Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here
California clears livestock methane project in latest offset probe
California’s Air Resources Board has decided not to invalidate 15,070 carbon offsets that were issued to a livestock methane project in Indiana after a four-month probe found the credits were generated while the facility was in compliance with state laws.
BP stresses need for global carbon pricing as world faces 25% rise in CO2 emissions to 2035
Policymakers must accelerate moves to global carbon pricing to help rein in energy-related CO2 emissions projected to rise 25% between 2013-2035, oil giant BP said on Wednesday in its long-term energy outlook.
EU Market: Carbon falls to new low below €5, recovers after US oil data
EU carbon continued its sharp decline on Wednesday, falling 5.8% to hit a fresh 22-month low before climbing back in late trade.
US Supreme Court stays EPA’s Clean Power Plan in blow to Obama climate strategy
The US Supreme Court has agreed to halt enforcement of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan until after legal challenges are resolved, dealing a harsh blow to President Barack Obama’s plan to curb GHG emissions at new and existing power plants.
Sweden to move zero-emissions target forward by 5 years -media
Sweden will set a new target of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, five years earlier than previously planned, and of reaching negative emission levels after that, local media reported on Wednesday.
UK coal plant Eggborough wins 1-yr reprieve from closure
Britain’s Eggborough coal-fired power plant has won a reprieve after signing a contract with National Grid that will allow it to continue to operate for an additional year from March.
OM Financial parts ways with emissions broker, but eyes Sydney opportunity
An emissions broker has left Auckland-based OM Financial to join electricity trading firm Switch Trading.
BTG Pactual hires environmental trader in Houston
Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has hired a new US environmental trader at its Houston office.
Bite-sized updates from around the world
The US Supreme Court may have put President Obama’s Clean Power Plan on hold Tuesday, but according to Bloomberg it’s not going to save coal from a shrinking market or stop some states and utilities from moving forward with their own carbon-cutting measures.
Separately, Obama hopes to create a “climate-smart economy” with his final budget proposal, which was released in full this week. If approved, it would provide funding to scale up renewable energy, boost climate resilience and adaptation, and uphold the US contribution to the Green Climate Fund. Though the budget is likely to face opposition from the Republicans in Congress, experts say that it has already “started a national conversation about how to deliver the clean energy economy.” Obama is also advocating for an upgrade of the nation’s transportation system over the next decade, which would be paid for by a tax on oil. (H/T Climate Nexus)
The EU ETS Modernisation Fund for poorer eastern EU nations should focus on retrofitting homes, heat and distributed clean energy generation while aiming to stimulate private sector investments, argues Poland-based think tank Forum for Energy Analysis. Separately, PISM, another Polish think tank, urges Poland to focus its EU ETS reform efforts on securing bigger contributions to the Fund or that any efforts to cancel surplus EUAs are exclusively done by richer nations, in the event that the climate ambition of the bill is increased.
In a policy U-turn, Japan’s Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa has said she will now give her approval to the construction of new coal-fired power plants, but said the plants will have to report their CO2 emissions. Marukawa and her predecessor last year refused to green-light several new coal plants, saying they would put at risk Japan’s goal to cut GHG emissions 26% below 2013 levels by 2030. (Kyodo)
European banks face potential loan losses from energy firms of $27 billion, or about 6% of their pre-tax profit over three years, according to analysts at Bank of America. (Bloomberg)
AGL Energy, Australia’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, on Wednesday launched a A$3 billion ($2.1 billion) renewable energy fund that will develop at least 1,000 megawatts of large-scale renewable energy projects, with AGL contributing about A$200 million. A selective group of parties will be invited to partner AGL in the fund, with a broad mix of funds and banks to contribute debt. (Sydney Morning Herald)
The Northwest Pulp and Paper Association has come out against the cap-and-trade bill in Oregon. “Unfortunately, a new carbon cap-and-trade bill being debated in the Oregon Legislature will … turn Oregon into a state that manufacturers will avoid”, executive director Chris McCabe wrote in an op-ed in The Register-Guard. The bill was introduced last month, but observers say it has little chance of success.
And finally… Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister and a key architect and facilitator of the Paris Agreement, on Wednesday said he would resign to head the country’s Constitutional Council, France’s highest court, Politico reported. Fabius will remain in his post as president of the UN climate talks until November’s COP22 summit in Morocco, Climate Home added.
Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com
