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TOP STORY
Norway halts forest payments to Brazil
Norway has halted payments to the Amazon Fund for deforestation efforts in Brazil, claiming the Bolsonaro government has broken the terms of their agreement.
AMERICAS
Higher CO2 price should be focus of California allowance oversupply talks -experts
California should worry less about hitting the state’s long-term GHG goal and focus on raising carbon allowance prices to stimulate innovation and allay concerns about the oversupply of CO2 permits in its ETS, economists said at public hearing Friday.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs extend five-week low below €26 for 7.7% weekly loss
EUAs extended a five-week low below €26 on Friday to cap a week of sliding prices on a slew of bearish technical and fundamental signals.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australian offset issuance drops, but ERF delivery holds steady
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator issued just over 190,000 carbon credits this week, just a third of last week’s volume but close to the long-term average.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Aug. 16, 2019
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Australian climate diplomacy I – As expected, Australia did not budge on coal and climate at the Pacific Island Forum this week. The final communique from the meeting had sections on phasing out coal and reducing carbon emissions, but Australia expressed reservations against those sections, reports ABC. During the meeting, Australia was accused of bullying its smaller neighbours to keep climate language out of the final statement. China, however, took the opportunity to back the small island nations’ claims. Represented at the meeting by its Special Envoy to the Pacific, it announced the small nations had ‘legitimate’ demands and said all developed countries should meet their Paris Agreement targets, according to The Australian.
Australian climate diplomacy II – Only hours after the Pacific Islands Forum ended, Australia further upset leaders in the region. The Guardian published a video of Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack speaking at a meeting Friday, where he said he was “annoyed” over “people in those sorts of countries” making demands on Australia’s resources sector “so that, you know, they will continue to survive”. The Deputy PM continued by saying the Pacific nations would indeed survive because many workers from there will always be allowed to come to Australia to pick fruit.
Double trouble – July 2019 was the hottest month of any month on record on Earth, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed Thursday. This July’s global average temperature was 62.1F (16.7C), 1.71F (0.95C) warmer than the 20th century average and just exceeding July 2016’s previous record. During the month, the US recorded 66 all-time record highs and zero record lows. Last month, the agency also announced that June of this year was the hottest June on record. (Climate Nexus)
Planting on water – The UK’s privatised water companies have announced plans to plant 11 million new trees in England by 2030 to help the industry’s effort to become carbon neutral, reports the Press Association. The firms will be planting trees on around 15,000 acres of land across England, as well as supporting work to restore original woodland and improving habitats that store carbon. Some trees will be planted on land owned by utility firms, but land for planting will also be provided by the public and charity sectors. Read Carbon Pulse’s report on how a UK government push to set up a stronger domestic offset market could boost wildlife and sequester more CO2.
On Wisconsin – America’s Dairyland Governor Tony Evers (D) signed an executive order on Friday to move the US state to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. Evers had previously offered similar plans in his budget this February, but the GOP-controlled legislature took those measures out. The order also creates the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy in the state Department of Administration, which will be responsible for developing a clean energy plan and putting the state on a track to achieve the GHG goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. The state joined the US Climate Alliance, which aims to uphold the Paris temperature goals, earlier this year. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
On Colorado – The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted 8-1 on Friday to adopt California’s Zero-Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Programme. The standards mandate that zero- or low-emissions vehicles should account for almost 5% of the state’s sales by 2023, and follows Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ (D) executive order in January to get more electric cars on the Rocky Mountain State’s roads. Observers noted on social media that Colorado was the first state in 10 years to adopt the ZEV programme, and is the first non-coastal US jurisdiction to do so. (CPR News)
And finally… RINse cycle – The US EPA’s abrupt announcement last Friday that it had granted 31 of the 38 pending compliance waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) came after President Trump called agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler to give him the green light for the announcement, Reuters reports. Months after Trump reportedly issued a review of the RFS’ small refinery exemption (SRE) programme after hearing from angry Midwestern farmers on the issue, three sources familiar with the matter said that Trump “had enough of it” and wanted the issue off his desk. The Aug. 9 announcement led D6 (ethanol) RINs for 2019 compliance to lose nearly half their value in one afternoon. In light of the SRE decision, Iowa Senator and prominent RFS supporter Chuck Grassley (R) on Friday said the EPA “screwed us” by issuing the 31 compliance waivers, with the state’s agriculture sector having claimed the SREs have its industry by destroying biofuel demand.
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