Carbon Forward 2022 – Europe’s leading environmental markets conference – takes place in London and online this week from Wednesday to Friday, don’t miss the chance to hear about the risks and opportunities presented by the world’s largest carbon markets – compliance and voluntary. Or come network with your industry peers and meet our sponsors and exhibitors.
In-person passes are limited and going fast, so Register Now!
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TOP STORY
NZ pitches agricultural emissions pricing scheme, picks farm-level split-gas approach with crucial caveats
New Zealand has proposed a farm-level, split-gas approach to pricing agricultural emissions, and is seeking feedback on a consultation document as it searches for a way to bring down emissions in its biggest-emitting sector.
INTERNATIONAL
World Bank to launch results-based payment fund for emissions reductions at COP27
The World Bank plans to launch a fund at COP27 that will provide grants for emissions reduction projects based on results, as well as generate credits to count towards national inventories or for international transfer or sale, its President said on an online post this week.
Article 6.4 removals consultation responses focus on CCS, tonne-year accounting, and ocean projects
Submissions as part of a public consultation on removals methodology for the UN’s new crediting mechanism under the Paris Agreement have so far focused on the role of carbon capture and storage (CCS), tonne-year accounting methods, and ocean-based carbon projects, according to documents published on the UNFCCC website and seen by Carbon Pulse.
Investment fund raises €2 bln from over 50 investors for clean hydrogen projects
A Europe-based investment platform joint venture has closed a fund after raising €2 billion ($1.94 bln) in what it described as the world’s first and largest pureplay clean hydrogen infrastructure fund to focus exclusively on the entire clean hydrogen supply chain.
VOLUNTARY
Shaken VCM Integrity Council should be wake up call to US regulators -researchers
Given a scathing review of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market’s (ICVCM) core carbon principles and assessment framework from the market’s biggest actor, the US government needs to step in with safeguards against poor quality credits, a research group argued.
European Space Agency signs contract to improve forestry VER estimates
The European Space Agency on Tuesday announced a deal with a forestry management software company to provide more accurate carbon credit estimates through satellite imagery.
Ratings agency gives Cambodian REDD project a major downgrading
A carbon credit rating agency has given a major downgrading to a Cambodian REDD forest protection project, while nudging the scores of several other projects it had placed on watch.
EMEA
Euro Markets: EUAs test recent support amid “pitiful” trading activity
EUAs declined on Tuesday as the market again tested recent support levels amid lacklustre trading ahead of Wednesday’s fortnightly Polish auction, while energy markets forged higher amid forecasts for colder temperatures in the short term.
EU launches alliance to scale up innovative solar power generation
The European Commission kicked off work on a European Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance on Tuesday, one of the initiatives of the bloc’s solar energy strategy under its REPowerEU initiative to speed the bloc’s exit from Russian fossil fuels that is set to be partially funded by carbon sales.
French steelmaking region awarded EU cash to support communities impacted by green transition
The French region of Hauts-de-France has been awarded €228 million in grants under the EU’s Just Transition Fund to support communities impacted by efforts to decarbonise its polluting industries.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia Market Roundup: Regulator opens second window in ERF exit pilot, ACCUs issuance levels off
The Clean Energy Regulator has opened the second pilot window for market entities to exit their contractual arrangements with the government, as the issuance flow of Australian Carbon Credit Units steadies.
Japan, Sri Lanka to trade Paris-aligned carbon credits under JCM
Japan and Sri Lanka on Monday signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to bring the South Asian nation into the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).
China weighs carbon credits for residential rooftop solar
China is considering letting household rooftop solar power qualify to earn carbon credits that would be eligible for use in its national emissions trading scheme.
AMERICAS
RGGI auction size dips slightly for Q4 sale
The size of the December RGGI auction will fall by just under 1% from the Q3 sale, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic US power sector cap-and-trade scheme announced Tuesday.
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CONFERENCE
Carbon Forward 2022 – Europe’s leading environmental markets conference – takes place in London and online this week from Wednesday to Friday, don’t miss the chance to hear about the risks and opportunities presented by the world’s largest carbon markets – compliance and voluntary. Or come network with your industry peers and meet our sponsors and exhibitors. In-person passes are limited and going fast, so Register Now!
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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
EMEA
Extension tension – The German coalition government hasn’t been able to come to an agreement over the economy minister’s proposed runtime extension scheme for two of the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants. Laws need to be changed to keep the nuclear power plants on the grid past 2022, yet the coalition government let an Oct. 10 deadline for a decision planned slip, the economy ministry said, adding that Isar 2 needs urgent repair work to prolong operations beyond this year even though the government has proposed keeping it on emergency reserve through April 15, 2023. (AFP, Clean Energy Wire)
Zunder plunder – Zunder, a startup setting up and operating ultra-fast chargers for electric cars, reached a valuation of €400 mln after its latest funding round, shareholder White Summit Capital said on Tuesday. Mirova, a fund manager associated to French bank Natixis, poured €100 mln into Zunder in exchange for a 25% stake, White Summit’s managing partner Pablo Pallas told Reuters. White Summit and other co-investors retain the control of Zunder, which is one of the many companies installing the thousands of chargers electric vehicles will need along European highways. It has already signed deals with companies such as car manufacturer Nissan, gas station operator Galp and furniture retailer Ikea.
