Below is a summary of Carbon Pulse’s reporting from the COP25 climate talks in Madrid, which set a length record as negotiations finally wrapped up on Sunday afternoon (it was meant to end Friday evening!).
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TOP STORY
COP25: Testing Article 6 talks delayed for second year after marathon UN climate summit
Dec. 15 – Marathon UN climate talks in Madrid finished on Sunday afternoon without agreeing rules for international emissions trade under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6, as beleaguered hosts Chile pushed the record-long summit to try to broker a deal on a handful of sticking points.
INTERNATIONAL
Growing voluntary carbon market seeks stay from Paris-era rules
Dec. 9 – The voluntary carbon market is seeking a 5-10 year stay from emissions auditing rules to prevent a collapse in clean investment, a risk some governments say is unfounded and could even slow national climate action.
With the rules still in flux, governments and businesses scramble to pioneer Paris carbon markets
Dec. 5 – Businesses and governments on the sidelines of the Madrid climate talks are busy building the foundations for a Paris era international carbon market and carving out a role for themselves, even as delegates remain gridlocked in negotiations over the rules.
Governments put up $100 mln for next phase of carbon pricing tech support
Dec. 10 – Several rich-nation governments have pledged a total of $100 million to extend through 2030 and revamp the World Bank-led PMR carbon pricing technical support facility for emerging economies.
UN’s CORSIA advisory panel to make aviation offset recommendations in January
Dec. 11 – An ICAO technical advisory panel is slated to make recommendations in January over which of the initial 14 global offset programme applications should be eligible to supply the UN aviation body’s CORSIA market starting in 2021, with sources suggesting that any ultimate decisions by member states may not be clear cut.
Aviation offset stakeholders hit back at report criticising CORSIA applicants
Dec. 7 – A recent study challenging the carbon credit standards that have applied for the global CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme made questionable interpretations of the programme’s environmental criteria, and also ran counter to UN body ICAO’s own guidance in the process, developers and brokers said Friday.
Voluntary carbon market doubles to near-record volume in 2018, though prices flat -report
Dec. 5 – Voluntary carbon trade worldwide doubled in 2018 to approach record levels at near 100 MtCO2e, as forest projects took a lead amid heightened demand but offset prices remained flat, researchers found in a report published on Thursday.
Lower coal use can’t stop global GHGs from rising in 2019 -study
Dec. 4 – Rising CO2 emissions from natural gas and oil in 2019 will more than offset abatement progress from lower coal usage in major economies, according to research published Wednesday.
Major powers show signs of compromise on Article 6 -sources
Dec. 6 – Major powers were showing signs of compromise on negotiating the international emissions trade rulebook under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 on Friday, boosting prospects that a deal can be reached by the end of next week as UN talks near their halfway point.
UN thins Article 6 text as markets talks get underway
Dec. 4 – UN officials produced a slightly thinner new version of text for an international emissions trade rulebook under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 on Wednesday, though negotiators showed few signs of compromise in initial exchanges.
UN climate conference hosts snub Article 6 in push for ambition
Dec. 2 – This year’s UN climate summit hosts declined to reference Article 6 as COP25 got under way on Monday, instead launching a push on governmental ambition that observers say could give them cover should carbon trade talks flounder.
PREVIEW: UN carbon market talks to take centre stage in Madrid
Nov. 30 – Officials from nearly 200 governments arrive at COP25 in Madrid next week to hammer out the rules for international emissions trade under the Paris Agreement, with several testing issues remaining from last year when disagreements nearly threw off a wider deal on the 2015 pact.
EMEA
Germany to enshrine EU carbon permit cancellations in coal phaseout law -official
Dec. 9 – Germany will cancel a yet-to-be-determined number of EU carbon allowances to offset the impact of its coal phaseout, the government confirmed on Monday, allaying concerns that Europe’s top emitter could flood the market with unused permits.
