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Change in rhetoric could pave way for ‘soft start’ carbon market in Australia -analysts

A change in government rhetoric could pave the way for a ‘soft start’ carbon market in Australia even without any changes to current policies, analysts said Wednesday.

Over 200 US lawmakers ask court to overturn Clean Power Plan

More than 200 Republican senators and House representatives on Tuesday filed a legal brief asking a DC court to overturn the Clean Power Plan, saying Congress has not authorised the EPA to reform the nation’s electricity sector.

CO2 intensity of Iberdrola’s power generation rises in 2015 on more gas-fired production

Spanish-headquartered utility Iberdrola emitted 6% more CO2 per kWh of power produced in 2015 than the previous year, as it ramped up gas-fired generation while decreasing most other sources.

EU Market: Carbon dips again to near 22-mth low

EU carbon prices lost further ground on Wednesday as market participants said industrial emitters were offloading their newly acquired 2016 allowances to raise cash.

First VERs issued to ships with anti-slime coating

The first voluntary carbon credits have been awarded to ship owners that have coated their hulls in a substance designed to reduce drag caused by the build up of slime, AkzoNobel, the inventors of the technology, announced on Wednesday.

Hong Kong “welcome” to join China’s national carbon market -Xie

Hong Kong would be welcome to participate in China’s national emissions trading scheme when it opens next year as its sophisticated financial sector would benefit the market, Xie Zhenhua, China’s special representative for climate change, said Wednesday.

Australian landfill owners say should be excluded from future ETS as offset demand drives carbon cuts

Landfills should be left out of any future emissions trading scheme and instead achieve GHG reductions by selling carbon offsets, the Australian Landfill Owners Association (ALOA) has told a climate policy review panel.

Bite-sized updates from around the world

**Analysts at ICIS Tschach Solutions will host a RGGI webinar Mar. 8 assessing the recent price declines, program review and post-2020 outlook**

Australia’s Environment Minister Greg Hunt has turned down a request from the Queensland government to ringfence cash from the Emissions Reduction Fund to pay Queensland farmers to grow more trees after more than 500,000 hectares of forest have been cleared since 2012. “The Queensland government has been advised categorically no. Any requirement to take action under a state law cannot be double counted to allow participation in the ERF,” a spokersperson for Hunt said. (Australian Financial Review)

EU ETS annual reduction must go deeper than 2.2% –  Former head EU climate negotiator and IPCC co-chairman Bert Metz outlines how the EU’s current policy framework is out of step with the Paris Agreement if the bloc wants to remain a global leader on tackling climate change. (EurActiv)

New York state’s comptroller and four other Exxon Mobil shareholders asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week to force the oil producer to include a climate change resolution in its annual shareholder proxy. (Reuters)

The boss of AGL, Australia’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, says his company needs to be out of the “CO2 emissions business” regardless of what they think of the science of climate change, simply to manage the financial risk. (Guardian)

Climate Home rounds up leading contenders to succeed Christiana Figueres as UN climate chief: Patricia Espinosa (Mexico), Fatih Birol (Turkey), Manuel Pulgar Vidal (Peru), Pa Ousman Jarju (Gambia), Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko (South Africa), Dessima Williams (Grenada), André Corrêa do Lago and Izabella Teixeira (both Brazil), Teresa Ribera (Spain), Laurence Tubiana (France).

And finally…Fresh WikiLeaks release reveals further US spying via climate talks – The whistleblower website has put out more classified documents shedding light on the extent of US spying around international climate negotiations towards the 2009 Copenhagen summit. One intercepted communication between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Ban-Ki Moon from Dec. 2008 reveals how Merkel was confident that the EU would reach a deal over its 2020 climate targets, but that carbon trading would be “the tough issue”. “Today we proved the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s private meetings over how to save the planet from climate change were bugged by a country intent on protecting its largest oil companies,” WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange said.

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