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TOP STORY
ANALYSIS: Canadian Clean Fuel Standard seen withstanding carbon intensity target changes, delays
Recent alterations to the emission reduction goals and publication schedule of the Canadian Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) will not threaten its environmental performance, but numerous programme design elements warrant further attention and analysis before the policy’s 2022 launch, stakeholders and researchers told Carbon Pulse.
EMEA
EU aims to ‘green’ hard-to-abate sectors with hydrogen and energy system roadmaps
The European Commission wants to expand EU clean hydrogen capacity sixfold to 6 GW by 2024 and to 40 GW by the end of the decade, according to its hydrogen strategy presented on Wednesday.
EU Market: EUAs mount late surge to climb back above €29
EUAs surged late on Wednesday to claw back above €29 following earlier losses, staying within reach of their last year’s high in continued volatile trade that participants said was fuelled by speculation and short-covering.
German govt launches tender to buy 431k CERs
The German government has launched a tender to buy 431,300 CERs to offset the emissions from a series of activities including those associated with its EU Council presidency.
Veteran carbon journalist sues Bloomberg over dismissal
A veteran carbon market journalist has sued Bloomberg over his dismissal, alleging it was based on him ‘whistle-blowing’ over the news agency’s “biased” coverage of climate change and the Paris Agreement.
AMERICAS
California’s ARB discovered non-compliance issues at Wisconsin offset project in early 2020 -documents
California regulator ARB sought confirmation earlier this year from Wisconsin officials about whether compliance issues at a dairy farm were waste related, leading the agency to launch an offset investigation in June, according to emails obtained by Carbon Pulse.
California assigns 12.4 mln existing offsets DEB status, issues 670k new credits
California regulator ARB tagged 12.4 million existing compliance offsets as providing direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) as it granted more than 670,000 new credits this week, according to data published by the state agency on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
SK Market: CO2 auction fails to sell out for third straight time, prices hit year-low
South Korea failed to sell out its monthly KAU auction for a third time in a row on Wednesday, while secondary market prices fell to their lowest levels since June last year.
Japan co-funds 10 new JCM projects across South East Asia
Japan’s environment ministry has picked 10 more projects it will co-fund under its Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), to help meet its emissions target under the Paris Agreement.
INTERNATIONAL
IMO policy should establish higher GHG reduction threshold for biofuels than CORSIA -report
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) should model its plan to decarbonise the global shipping sector on the CORSIA programme for aviation, but it should go further than its fellow UN body ICAO in setting a more ambitious carbon reduction target for sustainable fuels, according to a report published this week.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Greener green shoots – ECB President Christine Lagarde has opened the door to using the bank’s €2.8 trillion asset purchase scheme to pursue green objectives, the FT reports. It is the first time that the ECB president has committed to examine “greener” changes to all of the central bank’s operations, including asset purchases. The move would make the ECB the first main central bank to use a flagship bond-buying programme to pursue green objectives.
Up a tree – A group of 39 companies, including several of Brazil’s largest firms, expressed concerns over deforestation in the Amazon rainforest on Tuesday, following global investor demands that President Jair Bolsonaro end the destruction or risk divestment. While weaker than the threats from the global investment firms, the joint statement is the first from such a broad and powerful group of Brazilian companies since Bolsonaro became president, and signals that corporate pressure for action is building within the country. The rate of destruction of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest climbed 34% in the first five months of 2020 from a year ago after hitting an 11-year high in 2019, government data shows. (Reuters)
Heat-beating benchmarks – CDP has launched a new set of climate ratings that gauges the temperature pathway of investor portfolios, funds, and stock indices, in a bid to help financiers better understand and manage escalating climate risks. The investor-backed non-profit hopes the new metric, which translates emissions targets into warming trajectories, will prompt investors to take steps to future-proof their portfolios and funds from worsening climate impacts and stranded asset risks. (BusinessGreen)
Green tinge – UK finance minister Rishi Sunak has again reiterated the government’s commitment to engineering a “green recovery”, confirming plans for a new £3 bln energy efficiency programme and promising that the UK’s stimulus package will have “concern for the environment at its heart”. But his much-anticipated Summer Economic Update provided little new support for green infrastructure beyond the previously trailed energy efficiency programme, leaving environmental campaigners somewhat underwhelmed by the latest package of measures. (BusinessGreen)
This one goes to 11 – Virginia will officially join the Northeast US RGGI ETS next year as the 11th member after its power sector cap-and-trade regulation went into effect last week and conformed to the scheme’s post-2020 Model Rule, the programme announced Wednesday. The state revised its regulation last month to remove consignment auctions for state-run sales as well as making other technical changes. Virginia will join the scheme with a 27.2 million-ton unadjusted cap in 2021, pushing the programme’s base cap to nearly 120 Mt. RGGI’s 2021-25 bank adjustment will reduce that annual amount based on the allowance surplus next March.
This one goes to 130 – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill (HB-2025) to block Governor Tom Wolf’s (D) administration from joining RGGI without authorisation from the General Assembly. Some 26 Democrats from the fossil fuel-heavy northern and western parts of the state joined the majority Republicans in endorsing the legislation by a 130-71 margin. However, some lawmakers pointed out that the vote still fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary to override a veto from Wolf, who previously said he would take that step if necessary. The bill now heads to the Pennsylvania Senate, where the GOP commands a 29-21 advantage, including one independent that caucuses with Republicans. (The Morning Call)
Universal unity – Presumptive US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders’ Unity Task Force on Wednesday released its recommendations for combatting the climate crisis and pursuing environmental justice. The committee, co-chaired by former US Secretary of State John Kerry (D) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), recommended that a future President Biden host an emergency meeting of the world’s major emitters to ensure that all submit and implement enhanced Paris Agreement NDCs ahead of the COP26 climate summit next November. In addition, the committee recommended that a future Biden administration announce a more ambitious 2030 NDC for the US as it re-enters Paris, ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol for phasing out HFCs, and re-invest in the UN’s Green Climate Fund.
Coal come-down – CO2 emissions from the US power sector fell 8% in 2019, a result of an increasingly rapid shift away from coal-fired power, according to a report released Wednesday from non-profit organisation Ceres. The drop in emissions followed a 1% uptick the year before due to accelerated natural gas additions. Ceres also found that of the 100 largest US power producers, Vistra Corp., Duke Energy, and Southern Company produced the most carbon emissions in 2018. (Utility Dive)
Use it or lose it – The American Carbon Registry (ACR) on Wednesday issued a call for public comments through Aug. 7 on an updated methodology for Landfill Gas Destruction and Beneficial Use. Under the existing protocol, projects that reduce methane emissions as a result of specified combustion or beneficial use activities are eligible for crediting reductions. Version 2.0 of the methodology adds as an eligible project activity the installation of an automated collection system that increases landfill gas collection efficiency above that obtained with standard collection methods with methane destruction, conversion, or enhancement.
And finally… Meat retreat – The pandemic is poised to usher in the biggest retreat for global meat eating in decades, Bloomberg reports. Per-capita consumption this year is set to fall to the lowest in nine years, while the 3% drop from last year represents the biggest decline since at least 2000, according to UN data. Meanwhile, analysts across the globe are predicting declines not just in per-capita figures, but also for overall demand in their regions. That’s a dramatic turnaround for an industry that’s come to rely on steady growth. Notably, the shift is happening in every major market, including in the US, where it’s predicted that per-capita meat consumption won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2025.
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