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TOP STORY
Key MEPs raise 2030 climate ambition bar, setting up EU showdown on tougher targets
The European Parliament’s environment committee (ENVI) set a high ambition marker for EU climate policy on Friday, agreeing to push for a 60% emissions reduction goal for 2030 and national net zero targets for 2050 – elements likely to be hotly contested in member state capitals.
EMEA
To align with tougher EU climate goals, Germany to raise domestic carbon prices a second time
Germany will need to raise the costs under its domestic carbon pricing scheme for transportation and heating a second time in order to meet the more ambitious climate goals to be targeted by the EU, Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier said Friday.
EU to press China to toughen climate targets, halt new coal plants
The EU will urge China to ramp up its climate efforts in three key areas at a high-level meeting on Monday, EU officials said Friday, as the bloc aims to raise the ambition of the world’s largest-emitting country.
EU Market: EUAs extend week-high before slipping after MEPs vote for higher 2030 climate goal
EUAs rose to their highest all week on Friday, but then eased back to notch a 3.3% weekly rise as MEPs agreed to push for the higher climate ambition.
The broker-offered EU carbon product that is attracting buyers away from the daily auctions
A little-known sub-sector of the EU carbon market could be behind a gradual decline in the participation in daily allowance auctions, experts say, as it lets abstaining traders “shadow” the sales and buy from brokers at prices linked to the outcome.
ASIA PACIFIC
Vietnam plans for major carbon emissions boom under new NDC
Vietnam has submitted a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) plan to the UN that will allow the country’s covered sectors to emit tens of millions of tonnes in additional greenhouse gases by 2030 compared what it pledged at climate talks in Paris five years ago.
BHP Billiton updates climate targets, eyes REDD+ credits
Australia-headquartered mining firm BHP Billiton on Friday announced new medium term emissions targets and said it is in the process of acquiring more carbon credits from two REDD+ projects as part of its new offset strategy.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Sep. 11, 2020
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
AMERICAS
California carbon floor price forecast rises on higher US inflation rate
California’s ETS floor price expectations rose for the third consecutive month as federal data published Friday showed inflation continued to tick up following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emitters reduce California carbon holdings for second straight week as speculative positions rise
Compliance entities trimmed their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) positions by more than 1 mln for the second consecutive week as speculative holdings rose, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.
Two out-of-state California offset projects seek LCFS pathways
A pair of California Carbon Offset (CCO) projects in the western US applied to transition into the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), continuing a trend this year and going beyond dairy digesters located within the Golden State.
US senators strike deal on HFC phaseout legislation
US Senate committee members announced agreement on Thursday on bipartisan legislation to reduce potent HFC gases and meet UN climate goals, though it remains to be seen if the proposal will move forward in the waning months of the current Congressional session.
AVIATION
Thirteen global airlines commit to 2050 net zero emissions
The Oneworld airline alliance has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century, with several major carriers joining other member companies that had already announced similar emissions goals.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Lean, clean, and yet to be seen – The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is promising to end all coal financing, with President Jin Liqun categorically telling an online conference “I am not going to finance any coal-fired power plants.” The Beijing based development bank’s current policies continue to support investments in fossil fuels, including coal, though they have now opened a consultation on updates to their environmental and social framework. (Climate Home)
Hard wiring – The UK government this week unveiled a new strategy for reducing the environmental impact of its digital activities over the next five years, in a bid to ensure that all its IT suppliers have credible net zero emissions strategies in place by 2025. Besides a net zero commitment, suppliers will need to have an action plan in place and be able to demonstrate positive progress towards the goal. (BusinessGreen)
Blast off – French energy company Engie is teaming up with aerospace firm ArianeGroup to steal a march on its rivals in the hydrogen production business, by drawing on expertise gained through Europe’s space programme. Rockets have blasted satellites and astronauts into space using liquid hydrogen for decades, but policymakers are now mulling large mulling large-scale investments in the sector hoping to decarbonise transport and industrial processes. ArianeGroup operates the largest hydrogen test centre in Europe, has 40 years experience with the fuel, and employs over 1,000 staff. (Euractiv)
Green Mountain mandate – The Vermont House of Representatives this week approved legislation to legally mandate that the state meets GHG reduction goals and allow individuals to sue the government if it fails to do. In a 102-45 vote, the Democratic-controlled House approved changes made to H-688 — known as the Global Warming Solutions Act — by the Senate in June and sent the legislation to Governor Phil Scott’s (R) desk where it faces a likely veto. While the governor has not definitively said whether he will veto the bill, throughout the legislative process he and his administration have signalled they are uncomfortable with the prospect of opening up the Green Mountain State to lawsuits if it does not meet emission goals. (VTDigger)
It’s only Dela-fair – Delaware added its name to a growing list of lawsuits from US states and cities alleging fossil fuel companies deceived the public about the role their products play in causing climate change. Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced the First State is suing 31 fossil fuel companies in the Delaware Superior Court, asserting four state law causes of action: negligent failure to warn, trespass, public nuisance, and numerous violations of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act. The lawsuit also alleges “a decades-long campaign designed to maximise continued dependence on their products and undermine national and international efforts to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.” The suit follows a similar lawsuit Wednesday from the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and another from Hoboken, New Jersey, last week. (Politico)
And finally… bUt HoW wIlL wE pAy fOr iT? – Economists frequently try to estimate the societal cost of releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, but few of their projections go beyond the year 2100 – far short of the millennia it takes for the climate changes from burning carbon to ultimately subside. The “social cost of carbon” typically comes out to $100/tCO2 or less, but embedded in that calculation is a basic economic principle called the discount rate, which assumes the economy will continually grow and that costs that will come due centuries from now don’t matter much today. But geoscientists and philosophers at the University of Chicago wanted to come up with an alternative that takes a longer view, factoring in a full foot of sea level rise by 2100 even if CO2 emissions were to stop today and projecting the effects of climate change for hundreds of thousands of years. Without the discount rate to squelch the costs in the distant future, the price for carbon that we burn today explodes, ranging from $10,000 to $750,000 per tonne based on details of the geophysical and economic scenarios. They landed on a central value of about $100,000 per tonne. The authors stressed that the model is not intended to be an exact measurement, but rather to help people visualise the future.
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