Newsletters > CP Daily: Wednesday August 10, 2022

CP Daily: Wednesday August 10, 2022

Published 23:08 on August 10, 2022  /  Last updated at 23:08 on August 10, 2022  / Carbon Pulse /  Newsletters

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

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TOP STORY

Climate Change Authority says Australia should ditch offsets older than five years, phase out CER use

Australia’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) on Thursday recommended ruling out consumption of offsets older than five years and phasing out the use of UN-issued carbon credits for voluntary purposes by 2025.

ASIA PACIFIC

Indian carbon developer EKI share price drops on confusion over carbon credit export ban

The share price of Indian carbon offset developer EKI Energy Services slumped by nearly 20% on Wednesday in the fallout from India’s energy minister stating that the country would not export any carbon credits until it has met its international climate commitments.

SK Market: Korean auction sees healthy demand as outlook, sentiment brighten

South Korea on Wednesday sold around 97% of the 2.3 million KAUs on offer in the environment ministry’s August auction, as the market remains upbeat over the projected reduced allowance surplus in the 2022 compliance cycle.

China awaits clarity on methodologies for nature-based solutions, observers say

Chinese observers are awaiting more policy clarity on the methodologies used for nature-based solutions, despite new development projects springing up across the country.

New Zealand govt indecision on exotics holding back investment, foresters say

The New Zealand government’s lingering decision on whether to remove exotic plantations from the permanent category in the ETS is causing investor uncertainty in the forestry sector, while fears of the planting type’s impact on rural communities is unfounded, according to the industry.

Framework finds most Australian industrials off course on their Paris goals

Only one out of 20 industrial companies assessed in Australia passed a new test on their ability to meet their declared Paris Agreement goals, according to a study from three major universities published on Wednesday.

Australia Market Roundup: Commonwealth Bank outlines sectoral emissions roundup, as ACCU issuance slides

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank on Wednesday set targets for reducing its financed emissions in some carbon intensive sectors, while the weekly number of newly minted Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) fell to around 300,000.

AMERICAS

Analysts see minimal GHG impacts from fossil fuel provisions in US climate bill

Provisions designed to tether fossil fuel leasing with renewable energy development in the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will only slightly undermine the sizable GHG reductions expected from other components of the climate package, analysts said Wednesday.

California offset issuance inches up, while price discounts widen as WCI allowances surge

California regulator ARB this week distributed much fewer compliance offsets compared to its prior issuance at the end of July, according to government data published Wednesday, while a surge in WCI allowance prices has widened the discount of offset values.

WCI 2023 floor price expectations contract as July inflation eases

Next year’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade floor price expectations narrowed after July inflation reversed course following months of substantial increases, according to federal data published Wednesday.

EMEA

Euro Markets: EUAs claw back early UKA auction-related losses to end day unchanged

EUA prices ended the day largely unchanged after a sell-off ahead of the fortnightly UK allowance auction was recovered amid steady buying interest later on, while energy prices rose as tensions in Ukraine mounted after attacks on Russian forces in Crimea.

VOLUNTARY

Canadian firm pays €100/tonne for Brazilian biochar carbon credits

A Canadian VER investor has agreed to pay roughly €100 (C$130) per tonne to purchase biochar-based carbon credits from a Brazilian steelmaker.

Canadian tech startup launches NFT marketplace for voluntary carbon

A Canadian startup crypto company is launching its carbon platform for voluntary carbon market (VCM) projects that will mint non-fungible tokens (NFT) and reward project owners and carbon offset holders with a recurring revenue model.

COMMENT

Seeing the forest for the trees – How companies and countries can meet the challenge of REDD+

It is possible to scale the carbon markets fast and well, argues Carbon Growth Partners’ Charles Bedford. To do so, companies must stay focused on project quality, and countries must collaborate better.

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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

Tipping point – With about 570 Mt of the GHGs emitted every year from both industrial and natural processes, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere has been increasing at a record pace. Farming and oil and gas fields are major contributors, but garbage is also a huge source, Reuters reports. High-resolution satellite images snapped in 2020 revealed the methane was coming from upwind landfills in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, the Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, and Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.