British-re-volt – The UK’s push to develop a homegrown electric-vehicle battery giant is under threat as three-year-old Britishvolt discusses a sale of its main factory site, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports. Britishvolt is in talks to divest its 93-ha lot in Cambois, northern England, to Slovak startup Inobat, the unnamed sources said. Inobat is considering options including a merger with or acquisition of Britishvolt to obtain the site.
ASIA PACIFIC
Net zero target – SK Innovation unveiled a plan to invest 5 trillion won ($3.5 bln) into its Ulsan refining and petrochemical plant by 2027 to meet its net zero vision, Korea Times reports. “In order to achieve net zero, we have reduced carbon emissions by improving our manufacturing processes and transforming fuels. We have also continuously discovered new technologies related to carbon reduction,” said Yoo Jae-young, head of the Ulsan plant. “Based on our experience of supplying energy to Korean people over the past 60 years, Ulsan has sought to produce eco-friendly materials and recycle waste plastic using carbon-free energy.”
Greenwash crackdown – Australia’s corporate competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has begun a crackdown on greenwashing by Australian companies, The Guardian report. The ACCC is surveying the internet for companies making false claims about environmental action after a global investigation found as many as 40% may be fraudulent. The ACCC is also planning to lay down guidelines so that companies only make statements about their products that are “clear, defined, limited in their claims, and always have strong verification materials”, ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday.
Agrovoltaics – A report says smaller on-farm renewable projects are being overlooked in Australia’s transition to net zero emissions, the ABC reports. The report, by advocacy group Farmers for Climate Action, suggests governments need to do more to encourage small-scale renewables and allow farmers to share power with their neighbours and local communities. The report said that reforming distribution networks would allow farmers to share power with their neighbours and close-by communities, as well as earn a secondary income. The report recommends the federal government create a national climate change and agricultural policy, and provide incentives and subsidies to farmers, including for batteries.
AMERICAS
EPA windfall – With the influx of $40 bln over 10 years from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the EPA’s typical annual budget of $9 bln has significantly increased, giving the agency resources to justify tougher regulations as IRA funding would allow for higher compliance costs with federal assistance to industry. Some of EPA’s actions that IRA money could be used towards include: stronger standards for heavy-duty trucks with model years 2027 to 2029; future rules for stationary sources of pollution; power plant carbon rules in support of carbon reduction technologies such as sequestration and storage; leak detection and monitoring of methane from oil and gas operations outlined in the IRA’s methane emissions reduction program (MERP) with a methane fee phased in from 2024 based on EPA’s methane standards or emissions threshold for facilities; clean-up of low-producing wellheads; and the requirement for pneumatic controllers that don’t release pollution at oil and gas production sites thereby reducing routine flaring of gas at oil wells. (E&E News)
VOLUNTARY
BMS backdated – London-based insurance and reinsurance broker BMS Group on Monday announced that it will offset backdated GHG emissions associated with energy consumption within its offices, employees working from home, and business travel and hotel stays from 2019 onwards. BMS Group will work with Carbon Footprint Limited to offset the company’s emissions, including from a ecosystem conservation project in Brazil, clean cookstove projects in India and Uganda, and renewable energy projects in South Africa, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic.
Trees giving green – GreenTrees has distributed $8.2 mln to 600 landowners across the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, Virginia, and neighbouring areas in the Southeastern US through its nature-based CO2 removal programme, the company announced. GreenTrees says the average payout to landowners from reforestation projects was $12,000. The company added its projects have removed 6 MtCO2 from the atmosphere.
AND FINALLY…
Farm folly – Up to £20 bln of investment in renewable energy is “under threat” as a result of UK PM Liz Truss’s plans to “effectively ban solar farms on agricultural land in England”, the FT reports. The paper says that, according to Chris Hewett, chief executive of the industry trade body Solar Energy UK, the plans “would threaten 30GW plus of projects currently being scoped for the second half of the decade”. The Times adds: “When Truss was environment secretary, her officials were unable to provide figures to confirm her claims that solar harmed food production. Hewett said while more than 6GW of solar projects would be built anyway because they had planning approval, solar developers would have to scrap billions of pounds’ worth of new projects if ‘3b land’ [moderate quality agricultural land] was reclassified.” (Carbon Brief)
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