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TOP STORY
EU Market: EUAs defy weaker markets to print new 4-month high
EUA prices set a new four-month high on Wednesday despite heavy selling in other markets and experts warning that carbon is due a similar correction.
EMEA
Brussels to create framework to spur GHG removals from EU land
The European Commission is working on a legislative proposal to incentivise EU-wide GHG removals using nature-based solutions, and it plans to launch a certification scheme in 2023, a senior Commission official said on Wednesday.
EU nations agree Just Transition Fund stance, teeing up post-summer talks
EU member states agreed Wednesday on a common position for the €40 billion Just Transition Fund (JTF) aimed at supporting the bloc’s coal dependent and energy-intensive regions, with negotiations to finalise the bill expected to begin after the summer break.
German investors yearn for higher carbon price in domestic ETS
German investors want the government to more than double the starting price for the country’s domestic carbon tax for transport and heating, which is due to launch next year.
AMERICAS
Wisconsin offset project under California review cited for leaking waste facility
A Wisconsin-based compliance offset project violated state regulations after a waste storage facility leaked into the groundwater and caused contamination, according to documents published this month.
California offset issuances rise to 1.9 mln on new forestry project
California granted more than 1.9 million new compliance offsets this week as the bulk of the credits went to a Washington-based forestry project on tribal lands, according to data published by regulator ARB on Wednesday.
US voluntary offset bill could throw lifeline to rural sector -stakeholders
Bipartisan US Congressional legislation to help farmers and landowners participate in voluntary carbon markets could aid a sector that has recently experienced economic turmoil through trade wars and declining margins, agriculture groups and other stakeholders said Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia opposition party says wants bilateral mechanism on energy, climate
Australian Labor party leader Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said he would seek to negotiate with the Coalition government a flexible energy policy ‘mechanism’ that could drive emission reductions, and that his party would support offsetting for CCS projects in return for continued financial support for the renewable energy sector.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
North star suit – The state of Minnesota on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil, and Koch Industries for what it called a decades-long campaign to deceive the public about climate change. According to Reuters, the suit is the latest in a series of legal challenges by states, cities, and citizen groups targeting fossil fuel companies over their role in global warming. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the state believed the industry’s main lobby group, as well as Exxon and Koch, violated state laws barring consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising. The complaint alleges the companies and industry body “strategised to deceive the public” about climate science to protect their business interests and accused them of a “multi-pronged campaign of deception” conducted over the last 30 years. Ellison said the state has asked a Minnesota district court to require the defendants to fund an education campaign on climate change and pay for damages caused by global warming.
Pledge prodding – Tech giant Amazon’s emissions increased by 15% last year, the company said in its sustainability report published Tuesday, the same day that it launched its $2 bln venture capital Climate Pledge Fund to help it meet its 2040 carbon neutrality goal. The company’s total Scope 1-3 carbon footprint amounted to more than 51 Mt in 2019, putting it in line with the annual emissions of Portugal. Amazon said the rise came as its sales increased 22%, while its carbon intensity metric, measured as grams of CO2e per dollar of gross merchandise sales, was down 5% year-over-year from 2018. (Politico)
Ford forward – US automaker Ford Motor Company on Wednesday announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The pledge features a vow to create interim, “science-based” goals, including goals for emissions from use of its vehicles, not just its own operations. A Ford spokesperson also told Axios that the company will continue to advocate for enablers that support its CO2 neutrality goal, including carbon pricing.
Winds of change – Coal-dominant Poland is stepping up efforts to replace the dirty fuel with renewable energy, as some of the world’s biggest players in renewables are seeking to capture a share of the market. It marks a drastic turnaround for Poland’s ruling party, which went from a blocker of windfarms to booster, all amid the plummeting cost of renewables and public backlash against some of the dirtiest air on the continent. Poland will increase its renewable power capacity by 65% from 2019 to 2024, mostly through onshore windfarms, with offshore facilities due from 2025. (Bloomberg)
Capture converts – UK utility Drax will this autumn test a second carbon capture system at its wood-fired power plant, teaming with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) for a 12-month solvent-based pilot that aims to capture 0.3 tonnes of CO2 a day. That is a smaller scale than its first venture with the C-Capture project reaching 1 tonne per day, as it builds towards its aim to deliver 16 million tonnes of negative emissions a year. (BusinessGreen)
Bring it back – Restoring degraded natural habitats, such as peatland and coastal marshes, could absorb around a third of the UK’s CO2 emissions, according to a report by the UK Wildlife Trusts. It said the country’s peatlands store around 3.2 billion tonnes of CO2 but are heavily degraded, while the UK’s coastal seagrass meadows have halved since 1985. (Reuters)
REDD release – Colombian offset certification programme CERCARBONO has released a public consultation for its new REDD+ methodology. The methodology, developed by consultancy REDTREE under the coordination of Colombia’s National Organisation for Standardisation, is designed to incentivise project-level activities within the country’s deforestation reference levels submitted to the UNFCCC. Public comments are open through July 1.
Hub-ba Hub-ba – Brazil could create a global trading hub for carbon credits in the country, Central Bank President Roberto Campos Neto said Tuesday. During a webinar hosted by the Climate Bonds Initiative, Campos Neto said that he proposed the idea of Brazil becoming a carbon trading hub when he started at the Central Bank, noting that the project was highly regarded in the institution. However, his comments come as Brazilian officials under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro have rolled back numerous environmental regulations and promoted rampant development in the Amazon, leading to mass deforestation.
And finally… 54,000 trees then? – Bookmaker Paddy Power has pledged to donate 6,000 trees to be planted for every game English Premier League football team Arsenal fail to win for the rest of the season. The cheeky move comes after Arsenal’s Spanish player Hector Bellerin’s own pledge to plant 3,000 for every win has run hollow given that the team has lost its first two matches of the resumed campaign, with nine remaining. (TeamTalk)
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