Kazakhstan to hand out 746.5m allowances in third phase of ETS

Kazakhstan will hand out 746.5 million allowances to the 140 companies covered by its carbon market in the third phase of the scheme, with an additional 21.9 million set aside in reserves, according to the final version of its allocation plan.

Two veteran London-based carbon traders on the move

Two London-based carbon trading veterans are on the move after parting ways with their respective employers, they told Carbon Pulse.

Exchange operator ICE parts ways with China MD

Jeff Huang, Managing Director for greater China for Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has parted ways with the company, sources told Carbon Pulse.

In what might be seen as a bad omen for China’s national emissions trading scheme, the country’s fight against air pollution is being hindered by widespread falsification of emissions data, especially in the power sector, according to this report by Reuters.

The landslide victory in Saturday’s election for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party’s is unlikely to bring about major changes to the island’s climate change policy because last year’s climate law, which included a plan to set up an emissions trading scheme, was supported by both major parties. However, new president Tsai Ing-wen has pledged to phase out Taiwan’s nuclear power generation amid safety concerns. She wants to achieve this by boosting renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, although some critics have questioned the viability of the plan.

Indian steelmaker Tata is to cut a further 1,050 jobs in the UK, including 750 at its 4,000-strong Port Talbot plant, blaming falling global steel prices and a flood of cheap imports for the cuts and said the UK and the EU needed to act more urgently to deal with the crisis in the industry. The Port Talbot steelworks is the UK’s biggest, accounting for about a third of the country’s total annual production of steel, though no closure plans were flagged. (The Guardian)

The job losses will likely feature strongly in talks at the European Commission-hosted Conference on energy-intensive industries, the programme for which was announced today. Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen and Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska will lead this Feb. 15 Brussels event during which all stakeholders are to have the opportunity to set out their views on the way ahead regarding the most relevant issues for the ETS-regulated emitters. (European Commission)

Anonymous blogger Climate Trader gives their 2 cents on the recent EUA price decline, suggesting a co-ordinated sell-off by industrials is far-fetched because we’re far off 2008/9 economic crisis levels and may be due to one powerful ‘whale’ speculator picking its moment.

Carbon Brief takes soundings on what a sub-$30 oil price means for climate action, including a Financial Times editorial saying cheaper oil “may not be good for the prospects of reducing carbon emissions in the near term, but it is certainly of significant net benefit for the global economy and employment”.

Increasing renewables to 36% of the global energy mix by 2030 would provide about half emissions reductions needed to hold warming to 2C with energy efficiency measures able to make up the rest, says International Renewable Energy Agency in a report published ahead of its annual assembly in Abu Dhabi this week. (The Guardian)

And finally… Who will win in the fight against climate change: mounting scientific evidence, or a lone climate change denier? Play the Guardian’s video game and guide The Lone Denier through the levels as he tries to shut down evidence that climate change is real.

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