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TOP STORY
Leaders Summit on Climate: US hikes Paris climate goal as other nations strengthen emissions targets
US President Joe Biden raised the country’s emissions reduction target on Thursday at the White House-convened Leaders Summit on Climate, as other nations including Japan and Canada increased their own Paris Agreement pledges to the 2015 UN pact.
INTERNATIONAL
US-backed coalition aims to raise $1 bln for jurisdictional REDD payments
The US, UK, and Norway launched a coalition on Thursday with to raise $1 billion in private capital for jurisdictions that reduce deforestation emissions under the Architecture for REDD+ Transaction’s (ART) programme.
AMERICAS
US DOJ, California agree to dismiss WCI linkage lawsuit
A federal court dismissed a US Department of Justice (DOJ) appeal on Wednesday that challenged the constitutionality of the California-Quebec WCI cap-and-trade programme linkage, according to court documents.
US agricultural carbon markets bill passes key Senate committee
The US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry unanimously approved a bipartisan bill on Thursday designed to create a framework within which farmers, ranchers, and private forest owners can receive payments for generating carbon credits through implementing climate-smart practices.
California needs to begin cap-and-trade rulemaking soon to achieve long-term goals -panel
California should start a cap-and-trade rulemaking concurrently with its Scoping Plan update to ensure long-term climate goals are met, while Canadian provinces could look at other carbon pricing options to comply with the federal ‘backstop’ mandate, panelists said at the North American Carbon World (NACW) conference on Thursday.
WCI allowance prices likely to rise in latter half of decade as emissions outpace CO2 caps -analysis
California and Quebec emissions will outpace WCI cumulative CO2 caps towards the latter half of the decade, with annual shortages anticipated as early as two years from now, analysts said at the North American Carbon World conference Thursday.
NA Markets: California allowances continue bullish surge as RGGI edges down on thin volume
California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices rose on the secondary market amid increased speculative demand and continued bullish floor price outlooks, while RGGI Allowances (RGA) sunk amid relatively thin volume.
US LCFS programme could come through regulatory action -lawyer
The US EPA may be able to circumvent a divided Congress and implement a national low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programme through existing authority, a conference heard Thursday.
Mexico may finish compliance offset forestry protocol by year-end, says gov’t official
Several Mexican government agencies are reviewing a draft forestry protocol for use under the country’s proposed emissions trading scheme, an official said Thursday, while protocols for livestock, agriculture, and road transportation are in earlier stages of development within the environment ministry.
EMEA
ANALYSIS: End the contentious debate over EU ETS speculators with a carbon price corridor, experts suggest
Lawmakers should introduce a price corridor in the EU ETS to instil some certainty and guard against the risk of a speculator-led spike, experts said Thursday, while welcoming the role that investors play in helping to value carbon allowances where they need to be to achieve the bloc’s higher climate ambitions.
EU Market: EUAs jump above €47 amid late compliance scramble
EUAs climbed another 3% on Thursday to top €47 for the first time ever, as speculators and last-minute compliance buyers continued to chase prices into new territory and observers saw room for further upside.
EU’s carbon border measure should mirror ETS, avoid double protection, says think-tank
The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) should be linked to the bloc’s ETS and only gradually reduce the share of free allocation of allowances while avoiding double protection for EU industries, according to a report from a Brussels-based think-tank released Thursday.
Shell carbon trader joining Mercuria’s reopened London emissions desk
An environmental products trader is leaving oil major Shell to join commodities trading house Mercuria and its reopened London carbon desk, Carbon Pulse has learned.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia purchases 6.8 mln ACCUs in latest ERF auction
Australia bought 6.8 million carbon credits at last week’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction at marginally higher prices than in the previous round, the Clean Energy Regulator announced Friday, though almost all the contracts were for optional delivery.
Japan’s Sumitomo, US ag firm team up on soil carbon
Trading firm Sumitomo Corp. and Boston-based Indigo Ag have agreed to explore a wide range of business opportunities related to generating carbon credits from agricultural technology and soil carbon projects in Japan and Asia.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Carbon Pulse has teamed up with CME Group to provide its clients with regular updates on the global carbon markets. Check out these briefs for the latest insights on pressing trends and events impacting markets, published every other week. Registration required.
EMEA
SPD approved – The EU should establish a new ETS for transport and heating, said Olaf Scholz, German finance minister and lead candidate for the Social Democrats (SPD) in the autumn general election. The system should run separately from the existing EU ETS and replace the current effort-sharing approach for sectors not covered by the carbon market. Both on a fiscal level and from an energy policy point of view, there are strong arguments for getting a new ETS in place, Scholz said, adding that the EU needs new income streams to finance the bloc’s COVID-19 stimulus package. Scholz’s words resonate with the announcement made by a senior European Commission official earlier this week, who said that vehicles and buildings will be covered by “an adjacent system, maybe with linkages” if the EU decides to put a price on emissions from these sectors. (Clean Energy Wire)
AMERICAS
High performing – Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) published a ministerial order on Thursday establishing four new high-performance benchmarks under the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regime. These new benchmarks for crude canola oil, ethyl alcohol, granular urea, and sub-bituminous coal are made available to regulated facilities for the 2020 compliance year and onwards. The order also substitutes a high-performance benchmark and benchmark unit for bituminous coal in place of the high-performance benchmark and benchmark unit listed in the Table in Schedule 2 of the TIER Regulation.
VOLUNTARY
(Al)ask(a) and you shall receive – Seattle-headquartered Alaska Airlines on Wednesday announced it joined Amazon’s Climate Pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2040. In the accompanying release of its 2020 sustainability report, the carrier said it will utilise credible, high-quality offsetting technologies to partly meet this goal. The other four areas Alaska envisions using to meet its net zero target are fleet renewal, pursuing operational efficiencies, investing in and developing sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs), and novel propulsion. (Simple Flying)
SCIENCE & TECH
ThElon and short of it – Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday offered inventors $100 mln in prize money to develop ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere or ocean. In January, Musk announced his intention to offer $100 mln in prizes and set out the contest rules today. What organisers called the “largest incentive prize in history” will last for four years through Earth Day, 2025. (Reuters)
AND FINALLY…
Nobel cause – 101 Nobel laureates including former presidents, scientists, novelists, and religious leaders are urging governments to commit to a rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels. The open letter calls for “a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty” and urges world leaders to end any new expansion of oil, gas, and coal production, phase out existing fossil fuel extraction in ‘fair and equitable’ way, and to invest in a ‘transformational plan’ to ensure 100% access to renewable energy globally. (Guardian)
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