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
Deeper RGGI target could push prices above $10 -analysts
The carbon price in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) would climb above $10 if states deepen their annual reduction targets after 2020, analysts ClearView Energy Partners said.
EU climate goal review off leader’s meeting agenda -Bloomberg
EU leaders don’t plan to discuss whether to alter the bloc’s 2030 climate goals at a Mar. 17-18 Council summit which will focus on migration, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources.
E.ON hedging rates steady, CO2 dives 25% in 2015
Utility E.ON, Europe’s third biggest emitter, reported a steady rate of power generation and forward hedging rates in 2015 as the company’s ETS-regulated CO2 output plunged 25%.
EU Market: Carbon pushed higher after oil bounce
EU carbon prices continued to track oil closely on Wednesday, climbing in afternoon trade after US government data showed a drop in gasoline stockpiles.
California’s ARB hands out 105k offsets in latest issuance
California’s Air Resources Board issued around 105,000 offsets in the last fortnight, the fewest since early December.
Bite-sized updates from around the world
The GCF has approved the accreditation of 13 new entities to channel its funds – They are the governments of Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, and international organisations AfDB, EIB, IFC, IUCN, WFP, WMO, according to observer Brandon Wu of ActionAid. Private banks HSBC and Credit Agricole were also approved despite the objection of 170 green groups due to their huge investments in fossil fuels and involvement in mismanagement scandals.
Norway’s $830-billion sovereign wealth fund pulled out of 27 firms with links to coal last year as part of its climate policy. It also sold holdings in 11 companies because of concerns about the destruction of tropical forests to make way for palm oil plantations or fast-growing trees used for paper and pulp. It did not name the companies it dropped. (Reuters)
Natural gas set to overtake coal as plant closures increase – Coal-fired power made up 80% of the electricity generating capacity retired in the US in 2015, according to new data from the EIA. This represents almost 5% of the nation’s total coal-fired capacity. (H/T Climate Nexus)
Alberta will rely on an oil sands industry advisory group to help the government implement its carbon emissions reductions policy and ensure that industry is consulted, Premier Rachel Notley said. The group, whose members will be announced in the coming weeks, will consider how to implement the 100 million-tonne CO2 emissions limit for the industry, as well as advising on land-use and resource planning, the Alberta government said today in an outline of its legislative plan for this year. (Bloomberg)
The impact of a carbon bubble on the Dutch financial sector is limited, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot said. Financial institutions’ “investments in producers of fossil fuels are larger than earlier expected, but despite that, there doesn’t seem to be a system risk,” Knot, who is also the president of the Dutch central bank, told lawmakers in The Hague on Tuesday. (Bloomberg)
The German cabinet has approved the Paris Agreement on climate change, the government said on Wednesday, adding that it would push for the treaty to come into effect as soon as possible. Read the German press release here.
Post-Paris bounce for shareholder activists – Corporate shareholders this year filed more resolutions specific to climate change with U.S. companies than ever before, according to a report by investment analysts including Sustainable Investments Group. It found 94 such proposals — covering issues from urging greenhouse gas emissions mitigation efforts to demanding the use of more renewable energy — accounted for about 40% of all active resolutions related to the environment or social issues. It partly attributed the trend to December’s Paris Agreement. (E&E)
What Tokyo’s cap-and-trade scheme can teach the world? A multi-affiliated academic paper on the world’s first mandatory city-scale ETS, which includes buildings, found that the scheme was relatively effective as covered emissions were cut by 23% on average over 2010-2014 to 10% below the country average. (Taylor & Francis)
City leaders from around the world met in Singapore on Wednesday for the launch of the ‘Global Platform for Sustainable Cities’, or GPSC, which is part of an initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that is expected to mobilize up to $1.5 billion over the next five years for urban sustainability programs in 11 developing countries, including Brazil, Cote D’Ivoire, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, and Vietnam.
And finally… More than 60% of Americans are represented by someone in Congress who denies the reality of climate change, according to new research from the Center for American Progress Action Fund. (ThinkProgress)
Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com
