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TOP STORY
Key EU lawmaker sets out plans for stronger ETS price controls, oversight
A senior EU lawmaker has proposed a relaxation of the parameters for injecting additional supply to the EU ETS in the event of a price spike, one of a raft of market reform ideas MEPs put forward ahead of a deadline on Wednesday.
EMEA
Euro Markets: EUAs regain some ground after MEP makes price control plans
EUA prices regained around half of their early losses on Wednesday, after having dropped more than €3 on a senior EU lawmaker’s proposal to make it easier to add supply in the event of a price spike.
Opposition against second EU ETS firms, as lawmakers seek “complete deletion”
Opposition against a proposed second EU carbon market for buildings and transport is hardening among lawmakers, with measures seeking to kill the idea featuring strongly among the 1,600 amendments submitted ahead of a deadline on Wednesday.
Experts urge EU to ‘come clean’ over climate policy costs for citizens
The unprecedented speed at which Brussels is moving to enact its Fit for 55 climate policy package will have significant costs on EU households, panellists said at a virtual event on Wednesday, arguing that policymakers should be clearer about what this could mean for average consumers.
ASIA PACIFIC
Reluctant land-owners slow path for Chinese developers eyeing rising voluntary prices
Chinese offset developers are queueing up to kickstart new projects to benefit from rising international prices for nature-based voluntary carbon credits, but are finding it hard to secure limited available land from land-owners who would rather get involved in the domestic market.
Former lawmaker seeks to tame risk to NZ agriculture from rising forestry carbon price
New Zealand should consider regulations to limit the potentially huge impacts that rapidly expanding carbon forestry in the nation could have on rural communities and traditional agriculture, according to a green paper released by a former lawmaker on Wednesday.
Australian bank takes minority stake in Pollination Group
A major Australian bank has invested $50 million in climate finance and advisory firm Pollination, as it aims to accelerate its global growth.
AMERICAS
California agency heads to attend Senate hearing on cap-and-trade watchdog report
A California state senator will host a legislative hearing next week regarding a watchdog group’s recent report on the WCI linked cap-and-trade programme, which argued intervention was necessary to address the market’s allowance glut.
Higher 2030 WCI allowance surplus won’t deter steeper CCA prices -analysts
Greater zero-emissions vehicle adoption and renewable diesel penetration will lead to an even larger WCI allowance surplus by the end of the decade, though California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices will still increase compared to previous forecasts, analysts said.
VOLUNTARY
Voluntary carbon fund posts near-doubling of value in seven months
An Australia-based carbon fund targeting the international voluntary market on Wednesday said its net asset value has almost doubled since its inception last July.
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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
CONFERENCE
North American Carbon World (NACW) 2022 – Apr. 6-8 in Anaheim, California – presented by the Climate Action Reserve: Learn, collaborate, and network on carbon markets and climate policy at NACW, North America’s largest carbon event. NACW features comprehensive and up-to-date information, key thought leaders advancing innovative climate solutions, and the best networking opportunities with colleagues in the business, government, nonprofit, and academic sectors. NACW will dive into the status and future of North American carbon markets, climate policies, innovative solutions, natural climate solutions, net zero pledges and beyond, transportation and LCFS markets. www.nacwconference.com
AMERICAS
Bank pushback – US banks this week welcomed a regulatory proposal to incorporate climate change risks into their daily operations, yet said they opposed prescriptive risk management and lending criteria, exposure disclosures and capital penalties. In feedback to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), they pushed back on the suggestion by President Joe Biden’s administration that they should be required to report climate risk exposures publicly or to regulators. They noted that many banks are already engaged in voluntary reporting efforts. (Reuters)
Flirting with 30 – The US has a 30.7-GW pipeline of offshore wind projects, enough to meet President Biden’s target of 30 GW by 2030, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis. But the Biden administration faces a time crunch in reaching the goal: By 2025, the U.S. will have 4,733 MW of operating offshore wind capacity if all projects are built on time, the data show. Another 16,218 MW of capacity is scheduled for completion between 2025 and 2030, when the US will have 20,951 MW of operating capacity. Newer project proposals totalling 8,128 MW of capacity have not disclosed in-service dates.
