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TOP STORY

EU lawmakers pick up pace on ETS reforms in new year

EU Parliamentarians are set to table key ideas for ETS reforms in the coming weeks, with a senior MEP this week recommending sticking to plans to maintain the supply-regulating MSR current 24% annual absorption rate.

EMEA

New Czech government vows 2033 coal phaseout

Czechia’s new government has pledged to phaseout coal power by 2033, a date five years earlier than the previous administration had planned but still beyond the end-date that the UN says is needed to stave off climate change.

Only political intervention can stop EU carbon allowances from moving higher, analyst warns

Only political intervention can stop EU carbon allowances from moving higher, an analyst warned Friday, predicting that prices would average €100 over the next two years.

Euro Markets: EUAs drift late in day amid energy sell-off

EUAs drifted on Friday afternoon amid mixed energy prices, as participants geared up for the resumption of allowance auctions on Monday.

AMERICAS

WCI carbon market surplus reaches new record in Q4 after third full compliance deadline

The California-Quebec cap-and-trade system logged a new high for excess allowances and offsets during the fourth quarter of 2021 after emitters met their compliance obligations for the third trading period of the linked market, according to WCI programme data published Friday.

Washington may seek California cap-and-trade adjustments to facilitate linkage -senator

Washington state may try to increase the chances of linking its forthcoming carbon market with California by either adjusting components of the programme itself or getting the Golden State to do so for its regulation, a key legislative proponent of the scheme said Friday.

Speculators, emitters add to California carbon holdings this week

Financial players increased their net long California Carbon Allowance (CCA) position over the New Years’ holiday, while compliance entities shaved their net short, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

ASIA PACIFIC

CN Markets: CEAs hold firm after compliance deadline, but volume tanks

Chinese carbon allowance prices held firm this week, propped up by demand from companies that missed the Dec. 31 compliance deadline, but trading volumes plummeted.

Australia launches clean hydrogen trade bid with focus on Japan

The Australian government will kickstart a new hydrogen trade initiative with a focus on clean hydrogen exports to Japan, Australia’s minister for energy and emissions reduction, Angus Taylor, announced on Friday.

VOLUNTARY

Crypto group Klima DAO extends reach with Brazilian partnership

Crypto carbon venture Klima DAO has struck a deal with a Sao Paolo-based company that tokenises carbon credits from REDD projects in the Amazon in a first bid to extend its reach beyond the cheap, catch-all units it has targeted so far.

Japanese carbon firm lists on crypto exchange, eyes offset-backed NFT platform

A Tokyo-based firm has become the latest carbon company to list on a crypto-based exchange, aiding its plans to launch a blockchain-based platform this month for registering and trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs) backed by voluntary offsets.

INTERNATIONAL

PetroChina hires Statkraft origination boss to lead new global carbon team

PetroChina has hired Statkraft’s head of environmental markets origination to build and lead a new global carbon trading division, Carbon Pulse has learned.

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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

Off course – Germany has veered off its path towards reaching its domestic 2030 climate target, as the country’s GHG emissions increased by 33 MtCO2e or 4.5% in 2021, said think-tank Agora Energiewende in its annual review. Economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, a cold winter with increased heating needs, and a higher share of coal power raised emissions to a total of 772 MtCO2e. The transport and the building sectors missed their respective 2021 targets, according to preliminary data. With continued economic recovery, Agora added, a further increase of total emissions in 2022 is likely. However, to reach its 2030 target of a 65% GHG cut on 1990 levels, Germany would have to lower emissions by 37 MtCO2e a year. (Clean Energy Wire)

Berlin help – German finance minister Christian Lindner has promised to look into short-term support for poorer households which are facing power and fuel price hikes, Tagesspiegel Background reported. In the longer term, reducing the renewable energy surcharge (EEG levy) on the power price and a so-called “climate payment” to all citizens are envisaged to compensate people for rising energy costs and higher CO2 pricing. As of 2022 the renewables levy has been reduced to 3.72 cents/kWh, from 6.5 cents in 2021. Social housing subsidies have also been increased to account for a higher CO2 price on heating fuels as of 2022. (Clean Energy Wire)

ASIA PACIFIC

Tiered carbon tax – A group of MPs will next week propose a tiered carbon tax model and the expansion of the carbon tax to sectors with the highest carbon emissions to help Singapore combat climate change, according to the Today news website. Among several elements the group will recommend is a system under which companies pay a higher carbon tax the higher their emissions are. Singapore currently has a S$5 ($3.68)/tonne carbon tax, but that level is expected to be increased following the current review of the policy.

Green hydrogen JV – US power solutions company Cummins has set up a 50/50 joint venture with China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, to produce green hydrogen generation systems in China, Renewables Now reports. The JV, announced in December, will at first invest $47 mln in a factory for the production of proton exchange membrane electrolysers that will have an annual capacity of 500 MW when completed in 2023, with plans to be expanded to 1 GW over the next five years.

AMERICAS

Coal creep – Brazil will continue to use and subsidise coal as an energy source until at least 2040, according to a “just energy transition” law published on Thursday. It notes that under previous policies, Brazilian subsidies for thermal coal-powered plants were supposed to end by 2027, and the authorisation for three large plants in Santa Catarina to operate was meant to expire in 2025. The new law reverses that, and obliges the government to buy, at a set cost, energy generated by a group of thermal plants in Santa Catarina and mandating that “80% of the energy be produced from coal mined in the region. (Reuters)

Coop dreams – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper took executive action on Friday to set more aggressive goals for GHG reductions and zero-emission vehicles in the Tar Heel State compared to those he set in 2018. The order sets a statewide goal of reducing GHG emissions by 50% compared to 2005 levels by 2030, and to reach net zero emissions no later than 2050. Cooper’s 2018 clean energy order seeks a 40% reduction in power sector CO2 output by 2025.

AND FINALLY…

Cerrado choke – Brazil will stop monitoring deforestation in its Cerrado savannah due to budget cuts, said Claudio Almeida, a scientist who coordinates satellite monitoring at national space research agency Inpe. Almeida said that Inpe will no longer produce annual figures for Cerrado deforestation unless it is able to find a new source of funding, with a minimal team to otherwise run out of money in six months or less. Inpe data showed deforestation and other clearances of native vegetation in the Cerrado rose 8% to a six-year high of 8,531 square kilometres in the 12 months to July. (Reuters)

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