EMEA

Do me a solid – EU member states are behind schedule with bilateral agreements on how to help each other out in case of severe gas disruptions in the bloc, Tagesspiegel Background reports. EU solidarity rules stipulate that countries must enter these deals, but since Brussels introduced infringement procedures in 2020, only six bilateral agreements were concluded. These were in the Baltic states, between Germany and Denmark, Germany and Austria, and between Italy and Slovenia. The agreements will regulate in detail how the partners can help each other quickly – for example, industrial customers in one country could have their gas cut off in exchange for compensation, in order to prevent private households in another country from being cut off. (Clean Energy Wire)

Bouncing back – Half of the major companies listed in Germany’s Dax 40 stock market index increased their CO2 emissions in 2021, as recovery effects from the pandemic allowed many businesses to resume activities restricted during lockdowns, Handelsblatt reports. It said emissions across the Dax 40 companies rose by 6%, or roughly 16 mln tonnes of CO2. “We’re back at 2019 levels in terms of emissions,” climate researcher Manfred Fischedick of the Wuppertal Institute, adding that distortions caused by the pandemic, total emission values would still be within the margin envisaged by the German government, especially for industry. However, Fischedick warned that the changing of energy sourcing patterns in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine is likely to lead to increased emissions for the next three years. (Clean Energy Wire)

Supply chain gang – Danish energy firm Orsted has extended its existing 100% renewable electricity target for all strategic suppliers to cover all the suppliers it works with. It will require all its suppliers to use 100% renewable electricity by 2025, a move which it has said makes it the first energy company in the world to impose such requirements on its supply chain. The new targets could be achieved by suppliers in a number of ways, including but not limited to investing in on-site renewable electricity assets, entering into PPAs, or purchasing renewable electricity certificates. (BusinessGreen)

AMERICAS

A CHIPS off the old block – On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed into law one of the most significant investments in fighting climate change ever undertaken by the US. Since it sailed through Congress last month, the CHIPS Act has mostly been touted as a $280 bln effort to revitalise the American semiconductor industry. What has attracted far less attention is that the law also invests tens of billions of dollars in technologies and new research that matter in the fight against climate change. Over the next five years, the CHIPS Act will direct an estimated $67 bln, or roughly a quarter of its total funding, toward accelerating the growth of zero-carbon industries and conducting climate-relevant research, according to an analysis from energy think-tank RMI. That means that the CHIPS Act is one of the largest climate bills ever passed by Congress. It exceeds the total amount of money that the government spent on renewable-energy tax credits from 2005 to 2019, according to estimates from the Congressional Research Service. The bill also calls for $1 bln for carbon removal research, development, and demonstration by the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management over four years. That would more than double the department’s authorised investment in CDR, which currently stands at $209 mln over four years, though the bill does not actually appropriate the new funding. (The Atlantic, protocol)

Debt-for-nature – Colombia’s recently elected left wing president, Gustavo Petro, is proposing a debt for nature swap to protect the Amazon rainforest. “I propose to humanity to exchange external debt for internal expenses to save and recover our jungles, forests and wetlands,” said Petro during his inauguration speech. As the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in debt in Latin America, several nations turned to debt swaps to meet their climate goals. Under this scheme, developing countries get their debts cancelled or reduced in exchange for commitments to finance green projects. In addition to the debt cancellations, Petro called for a “global fund to save the Amazon” and said “speeches won’t save” the rainforests. (Climate Home)

ASIA PACIFIC

Green buying – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has launched a ‘carbon ledger platform’ that encourages eco-friendly consumer behaviour, covering more than 1 billion users in its ecosystem, according to a statement released Wednesday. The initiative, called Carbon88, rewards customers for buying green products and taking public transportation with discount coupons and other benefits, the statement said. The group has set up an ambitious goal of slashing carbon emissions by 1.5 gigatonnes across its digital ecosystem by 2035. 

Power play – Vietnam will need investment of between $8 bln and $14 bln a year through to 2030 to develop new power plants and expand its grid, its deputy industry minister said, Reuters reports. Of the amount, 75% would be spent on new power plants, with priority given to renewable sources, and 25% on grid expansion, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Dang Hoang An said in a statement.

VOLUNTARY

Born to be rewild – Canadian nature-based VER project developer Klimat X is seeking to expand the size of its rewilding project, the company said in an update this week. Klimat X, formerly a mining company, announced in June that it would pursue the Sierra Leone project on 20,000 ha with partner Rewilding Africa. Klimat X now says that after receiving a feasibility study, it is pursuing a near-term goal of securing further land and carbon rights on 75-100,000 ha.

AND FINALLY…

Not even half-baked – The US Senate climate bill’s fee on oil and gas industry methane emissions will cover less than half the sector’s releases of the powerful greenhouse gas, thanks to concessions made to win over party holdout Joe Manchin, according to a review of the legislation and interviews with lawmakers that negotiated it, OE Digital reports. The reduced scope of the fee is among numerous changes made by the Senate Democratic leadership to secure a deal on the hard-won Inflation Reduction Act, which is being hailed as the biggest climate package in US history but which pales in comparison to President Joe Biden’s initial vision for legislative action on global warming.

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