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

Markets emerge as main drivers of forest carbon cuts -report

Carbon markets in 2014 emerged for the first time as the biggest source of funding for projects to cut GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, according to a report released Tuesday.

Almost all California firms meet first two-year WCI compliance period

Some 99.8% of California companies covered by the WCI met the market’s first two-year compliance period, a spokesman for the state’s regulators ARB said Tuesday.

China’s Hubei outlines rules for carbon market intervention

Hubei’s CO2 emissions market regulator has released rules and conditions for intervening in the market to avoid wildly fluctuating carbon prices in China’s second biggest pilot scheme.

EU Market: EUAs sink to two-week low on higher coal, profit-taking

European carbon sank to a two-week low on Tuesday on dearer coal prices, a weaker euro, and profit-taking by speculators after EUAs had gained more than 7.5% over the past five weeks.

NZ Market: NZUs hit 3.5-year high as demand firms

Spot NZUs traded at NZ$7.30 on Tuesday morning, their highest levels since Apr. 2012, as the price went through the NZ$7.10 ceiling of recent weeks on steady demand, before eventually settling at NZ$7.20.

COMMENT: Russian business must develop its own path towards climate mitigation

Anton Galenovich of a public-private joint working group on carbon emission regulation issues argues that the private sector must take the lead in establishing climat protection measures in Russia.

Bite-sized updates from around the world

Emissions trading is the key to European climate protection, argues former German climate minister Katherina Reiche, who now heads the VKU German Association of Local Utilities, “Unfortunately, the market is currently dysfunctional. Emissions rights are too cheap and they do not send adequate price signals.” (Clean Energy Wire)

Equally supportive of the EU ETS is Klaus Schaefer, the future CEO of German utility EON’s carbon-intensive spin-off Uniper. In an interview with Energy Post, he says the MSR fell short of the reforms needed, advocates a more focused spending of EUA revenue and thinks a Paris UN climate deal could strengthen the case for a more ambitious EU ETS.

Across the 26 US states suing to stop the Clean Power Plan, an average 61% of adults say they support the policy, according to an analysis released Monday by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. In only three of those states do most voters oppose the CPP: West Virginia and Wyoming, the nation’s top two coal producers, and North Dakota, which has seen a boom in unconventional oil and gas production from fracking.

Pakistan should impose a carbon tax to generate funds for climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, said Sartaj Aziz, an adviser on foreign affairs to the prime minister, as reported by Business Recorder. “If a cent or two are added in fuel price as a carbon tax, it will help generate sufficient funds to deal with adverse impacts of the climate change,” he said.

Clean energy investment in Australia fell by 31% under Tony Abbott – Despite a record US$320 billion going into the sector worldwide, the former PM’s hostility towards the renewable energy target paralysed growth in Australia. (Guardian)

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) must not channel its money through two “scandal-ridden international commercial banks” that are leading funders of the coal industry, civil society groups have urged during this week’s GCF board meeting in Livingstone, Zambia.  The groups said the fund must reject applications for accreditation by big banks HSBC and Credit Agricole, which want to receive and disburse a share of the $10.2 billion in pledges.

In contrast, billions of dollars pledged by developed nations in climate finance over the last decade remain unused as poor countries that often most need the money are ill-equipped to spend it, international charity WaterAid said on Tuesday. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

Today is the deadline to offer views to a public consultation from carbon project certifier Gold Standard. It has launched a new initiative to publish pricing data for Gold Standard carbon credits in an effort to boost the credibility and viability of the voluntary carbon market.

Rockers Pearl Jam are investing $54,000 on two REDD+ projects in Peru and Brazil to offset the emissions from their upcoming Latin American tour. “Our strategy has been to essentially ‘tax’ ourselves for our CO2e emissions, and invest that money into carbon mitigation projects,” said Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard. Pearl Jam have been tracking their tour-related CO2 emissions since 2003, and to date have invested over $500,000 to offset them. The band’s full carbon mitigation history can be seen here.

And finally… Climate change has been blamed for many things over the years. Never, until now, has anyone thought it was possible to see it as a kind of contraceptive. Hot weather leads to diminished “coital frequency,” according to a new working paper put out by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Three economists studied 80 years of US fertility and temperature data and found that when it’s hotter than 80 degrees F, a large decline in births follows within 10 months. Would-be parents tend not to make up for lost time in subsequent, cooler months. An extra ‘hot day’ leads to a 0.4% drop in birth rates nine months later, or fewer 1,165 deliveries across the US. There’s a rebound in subsequent months that makes up just 32% of the gap. Bloomberg reports.

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