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TOP STORY
RGGI auction seen likely to settle underneath secondary market
Traders anticipate the quarterly RGGI auction to settle below current price levels, bucking the recent trend of above-secondary market results.
EMEA
Netherlands government buckles on CO2 tax as advisors flag climate plan shortfall
The Dutch government has vowed to introduce a carbon tax for companies, caving to pressure to force more climate costs onto business after advisers said its draft plan for meeting 2030 emission targets will fall short.
UK to consult on mandating travel providers to offer passengers “genuinely additional” offsets
The UK is considering forcing all transportation providers to offer “genuinely additional” carbon offsets to give passengers more opportunity to achieve carbon neutral travel, the government announced Wednesday.
EU Market: EUAs continue to vacillate as traders await Brexit progress
European carbon ended steady on Wednesday after hitting a one-week low below €22, as many traders remained on the sidelines awaiting more developments in the Brexit brouhaha.
ASIA PACIFIC
SK Market: Bid limit stops Korean auction from selling out
Over a quarter of the allowances on offer at Wednesday’s South Korean CO2 auction went unsold due to the tighter bid limits introduced last week.
NZ Market: NZUs extend gains, close in on record high
New Zealand carbon permits gained another 0.4% in Wednesday trade to hit a 4-month high, just 5 cents below the market’s all-time record level.
AMERICAS
California sets 2019 mark by issuing nearly 5.4 mln new offsets
California issued nearly 5.4 million new offset credits (CCOs) this week across five forestry projects, marking the highest issuance of 2019, regulator data showed Wednesday.
Washington state legislature sends LCFS bill on to Senate
Washington state representatives approved a bill Tuesday evening to implement a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS), moving the proposal to the Senate where it faces a more uncertain future.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Unfrozen future – Arctic winter temperatures will increase by 3-5C by 2050 over 1986-2005 levels, and 5-9C by 2080 even if the Paris Agreement goals are met, a new report from UN Environment said Wednesday. The study found that even if global temperatures were to halt overnight, 4-5C of warming would still result by 2100 due to GHGs already emitted and ocean heat storage. The authors also said thawing Arctic permafrost could wake the “sleeping giant” of more GHGs, potentially derailing the 2015 treaty’s climate goals, while ocean acidification and pollution are posing further threats to the region.
Extraction facts – Extractive industries are responsible for half of the world’s carbon emissions and more than 80% of biodiversity loss, according to the most comprehensive environmental tally undertaken of mining and farming to date. The new Global Resources Outlook, which was released by UN Environment in Nairobi on Tuesday, found resource extraction and processing combined for 53% of the world’s carbon emissions, even before accounting for any fuel that is burned. The report also noted that residents of rich countries consumed an average of 9.8 tonnes of resources per capita per year, or 13 times higher than those with low incomes. (The Guardian)
Who’s the boss – A US District Court of the Northern District of California ruled Monday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cannot decide the fate of power purchase agreements (PPAs) held by utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Exelon and NextEra petitioned the FERC in January to preserve PPAs that they had agreed to with PG&E, and the federal agency determined it had concurrent jurisdiction over the issue with the bankruptcy court. However, Judge Haywood Gilliam ruled that the bankruptcy court should have jurisdiction over the issue, and it would rule on the issue in “short order”. PG&E has not asked to exit any PPA yet, but some worry that the embattled California utility could opt to exit high-priced renewable energy contracts, potentially lowering clean energy generation. (Utility Dive)
Detection duo – Oil major BP and US green group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have announced a three-year partnership aimed at cutting emissions from the oil-and-gas industry. The two entities will collaborate on methane detection and quantification technologies, including the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence. BP isn’t paying EDF in the arrangement, but said they will work to identify third-party analytical and technological demonstration projects, with the oil company assisting with funding. BP has an existing goal of bringing its methane emissions intensity down to 0.2% (Axios)
And finally… Bye bye baby – A growing number of adults that are choosing not to have children due to the coming “climate breakdown and civilisation collapse” have joined a new voluntary organisation called BirthStrike. In just two weeks, 140 people, mostly women in the UK, have declared their decision “not to bear children due to the severity of the ecological crisis”, according to the group’s founder Blythe Pepino. She tells the Guardian that BirthStrike is distinct from the anti-natalist movement in that its aim is not to discourage people from having children or to condemn those who have them already, but to communicate the urgency of the crisis. “Even with drastic, draconian, eugenic policies of population reduction – which are completely immoral, we wouldn’t save ourselves. We have to change the way we live,” Pepino said.
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