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EU Market: Rout continues as EUAs hit 15-mth low amid global market weakness

The EU carbon rout continued on Wednesday as prices fell by more than 8% to a 15-month low, wiping out the small gains posted over the last two sessions as selling by speculators and industrials picked up amid ongoing concerns over the global economy and weakness in energy and equity markets worldwide.

China’s CO2 emissions fell 3% in 2015 -Greenpeace

China’s latest economic data for 2015 imply that China’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption fell around 3% last year, an amount equal to Poland’s total GHG output, according to a Greenpeace analysis.

Global carbon price would have been a Paris dealbreaker -Figueres

The UN Paris Agreement on climate change failed to include setting a global carbon price because it did not attract unanimous country support deemed necessary, according to the UN’s climate chief Christiana Figueres.

MEPs urge EU to revisit long-term climate goals, issue warning on GHGs from aviation and shipping

Several senior MEPs have raised the prospect of the EU deepening its long-term emission reduction goals in the light of the Paris Agreement, with one suggesting that current efforts to tackle global aviation emissions might not be enough to prevent a return to unilateral action by the bloc.

CTX books first spot RGGI trade as prices soar by 10%

Emissions bourse operator Carbon Trade Exchange (CTX) saw the first activity on its new spot market for RGGI allowances (RGAs), it said on Wednesday, as prices soared by nearly 10% in the first two weeks of the year.

Virginia lawmakers table bipartisan cap-and-trade bill

Two Virginia lawmakers from opposing parties have tabled a bill that would push the state to join RGGI or to form its own regional cap-and-trade scheme, local media reported on Wednesday.

Bite-sized updates from around the world

The city of Beijing will end coal use altogether in four major city districts (Chaoyang, Haidian,Fengtai and Shijishan) from next year, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs said on Tuesday. The municipal government has previously pledged to end the trade of low-grade bituminous coal for civil use within this year. (People’s Daily)

Washington state Senator Doug Ericksen has tabled a bill that would prohibit regulators from introducing a cap on carbon emissions, thereby torpedoing Governor Jay Inslee’s plan to introduce a state carbon market next year. (AP)

CCS delay ‘could add £20bn’ to UK climate costs – A ten-year delay to the deployment of CCS technology could add billions each year to the cost of decarbonising the UK economy during the 2020s, new analysis suggests. (Carbon Brief)

The European Parliament’s environment committee has published a draft programme for its first public hearing on the EU ETS reform proposal. Scheduled for Feb. 18 1030-1230 CET in Brussels, the webstreamed session will include an address by EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, views from academic Xavier Labandera of the European University Institute, and analyst Philip Ruf of ICIS Tschach Solutions. There will also be a panel of stakeholder speakers.

EU ETS performance review – Commissioned by the European Environment Agency, researchers at the Oeko-Institut, Triple E & REC have published been to 1) perform a review of evaluations on the EU ETS and 2) to identify gaps that could be addressed in future research. (Oeko-Institut)

CCAP head to step down – Ned Helme will step down as long-standing president of the Center for Clean Air Policy next month, to be replaced at the US-based NGO by incoming CEO William Tyndall. (E&E)

And finally… Last year was easily the Earth’s hottest on record, scientists declared Wednesday, but don’t expect that news to change any minds on the Republicans’ presidential campaign trail. Politico reports.

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