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TOP STORY
EU likely to float 2030 emissions goal of at least 55%, says incoming Brussels climate boss
Brussels’ incoming climate boss said he would be “extremely surprised” if the EU doesn’t move towards raising its 2030 emissions reduction target to at least 55% below 1990 levels, though such a proposal will not come within the new Commission’s first 100 days in office.
ASIA PACIFIC
Battle over agriculture emissions threatens NZ govt’s pursuit of bipartisan climate policy
New Zealand’s opposition National party is threatening to not support the coalition government’s Zero Carbon Act, as disagreement over how to handle the country’s agriculture emissions heats up.
SK Market: Auction settles at highest level yet, but below secondary market
South Korea sold all 550,000 KAU19s on offer at Tuesday’s monthly auction, which settled a touch below the secondary market but at the highest level since the government sales began in January.
New Zealand government names climate commission chair-designate
New Zealand climate change minister James Shaw announced the chairperson of the country’s independent Climate Change Commission on Tuesday.
AMERICAS
California to delay offset committee meeting for the second time
California regulator ARB will once again delay the inaugural meeting of the Compliance Offset Protocol Task Force (OPTF) as the agency continues to sort through potential applicants, officials told Carbon Pulse on Tuesday.
New Oregon campaign targets backup climate ballot initiatives in 2020
Oregon green groups launched a new initiative on Tuesday that may give voters the chance to endorse deep decarbonisation and clean energy goals next November if state lawmakers cannot salvage WCI-modelled cap-and-trade legislation in the upcoming term.
LCFS Market: California credits match record high above $200 amid pending price cap
California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits have remained near historic highs above $200 over the past month despite state regulator ARB announcing it would seek to finalise a “firm maximum” price in the programme.
RGGI to auction 13.1 mln permits in final 2019 sale
The Northeast US RGGI carbon market will offer over 13.1 million allowances at its final quarterly sale on Dec. 4, the programme announced Tuesday.
EMEA
Ireland outlines path to raise carbon tax to €80/tonne by 2030
Ireland’s centre-right government on Tuesday released its 2020 budget, which includes an annual increase in the country’s carbon tax to help fund decarbonisation efforts.
EU Market: EUAs slump to new six-month low as Brexit, trade clashes weigh
EUAs sank below €23 on Tuesday to extend a six-month low for the third straight session as pessimism over Brexit and US-China trade talks took hold.
London-based carbon investment firm assembles expert team ahead of fund launch
A London-based investment management firm has appointed a cast of carbon trading industry veterans as staff and advisors as it prepares to launch a global environmental markets fund.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Toothless targets – The German government has presented a draft of the country’s first-ever major climate action law, assigning flexible annual budgets to economic sectors for the years 2020-2030, but it does not make long-term climate targets legally binding. The law is part of the climate package Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition decided on Sep. 20. Stakeholders have until Oct. 8 to comment on the draft, and the federal cabinet is set to decide it one day later. (Clean Energy Wire)
Destination: Canada – In the latest of its series, Carbon Brief profiles Canada, the world’s 10th largest emitter. While it has an extensive network of hydroelectric dams and nuclear plants providing the majority of its power, the country has been slow to adopt other forms of low-carbon energy and cut its transport emissions. Successive governments have failed to meet climate goals and its emissions bely a relatively small population, with oil and gas production the biggest contributor and transport the second largest.
States unite! – Australia’s government has for years refused to introduce big energy and climate policy packages in a bid to try and keep electricity prices down, but it is just this policy inertia that keeps pushing prices up, according to a new report by think-tank the Grattan Institute. In the absence of a federal climate policy, a number of state governments have launched individual programmes and targets, but the states need to unite and align their policies, the report urged.
The odd couple – Environmental groups and Democrat-led states are coming to the Trump administration’s side to fend off industry claims the US EPA lacks authority to regulate power sector GHGs. Several fossil fuel companies have said that in implementing the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, the weaker replacement of the stayed Clean Power Plan, the EPA has failed to make the threshold finding that emissions from power plants endanger public health, a perquisite for regulation under the Clean Air Act. However, both the environmental groups and blue states intervened on the Trump administration’s behalf for the limited purpose of retaining the EPA’s regulatory authority over GHGs. (Bloomberg Environment)
Power down – Nearly 800,000 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers will lose power starting just after midnight Wednesday as the embattled California utility launches its most extreme effort yet to avoid starting a wildfire in extremely dry and windy weather. Shut-offs will take place in every county in the Bay Area except San Francisco and will also occur in some of the far northern and southern corners of PG&E’s service area, reaching 34 counties. The shut-offs are intended to prevent PG&E equipment from starting the kind of wildfires for which they were responsible in Oct. 2017, when the company’s power lines started a series in the North Bay, and last year, when they ignited the historically deadly and destructive Camp Fire in Butte County. PG&E has had the programme in place for more than a year but has never used it on as wide a scale as it intends to do Wednesday. (SF Chronicle)
Do not delay – The US First Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied a request to delay Rhode Island’s climate liability lawsuit against several oil companies, including industry giants ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron. The court denied the companies’ request to stay pending appeal of a district court’s July order remanding the case to Rhode Island state court. (Politico)
And finally… And still we will be here, standing like statutes – Activists with Extinction Rebellion blocked traffic and staged dozens of dramatic protests around the world Monday that resulted in hundreds of arrests. In New York, demonstrators splattered blood on the iconic Wall Street bull, with 90 arrested by the NYPD, and teens dressed in black in Chicago staged a “die-in” in front of City Hall. Across the pond, nearly 300 were arrested in London Monday, while demonstrators continued to protest Tuesday morning by gluing themselves to government buildings. Performing in Chicago n Monday, British rock group Enter Shikari voiced support for the climate activists in their home city, after playing a recording to open their set of a teenager’s climate strike speech in Austin, Texas from September’s mass worldwide protests. Vocalist Rou Reynolds told the sold-out crowd at Lincoln Hall that the band couldn’t wait to get back home this week “so we can get arrested ourselves”. (Climate Nexus)
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