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TOP STORY

Global voluntary carbon market initiative seeks to define credible buying strategies

A new global cross-stakeholder initiative aims to agree on how companies should use carbon credits and ensure the voluntary carbon market contributes to Paris Agreement goals.

EMEA

Two Bulgarian coal plants may have under-reported EU ETS emissions -media investigation

Two privately-owned Bulgarian coal-fired plants may have saved around €30 mln in EU ETS obligations by under-declaring verified emissions covered by the EU ETS, according to a media investigation.

Euro Markets: Carbon edges higher as soaring gas outweighs reports of industrial sales

EUAs ended the day slightly higher, drawn up by sharply higher natural gas and power prices. Participants reported healthy buying interest as prices dipped amid rumours of some industrial installations selling freely allocated EUAs.

UK’s Drax reports 56% drop in ETS-based output as coal stockpile clears

UK utility Drax notched a 56% year-on-year cut in its ETS-covered generation for H1, after the company had largely drawn down its coal stockpiles.

Italy’s Enel joins EU utilities reporting a rebound in H1 thermal power output

Italian utility Enel followed other major European generators in posting an uptick in EU ETS-covered thermal generation for H1 on Thursday, in line with an EU-wide rebound following last year’s pandemic restrictions.

ArcelorMittal sets 2030 global climate target, raises European GHG goal

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has set itself a 2030 greenhouse gas reduction objective across its global operations and raised its European climate target, it said in quarterly results on Thursday.

AMERICAS

NA Markets: CCAs decline further on pre-auction trading, RGGI rises closer to $9

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices dropped further this week as traders began to turn their attention to next month’s quarterly WCI sale, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values climbed closer to the $9 level on heightened speculative interest.

US Senate kicks off infrastructure debate, as advocates press for more climate measures

The US Senate voted to begin debate Tuesday night on a bipartisan infrastructure deal featuring provisions on clean energy, CCS, and hydrogen, but some Democrats called for legislators to go much further than these carbon reduction strategies.

ASIA PACIFIC

China’s pilot EIA carbon assessment to complement carbon market -analysts

China’s new pilot scheme to add carbon to environmental impact assessments will complement the national ETS, with the steel industry set to be the most affected, analysts said Thursday.

Renewable Energy Hub launches carbon, clean energy trading platform

Melbourne-based Renewable Energy Hub is launching a new OTC-based trading platform for carbon and clean energy products, it announced Friday, offering a range of compliance and voluntary instruments primarily targeting the Asia-Pacific region.

Mitsubishi takes stake in Australian offset developer

Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. has taken a 40% stake in an Australian developer of nature-based carbon credits, it announced Thursday, further extending the conglomerate’s growing involvement in voluntary emissions markets.

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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

INTERNATIONAL

A natural pause – The COP15 summit of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which had been due to take place in Kunming, China last year before being postponed to this October due to COVID, is to be delayed again until spring 2022, Reuters reports, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The conference will now be split into two phases, with an event in mid-October that could be held at least partly online, followed by a second, in-person session next year. (Reuters)

EMEA

Climate-proof – The European Commission on Thursday published new technical guidance on climate-proofing of infrastructure projects for 2021-27, with the objective to help mainstream climate considerations in future investment and development of infrastructure projects. The document sets out common principles and practices for the identification, classification, and management of physical climate risks when planning, developing, executing, and monitoring infrastructure projects and programmes. It is primarily intended for project promoters and experts involved in the preparation of infrastructure projects.

Oh man – The Sultanate of Oman has updated its NDC under the Paris Agreement, pledging to unconditionally cut its emissions by 4% below BAU levels by 2030.  The oil-rich nation added that it could achieve a further 3% cut with international assistance.  Oman will mainly target its energy sector, which accounts for around 65% of the country’s total emissions.  It said it would also seek to use Paris’ Article 6 to help achieve its goals. Oman’s previous target was a 2% cut below BAU by 2030, with the country forecasting emissions of 125 Mt/yr by the end of this decade.

Warm and wet – The UK is already seeing increased rainfall, sunshine, and temperatures as a result of climate change, according to the country’s latest Met Office UK State of the Climate report. The report said that last year was the third warmest, fifth wettest, and eight sunniest on record in the UK, with the country now 0.9C warmer and 6% wetter than it was 30 years ago. The country’s 10 hottest years in records going back to 1884 have all occurred since 2002. (BBC)

Suck it up – The UK should commit to the deployment of negative emissions technologies on a large scale by the end of this decade, according to the government’s National Infrastructure Commission. Removing and storing CO2 linked to emissions from industries that currently do not have a decarbonisation solution, such as aviation and agriculture, is the best way for the government to meet its environmental obligations, the report argued. The agency is calling for carbon removals to reach 5-10 MtCO2 per year by 2030, rising to 40-100 MtCO2 by 2050s and said that the technology could cost up to £400 mln per Mt. (Independent)

ASIA PACIFIC

Thinking about it – The Australian Energy Market Operator is to model a range of scenarios that include a zero emissions by 2035, at the same time as much of the nation’s transport and other energy uses also turn electric, RenewEconomy reports. The scenario, known as Hydrogen SuperPower, is one of five created by AEMO as part of work on its Integrated System Plan, its 20-year planning blueprint.

Sky is the limit – In the growing line of so-called carbon neutral fossil fuel projects, Australia’s Viva Energy has launched a carbon neutral jet fuel. The Carbon Neutral Jet A-1 is regular jet fuel, but backed by offsets. An inaugural flight was made last week as Alliance Airlines delivered fly-in-fly-out workers from Cairns to Weipa. The 90-minute flight caused 14.5 tCO2e of emissions that were offsets by Viva-owned carbon credits.

AMERICAS

Say What(com)? – The Whatcom County Council in Washington state has unanimously passed permanent land-use policies that ban new fossil fuel infrastructure, becoming the first in the US to pass such a measure. The ordinance prohibits the construction of new refineries or coal facilities and places more restrictions on expansion of fossil fuel facilities at Cherry Point, such as requiring offsets for GHGs emitted from any expansions and rigorous environmental review. Whatcom is currently polluted by two of Washington’s five oil refineries, and five years ago saw the cancellation of the country’s largest planned coal export facility due to concerns from the Lummi Tribe around fishing treaty rights. (Climate Nexus)

VOLUNTARY

Acadian carbon – Acadian Timber Corp, executed its first carbon development and marketing agreement for a voluntary emissions reduction (VER) project on the portion of its Maine Timberlands that is subject to a working forest conservation easement, the Canadian timberland management company announced in its second quarter earnings report on Wednesday. While Acadian said this project is relatively small, it will form a foundation for further carbon credit development. The company expects to begin receiving proceeds from the VER sales in mid-to-late 2022.

AND FINALLY…

Ain’t that America? – The lifestyles of around three average Americans will create enough planet-heating emissions to kill one person, and the emissions from a single coal-fired power plant are likely to result in more than 900 deaths, according to the first analysis to calculate the mortal cost of carbon emissions. The analysis draws upon several public health studies to conclude that for every 4,434 tonnes of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere beyond the 2020 rate of emissions, one person globally will die prematurely from the increased temperature. The figures for expected deaths from the release of emissions aren’t definitive and may well be “a vast underestimate” as they only account for heat-related mortality rather than deaths from flooding, storms, crop failures, and other impacts that flow from the climate crisis, according to Daniel Bressler of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, who wrote the paper. (Guardian)

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