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TOP STORY

Less than 4% of global GHGs covered by a sufficient carbon price to meet 2030 goals

Despite direct carbon price instruments covering almost one quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions bringing in $84 billion in 2021, less than 4% are within a system with a sufficient price to meet Paris Agreement-aligned 2030 climate goals, a report from the World Bank said Tuesday.

EMEA

Progressive MEPs fear REPowerEU will scupper chances of higher ETS ambition

A European Parliament compromise on the EU ETS reform might lose relevance in the run-up to a vote by the full assembly next month in the wake of proposed changes to the supply-managing MSR via the REPowerEU strategy.

Market needs reassurance that “taboo” EU carbon MSR sale is a one-off

The European carbon market requires assurances that the proposed sale of EUAs from the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) is an exceptional circumstance and will not be repeated, in order to avoid undermining the functioning of the EU ETS, stakeholders told a conference Tuesday.

INTERVIEW: Speculator curbs a far greater risk to EU carbon market than MSR sale plan, warns ETS architect

The EU carbon market is overreacting to a proposal to sell up to €20 billion in allowances over four years to fund the bloc’s move away from Russian energy, one of the fathers of the ETS told Carbon Pulse Tuesday, adding that he’s far more worried about efforts to limit speculators.

Euro Markets: Carbon wipes out Monday losses amid short covering and options pull

European carbon held on to early gains on Tuesday to wipe out Monday’s losses as options hedging and short covering in a thinly traded market drove prices back above €80, while an EU official said that proposed sales of EUAs from the market stability reserve would be evenly spread over four years.

VOLUNTARY

EEX Group to feature vintage-specific nature-based offsets, removals among voluntary product suite

Germany’s European Energy Exchange (EEX) Group on Tuesday announced the launch schedule of a voluntary carbon market (VCM) product suite, with vintage-differentiated nature-based units and removals-focused credits among the four standardised contracts offered across multiple time zones.

Green groups push tropical forest VER buyers towards jurisdictional, reduction-based credits

A coalition of eight environmental and Indigenous NGOs on Tuesday released a new set of guidelines for purchasing tropical forest voluntary emissions reductions (VERs), arguing companies should favour initiatives that span entire jurisdictions and prioritise emissions reductions over removals.

US agtech start-up raises $38 mln for global expansion

A US agtech startup that focuses on connecting farmers to carbon revenues has raised $38 million in its second round of funding.

US start-up raises $32 mln amid plans to expand portfolio of carbon tokens

A US-based technology startup has raised $32 mln in venture capital funding amid plans to launch multiple bundles of tokens that track key market segments.

Data aggregating company to add credit ratings for VCM analysis

A data aggregating company for voluntary carbon market (VCM) offsets has struck a deal to use credit ratings to support its assessment of prices.

Trafigura teams up with software firm to set up platform for tracking supply chain emissions

Trafigura has joined forces with a US software company, Palantir, to develop a technology services platform for the calculation and reporting of emissions across commodity supply chains, the global commodities trader announced on Tuesday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Australian carbon farmers abuzz over Labor victory, but ERF review looms

Australian carbon project developers are giddy at the prospects of a transformed carbon market after Labor’s election win, however opinions are mixed over what they would like to see in the “short, sharp” review of the Emissions Reduction Fund and its governing regulator.

China methane emissions spike amid coal boom

China’s methane emissions have soared after the government boosted coal production in the aftermath of last year’s power shortages, and there is worse to come, according to a report released Tuesday.

India’s Gujarat signs MoU to design emissions trading scheme

India’s Gujarat state government has signed a memorandum of understanding  (MoU) with a US university and a local non-government organisation to establish and design a cap and trade market for emissions from large industrial sources, it announced this week.

AMERICAS

Colombian blue carbon mangrove offsets to triple in price, minister says

Colombian blue carbon credits from mangrove projects will triple in price in the next two years, a minister told a conference on Tuesday.

LCFS Market: California prices drop to double digits amid bumper PG&E sale

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit values fell to levels not seen since Oct. 2017 this week as utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) held a large sale amid free-falling prices.

INTERNATIONAL

Climate ‘meta-registry’ eyes November launch after extensive testing

A global blockchain-enabled system to transfer carbon units and track meta data of credits between various registries is due to launch in November after three years of testing.

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CONFERENCES

IETA European Climate Summit 2022 – May 24-25 in Barcelona: Join us for the 4th edition of this IETA-led European summit, bringing together leading private sector experts and policymakers from both the carbon and energy world, to analyse and discuss the current state of play, and what’s next for compliance and voluntary markets.  Why attend?  1. gain a comprehensive understanding of current and forecast carbon market drivers and developments; 2. how are we implementing our transition to a net zero economy, both on the ground and through policy; 3. understand the pricing evolution, risk profile, and investment opportunities across the compliance and voluntary carbon markets; 4. what/how/why of digital climate assets. www.europeanclimatesummit.com

Reuters Events: Global Energy Transition 2022 – June 14-15 in New York City: The conference unites CEOs and changemakers from the energy, industrial, and government ecosystems to shed light on the defining issue of our time, and help companies meet a uniquely difficult challenge. Over two days and five critical themes, we will define the future of energy, inspire a decade of action, and prepare the sector for challenges still to come, with diverse voices from around the world bringing passion and expertise to deliver a new path forward. Find out more by visiting the website today: https://bit.ly/35H7cgb

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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

INTERNATIONAL

Second first movers – Japan will join the US-led First Movers Coalition as a strategic government partner, its energy, trade, and industry ministry announced Tuesday. The US launched the FMC in Glasgow, an initiative through which corporations can drive the development of new technologies in sectors where emissions are hard to abate. Maersk, Trafigura, Holcim, and Boeing were among those that signed up to it last November. Japan said its main contribution would be in aviation, shipping, and concrete. The US plans to announce other new members in Davos on Wednesday, Japan said.

