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TOP STORY

UK grants emitters extension to 2018 EU ETS compliance deadline

The UK government has extended the country’s 2018 EU ETS compliance deadline by nearly two weeks, it announced early Monday, giving emitters more time to buy and surrender required carbon units ahead of Brexit.

EMEA

EU Market: EUAs tumble towards €22 as energy, auction weigh

EU carbon prices sank below €23 on Monday as weaker energy prices and a lacklustre auction encouraged selling into a week that will see decisive Brexit votes to determine the country’s future in the EU carbon market.

Bidder competition in German EUA auctions fiercens in 2018, while trading volumes jump

Competition in Germany’s EU carbon allowance auctions grew more fierce last year, while overall EUA trading volumes jumped by 50%, a report shows.

AMERICAS

California advisory group to examine cap-and-trade surplus at April meeting

The California Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) is tentatively slated to hold its first meeting of 2019 on April 5 and discuss the growing surplus in the state’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade market, numerous sources confirmed to Carbon Pulse.

Ontario cancels offset contract with Climate Action Reserve

Ontario has cancelled its contract with the California-based Climate Action Reserve (CAR) to develop offset protocols for the province’s now-repealed ETS, a company official said.

Maine committee defeats carbon tax proposal, though other measures still in play

A Maine legislative committee last week halted a representative’s plan to implement a $5/tonne carbon tax, but officials may take other measures to introduce or expand CO2 pricing in the US state.

Washington state lawmakers still deciding on LCFS vote ahead of looming deadline

Washington state representatives are currently deciding if a proposal to implement a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) will be put to a floor vote or extended ahead of a deadline this week, a legislative spokesperson told Carbon Pulse.

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Job listings this week

• Consultants, REDD+, German Institute for Development Evaluation – Remotely and Bonn
• South East Asia Analyst, The Carbon Trust – Singapore
• Consultant, Qatar MRV System Development, Global Green Growth Institute – Doha
• Graduate Risk Analyst, Acclimatise – New Delhi
• Energy-Climate-Economic Modelling Researcher, CIRED – Paris
• Sales Trader, ALLCOT Group – Madrid/Paris/Sofia
• Consultant/Senior Consultant, Sustainable Supply Chains, South Pole – London/Mexico City/Jakarta
• Business Development Director (Benelux), South Pole – Amsterdam
• PCAN Policy Fellow, Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics – London
• Climate Finance and Land Use Consultant, Climate Focus – Bogota
• Climate and Clean Energy Policy Manager, Washington Environmental Council – Seattle

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Fallen colleagues – At least 22 UN staff died in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday, along with many delegates travelling to a major environment summit, according to officials. The acting head of UN Environment Joyce Msuya confirmed the loss of colleagues, although full passenger lists of the flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi are yet to be publicly released, Climate Home reports. All 149 passengers and eight cabin staff died in the accident, the airline said. The cause of the crash has yet to be determined. The airline has grounded its fleet of Boeing 737 8 Max aircraft – the same model involved in a recent disaster in Indonesia. At the opening of the assembly, head of UN Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif said 22 UN personnel were known to have died. UN offices lowered the organisation’s flag to half mast on Monday. AP reports that 32 Kenyans were killed in the accident, nine Ethiopians, eighteen Canadians, as well as multiple citizens from China, the US, Italy, France, the UK, Egypt, the Netherlands, India and Slovakia.

French follow-up – A draft energy and climate law due to be presented to French cabinet ministers on Monday has been postponed so that it can be reworked with more ambitious goals, but it will still be on track to go to parliament for scrutiny in June, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Sunday. The proposals had been criticised by climate change campaigners and a high-level state-backed economic affairs committee for being too vague on some targets, including an aim for France to be “carbon neutral” by 2050. (Reuters)

Wide talk – Germany’s Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU party, has urged Europe to take the lead in tackling global climate change and for the creation of a European climate pact to be “negotiated jointly between business, employees and wider society”. Efforts to fight climate change will “only meet with broad approval among the population if we succeed in taking economic and social aspects into account in such a way that employment and economic strength are preserved, and new development opportunities are created,” she wrote in a newspaper op-ed on Sunday. (Die Welt)

It’s the least we could do – The German environment ministry (BMU) will open a research centre focused on reducing emissions in energy-intensive industries in the eastern German coal region of Lusatia. In a press release, Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary in the BMU, said the centre, which is scheduled to open this year in Cottbus, the region’s biggest city, shows that the government takes structural economic change as seriously as ending coal-fired power production. Initially funded with €2 million, the centre will focus on setting up research clusters and implementing the government’s plan for decarbonisation, particularly in energy-intensive industries, such as the production of steel, concrete, chalk and chemical and metallurgic products. (Clean Energy Wire)

Milk run – Denmark-based cooperative Arla Foods, one of the world’s biggest dairy firms, plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 and push up its milk prices to pay for it. Arla plans to switch to more renewable energy, sustainable packaging and lower waste production, while farmers can plant more trees and bushes to help absorb carbon and improve biodiversity. For methane emissions, the company has no firm target but is looking into the cows’ feed composition to make them less gassy. (Reuters)

Change of heart – Following a decision by Europe’s biggest low-cost airline Ryanair to launch a voluntary carbon offsetting option for customers in 2018, the airline has announced its first international environmental partnerships. According to GreenAir Online, over €1 million ($1.1m) raised from passengers and the airline will be donated to projects in Uganda, Portugal, and Ireland. These include a partnership with First Climate to support and disseminate energy-efficient cookstoves in Uganda, and an Irish group dedicated to the conservation of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The other two projects involve tree replanting in an area of Portugal devastated by wildfires in 2018 and preserving and restoring native woodland in Ireland. Not previously noted for a commitment to environmentalism, Ryanair last year set emissions reduction targets and said it supported long-term industry climate goals.

Mini news – A series of environmental measures have been promised in the UK mini-Budget on Wednesday, including an initiative to offset transportation emissions. Among those set to be announced by chancellor Philip Hammond are new ways to conserve and enhance habitats in Britain’s overseas territories, such as the Falkland Islands. He will also reveal investigations into whether all passenger transportation should offer extra carbon offsets to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions. Transportation has grown to become the UK’s largest source of GHGs. A ‘Future Homes Standard’ will also demand new-build homes have ‘low-carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency’, the Treasury indicated last night. Hammond’s ‘Spring Statement’ follows an announcement last year that the main Budget would be moved from March to November. (Metro)

And finally… Burned out – California had its worst year for wildfires on record in 2018 after more than 1.8 million acres (728,400 hectares) burned, according to a new federal report. The fires surpassed the previous record by about half a million acres, according to the report from the National Interagency Coordination Center, and 21% of land burned across the US in 2018 was in California. The conflagrations included the Camp Fire that decimated the town of Paradise and contributed to investor-owned utility PG&E filing for bankruptcy in January due to its potential liabilities. (Climate Nexus)

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