Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here

Norway increases budget for CER buying as home GHG cuts prove too costly

Norway plans to more than double its spending on CERs next year, a move analysts said could signal a sustained jump in the country’s offset purchases to 2020 as it struggles to cut emissions domestically.

South Korea sees first CO2 allowance trades since January

South Korea’s emissions trading scheme on Wednesday broke a nine-month deadlock when it saw its first allowance trades since Jan. 16, but market participants were unconvinced the deals represent a lasting new trend of improved liquidity.

Rich nations reach 62% of $100 bln/yr climate finance goal in 2014 -OECD

Rich nations channelled $62 billion a year of climate finance to poorer nations in 2014, slightly over half the amount they committed to provide annually from 2020, according to a estimates in a report by the OECD and Climate Policy Initiative.

After hitting 3-wk high, EU carbon falls on technical selling, energy

European carbon prices fell on Wednesday after hitting a three-week high, as technical selling and profit-taking throughout the energy sector weighed.

EU ETS debate hijacked by carbon leakage -Green MEP, pressure group

The EU ETS risks repeating mistakes of the past by generous awarding of free carbon allowances to industry when there is scant risk of carbon leakage, Green party MEP Bas Eickhout said on Wednesday.

Australia proposes quota system to phase down HFC emissions

Australia on Wednesday released an options paper on measures that could cut emissions from ozone-depleting substances and synthetic GHGs by up to 80 million tonnes of CO2e by 2030, including a quota system for the controlled phase down of HFCs.

Australia’s Turnbull govt names new Climate Change Authority chair

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government has appointed a new Climate Change Authority chair while doubling the size of the board that oversees the agency, which advises on the country’s GHG reduction targets.

Bite-sized updates from around the world

Bloomberg New Energy Finance has published its Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) update for the second half of 2015. Among the highlights:

• Onshore wind is now fully cost-competitive with both gas-fired and coal-fired generation, once carbon costs are taken into account, in the UK and Germany.
• In the UK, onshore wind comes in on average at $85 per MWh, compared to $115 for combined-cycle gas and $115 for coal-fired power.
• In Germany, onshore wind is at $80, compared to $118 for gas and $106 for coal.
• In the US, coal and gas are still cheaper, at $65 per MWh, against onshore wind at $80 and PV at $107.
• In China, onshore wind is cheaper than gas-fired power, at $77/MWh versus $113, but it is much more expensive still than coal-generated electricity, at $44, while solar PV power is at $109.
• Overall, LCOE for coal-fired generation increased from $66 per MWh to $75 in the Americas, from $68 to $73 in Asia-Pacific, and from $82 to $105 in Europe.
• The LCOE for combined-cycle gas turbine generation rose from $76 to $82 in the Americas, from $85 to $93 in Asia-Pacific and from $103 to $118 in EMEA.
• Offshore wind reduced its global average LCOE from $176 per MWh, to $174, but still remains significantly more expensive than wind, solar PV, coal or gas.
• Biomass incineration saw its levelised cost stay steady at $134 per MWh.
• Nuclear, like coal and gas, has very different LCOE levels from one region of the world to another, but both the Americas and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region saw increases in levelised costs, to $261 and $158 per MWh respectively.

Exxon’s chief has called for a revenue-neutral global carbon tax that would differ in each country, as the leaders of eight of the world’s top oil companies prepare to meet in Paris next week to explain how they will help combat climate change. (Reuters)

The far right wing of Australia’s ruling Coalition has dominated its climate policy in recent years, but an almighty battle is inevitable over the 2017 review of climate change policy if they manage to win the next election, predicts Tristan Edis. (Climate Spectator)

Promise of Turning Pollution Into Cash Spurs Industry in Germany – From cement and steel producers to the makers of plastics, European companies facing increasingly stringent limits on industrial emissions are trying to come up with creative ways to transform the pollution they produce. (Bloomberg)

OPEC chief defends members over missing INDCs – Petropowers like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria should only submit carbon-cutting plans if they are “win-win”, says Abdalla Salem El-Badri. (Climate Home)

India’s is likely to overachieve on its INDC‘s 2030 emissions intensity target without having to implement any new policies, according to researchers at Climate Action Tracker. They add that India’s current plans to install 175GW of renewable energy would get the share of non-fossil capacity to 36%, close to the INDC’s 2030 goal of 40%.

As President Obama doubles down on climate change as a legacy issue, the White House has appointed Thomas Reynolds, a top communications strategist at the Environmental Protection Agency and a seasoned political operative, to a new position dedicated solely to messaging Obama’s global warming agenda. (New York Times)

And finally… The EU Parliament’s draft negotiating mandate for the Paris UN climate talks is pants, but it doesn’t matter anyway. So writes UK MEP Ian Duncan, lifting the lid on the negotiating process within the EU Parliament, which he will be in the thick of as rapporteur for post-2020 EU ETS reforms. (Ian Duncan’s website)

Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com