EMEA

Coal in the wings – Germany plans to bring back coal- and oil-fired power plants should Russia cut off natural gas shipments to Europe’s largest economy, with Economy Minister Robert Habeck presenting an emergency decree on Tuesday enabling the government to bring back the facilities in case of gas shortages, according to the proposed legislation seen by Bloomberg. The nation has 4.3 GW of coal power and 1.6 GW of oil power facilities that are currently part of a national reserve, many of which were supposed to be closed down as part of the country’s 2038 coal phaseout plan that the coalition government still wants to bring forward to 2030. Uniper said it could dispatch as many as 3 GW of coal power, while RWE said it was reviewing which power plants could be turned back on.

Bratislava compo – Norsk Hydro may have to close its majority-owned Slovalco primary aluminium plant in Slovakia unless the government there provides indirect ETS cost compensation in time for its new power contract for 2023. The Slovakian government said it was still working on a new bill and pointed out it had provided more than €21 mln over 2016-2020 as a compensation – 51.6% of the overall compensation paid. (Reuters)

Cement slimming – HeidelbergCement, the world’s No. 2 cement maker, aims to cut CO2 emissions by almost 50% by 2030 compared with 1990, part of an industry-wide push to decarbonise. The company said it will use recycled materials and CCS to reduce CO2 emissions to 400 kg/tonne, down from a previous target of 500 kg. (Reuters)

ASIA PACIFIC

Sanction the (rich) climate laggards – Countries that fail to reduce their carbon emissions as they had promised should be sanctioned, outgoing Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte said in his weekly taped “Talk to the People” briefing, Inquirer reports. “Unless the industrialised countries would really help with all their might and commit to reduce carbon emissions, we cannot do anything about it. Unless they come to their senses, they cannot expect the smaller nations with the least emissions to be forced [to follow] because they themselves refused to do so,” Duterte said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino. “That is really what’s wrong — unless they come up with sanctions. Unless there are sanctions, it’s quite hard [for smaller countries] to follow,” Duterte added. The president said the Philippines and other smaller countries would be the ones to suffer from the impact of climate change, usually in the form of natural disasters like typhoons.

New chapter – The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday unveiled the India chapter of the Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders to boost the country’s climate action and decarbonisation efforts, Business Standard reports. The Alliance will continue efforts to achieve the vision outlined in the white paper released last year, Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net Zero India, on India’s low-carbon transition by 2070, the WEF said. The programme will bring together the government, businesses, and other key stakeholders to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious five-part “Panchamrit” pledge, which includes the country’s net zero by 2070 target.

AMERICAS

Win for Healey: In a 7-0 unanimous decision, Massachusetts’ Supreme Court rejected Exxon’s attempt to dismiss state Attorney General Maura Healey’s (D) lawsuit holding the company responsible for misleading investors and consumers on the negative impacts of fossil fuel products on the environment, and climate-driven risks facing its business. The lawsuit filed in 2019, on the heels of a three-year probe, is the second time Healey and Exxon have crossed swords before the state’s court, Reuters reports. Exxon is evaluating next steps.

Charging chargers – Gas stations and commercial parking lots in Vancouver will be fined an annual fee of $10k/y if they don’t install EV chargers by Jan. 2025, according to a new rule that the city’s council approved. Gas stations will have to install at least one DC fast charger with a minimum charging power of 50kW, each costing about $135k. Commercial parking lots with more than 60 parking spaces will need to install four Level 2 chargers, costing an average of $100k for the installation. Of the 66 gas stations and 366 commercial parking lots across the city, presently only two gas stations are in compliance with the rule. City staff estimate that it would take about 8 years for business owners to recover EV charging equipment investment costs through revenues generated from charging stations as well as credits earned from BC’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard programme. (Clean Technica)

Liquidating Las Vegas – French industrial gas company Air Liquide on Tuesday said it has opened its largest liquid hydrogen production and logistics facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, to supply growing needs for hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. The North Las Vegas facility will produce 30 tons of liquid hydrogen per day and will be powered by renewable electricity, according to the release. The facility can also use renewable natural gas to meet California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and provide enough hydrogen for over 40,000 fuel-cell vehicles in that state. (Reuters)

AND FINALLY…

Sheikh and (don’t) destroy – This year’s UN climate summit host Egypt will push countries to make good on their pledges to sharply reduce GHGs, facilitate “non-adversarial” talks on compensation to developing countries for global warming impacts, and allow climate activists to protest, said the incoming COP27 president. In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who is also the president-designate of the next annual Conference of the Parties, to be held in November in the Red Sea resort city Sharm El-Sheikh, called the overall goal “implementation.” Additionally, Shoukry said protests would be allowed during the conference. Egyptian authorities crack down on demonstrations not sanctioned by the government and retain the right to cancel or postpone any protests, leading activists to wonder what, if any, demonstrations would be able to happen, a common occurrence at previous COPs. “We are developing a facility adjacent to the conference centre that will provide them the full opportunity of participation, of activism, of demonstration, of voicing that opinion,” said Shoukry. “And we will also provide them access, as is traditionally done on one day of the negotiations, to the negotiating hold itself.”

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