Fission funds – The US Department of Energy (DOE) will spend $6 bln on a programme designed to keep nuclear power plants from closing, according to a notice of intent published last week. The department’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program is backed by funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law in November. The program will allow owners and operators of commercial US nuclear reactors to competitively bid on credits to help continue their operations amid economic hardship. (Utility Dive)
ASIA PACIFIC
Low emissions ties – Australia and India will join forces to drive down the costs of new and renewable energy technologies under a new low emissions technology partnership agreement, the Australian government stated. The Letter of Intent between India and Australia on New and Renewable Energy Technology was agreed to by Australia’s Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor and the Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh, during the fourth India-Australia Energy Dialogue. Australia has already formed similar partnerships with Germany, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.
Not in our waters – A Timor Leste-based environmental think-tank, La’o Hamutuk, has criticised plans by Santos, an Australian oil and gas operator, for its proposal to set up a CCS facility at the Bayu Undan offshore reservoir, of which Timor-Leste has jurisdiction, which would take CO2 from the development of the Barossa offshore gas field to supply the Darwin LNG terminal (to replace declining production from the Bayu-Undan field). The group has filed a submission to the Northern Territory’s Environmental Protection Authority in response to Santos’ application to the authority to build an offshore pipeline as part of the project.
Renewables push – Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has been asked to coordinate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant ministries and sectors to conduct research for setting up a renewable energy centre, Vietnam Plus reports, which is hoped to serve human resources training and technology transfer, and share legal experience, and national governance in adapting to climate change.
EMEA
Staff spree – EY will launch a new sustainability service business and is planning to hire 1,300 people in the UK to staff its operations, Edie reports. The professional services firm confirmed plans for £100 mln of investment in the department to be called EY Carbon that will be tasked with supporting businesses to improve their net zero plans. EY said in a statement that it had timed the launch of the service ahead of the UK Treasury’s upcoming net zero transition plan mandate. Under the mandate, announced at the UN-backed COP26 that took place last November, large firms in high-emitting sectors will be required to draw up plans for transitioning to net zero. They will need to detail how emissions cuts will be achieved, how investment plans will change, and how workers and communities will be supported. Research has repeatedly shown that many large firms are failing on this latter aspect with only a select few businesses having published such plans, such as Centrica and SSE. Rob Doepel, the market segment leader for energy at EY, will head up the new department.
No regrets – German climate researchers have called for an earlier start of emissions trading for the country’s CO2 price on transport and heating fuels, Clean Energy Wire reports. Introducing auctions from 2023, instead of 2026 as planned, is one of four “no-regret measures” proposed in a paper by a state-supported research project. The changes should be implemented despite it being unclear whether the EU will move to introduce a similar bloc-wide ETS, which Germany would then have to merge with its national system. The planned price corridor for the auctions should be higher and wider to align the policy with new climate targets, the researchers said. Germany introduced its national carbon price on transport and heating fuels with a fixed price of €25/tonne at the start of 2021. The transition to an emissions trading system is planned for 2026 – with an initial price corridor of €55-65 – though the new government coalition has said it aims to assess the compatibility of this with the planned EU ETS in transport and buildings.
VOLUNTARY
Hot credits – A large cookstoves project in Ghana has issued an additional 1 mln tonnes of Gold Standard carbon credits, according to a press release from the joint project owners ClimateCare and Relief International. The Gyapa cookstoves project has now reduced emission reductions by more than 5 mln tonnes over 12 years, the release said. The project is the largest provider of cookstoves direct to consumers in Ghana, with over 20,000 stoves produced per month and 1.9 mln stoves sold in total, and is one of the largest and longest-running cookstove projects in the world.
AND FINALLY…
Envy on the coast – US coasts will be inundated by one foot (0.3 metres) of sea level rise over the next 28 years, according to a report released Tuesday by NOAA and other federal agencies. Sea levels, driven higher by climate change primarily caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, are rising faster than at any point in the last 3,000 years and will rise as much in the next three decades as they have over the past century. Higher sea levels mean a further, dramatic increase in high tide flooding, storm, and wastewater systems unable to cope with the influx of seawater, crop fields sterilised by saltwater inundation, and septic systems overwhelmed by higher water tables – not to mention increased vulnerability to hurricanes and tropical storms. The predicted sea level rise will make some areas effectively uninhabitable with about 140,000 homes at risk of twice-a-month flooding. (Climate Nexus)
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