ASIA PACIFIC
Indonesia to set up national ETS by 2024, pilot next year -official
Dec. 6 – Indonesia plans to launch a pilot emissions trading scheme for its power and industry sectors next year aiming to transition to full market no later than 2024, a government official said at the sidelines of UN climate talks in Madrid.
Amid record high carbon prices, South Korea pins hopes on UN solution
Dec. 13 – South Korean negotiators play a far more active role than usual at this year’s UN climate negotiations in Madrid, hoping to push through rules that would allow Korean ETS firms to buy up to 55-60 million international carbon credits annually throughout the 2020s in a bid to avoid runaway domestic CO2 prices.
Pakistan takes step towards domestic carbon market, offset link with China
Dec. 10 – Pakistan has set up a national committee to assess the role and scope of a potential domestic carbon market as well as entering into a bilateral deal that could see the nation supply offsets to China’s national emissions trading scheme.
Australian businesses want CO2 market access, fear carbon tariffs
Dec. 12 – The vast majority of Australian businesses polled in a survey want access to international emissions markets, but worry about the risk of other nations slapping border carbon adjustments on Australian goods over the government’s lack of climate action.
AMERICAS
Chile ETS study, CO2 tax changes may stall as beleaguered gov’t changes tack on climate action
Dec. 8 – Plans for a Chilean cap-and-trade programme and the passage of carbon tax reforms may stall as the country’s beleaguered government rolls out a sweeping economic recovery plan and backtracks on other its other climate action efforts in response to mass protests over living costs.
TCI states to unveil allowance cap, pricing levels next week
Dec. 12 – The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) collaborative will release potential ETS cap levels and allowance price expectations as part of the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will be published next week, a US state official said at the UN climate summit Thursday.
Quebec aiming to finish forestry protocol, post-2023 allocation methodology next year
Dec. 9 – Quebec intends to finalise its forestry offset protocol and post-2023 allowance allocation levels for its WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme next year after completing consultations on both topics, the Canadian province’s environmental minister said at a UN climate conference side event on Monday.
Washington governor targets renewed LCFS push in 2020, neutral on ETS
Dec. 10 – Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) intends to once again back a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) during the 2020 legislative session, but his administration will not endorse a state senator’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade bill, an advisor told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of the UN climate summit Tuesday.
Minnesota LCFS programme in early stages -official
Dec. 12 – The US state of Minnesota is in the early stages of researching a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) to help reduce emissions from the transportation sector, a state official said Thursday at a UN COP25 side event.
DAILY ROUNDUPS
Roundup for Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14-15
A marathon overnight session to develop an outcome for the UN climate summit was widely panned on Saturday morning, while negotiations on the highly contentious Article 6 rulebook for Paris-era international emissions trade continued.
Roundup for Friday, Dec. 13
New Article 6 text dropped well behind schedule at the UN climate summit on Friday, with numerous contentious issues still remaining on agreeing the rulebook to international emissions trading under the Paris Agreement.
Roundup for Thursday, Dec. 12
Negotiations on the rulebook with International emission trade plodded along in Madrid on Thursday, as slow progress on other elements of operationalising the Paris Agreement solicited fears the UN Climate Summit would once again run well into the weekend.
Roundup for Wednesday, Dec. 11
The nearly 200 parties to the Paris Agreement on Wednesday dove headfirst into forging an agreement on the market-based Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, while dozens of attendees from environmental and indigenous groups were kicked out by UN security for protesting the slow pace of the talks.
Roundup for Tuesday, Dec. 10
The high-level segment of the UN climate summit kicked off Tuesday as national ministers descended on the Spanish capital, with the Paris Agreement’s market-based Article 6 text still requiring a substantial amount of work. Below is a running summary of those efforts, as well as other happenings at the summit.
Roundup for Monday, Dec. 9
UN climate negotiations in Madrid shift into high gear this week with the arrival of ministers from most of the nearly 200 countries attending the COP25 talks tasked with finalising work on emissions trading rules under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6. Below is a running summary of those efforts, as well as other happenings at the summit.
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