry
European carbon prices sank back near €20 on Tuesday amid further Brexit-related developments and ahead of tomorrow’s EUA options expiry.
AMERICAS
Two more RGGI states finalise post-2020 rules
Delaware and Rhode Island have finalised regulations that would adopt RGGI’s post-2020 changes, which will go into effect this month, documents show.
LCFS Market: California hits $200 to cap year-long surge
California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices traded at a record $200 on Monday, breaking through a barrier that had proved elusive even as values skyrocketed throughout 2018, market participants said.
ASIA PACIFIC
NZ Market: NZUs jump to record highs ahead of govt ETS announcement
New Zealand carbon allowances on Tuesday jumped to an all-time high as traders went into bullish mode on news that the government will announce the first trance of its ETS reforms on Wednesday.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Jumpin’ Joe – Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will be the new top Democrat on the chamber’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the party announced Tuesday, despite opposition from some environmental groups troubled by the lawmaker’s fondness for coal. The move comes as Democrats are working to counter President Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to eviscerate environmental legislation while touting fossil fuel production, which he did even at the United Nations’ annual climate change talks this month in Poland. (Huff Post)
Climate change in the flesh – Scientists have pinpointed numerous disasters that occurred in 2017 that could not have occurred without climate change. They include droughts in the US northern plains and East Africa, and flooding across the world. The report by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society found climate change was having significant real-time impacts, and officials said many of those were the result of rising ocean temperatures.
EV state of mind – California is the lone state in the US to see more than five plug-in vehicle (PEV) registrations per 1,000 people in 2017, according to Energy Department data. California saw 8.64 PEVs per 1,000 last year, or more than double Washington state who held the second highest at 4.06. Seven states – Washington, California, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Maryland, and Vermont – saw PEVs above two. The US average was 2.21 PEVs per 1,000 people, likely meaning a bulk of all plug-in vehicles came from those seven states.
Clean coal is real… sort of – Coal-fired generation has emitted less SO2 and NOx during the past two decades as a result of more stringent environmental regulations under the Clean Air Act, according to the Energy Information Adminstration (EIA). The EIA found a MWh of coal-fired power generated 14.6 lbs of SO2 and 6.4 lbs of NOx in 1997, but by 2017, those figures had declined to 2.4 lbs/MWh and 1.5 lbs/MWh, respectively. That time period encompasses the Acid Rain Programme, Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), and the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
Shifting jobs – The roles of Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner may eventually shift to the province’s Environmental Ministry and Auditor General with the passage of Bill 57 last week. The Environmental Bill of Rights oversight duties would shift to the Environmental Ministry, while the Auditor General may take over the position’s reporting to the legislature. Some of those roles could shift to the newly created Commissioner of the Environment, which does not have a set job description, and which will report to the Auditor General. The Ontario Environmental Commissioner roles will cease operations by at least May 1. Carbon Pulse had previously reported all of those duties would shift to the environmental ministry.
And finally… Granny grievance – A Swiss court has ruled that senior women are not more likely than other citizens to suffer the harmful effects of climate change – despite their increased death rate during heatwaves. The ruling, handed down last week by the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, ruled against the group of more than 450 older women, Senior Women for Climate Protection, which was formed in Aug. 2016 with the help of Greenpeace Switzerland. The group collected evidence showing how climate change uniquely affects women over the age of 75. (Climate Liability News)
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