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TOP STORY
FEATURE: A year in, the crypto carbon market is sober but still bullish
This week marks the one-year anniversary since a handful of crypto outfits burst onto the scene to send shockwaves through the carbon market, and despite a series of setbacks since then participants remain convinced that Web3 will play a major role in the future of carbon trading.
EMEA
Energy treaty teeters as France the latest to signal exit on climate concerns
France on Friday became the latest EU nation to signal that it will withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), with the governments concerned that the pact will undermine their efforts to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
EU leaders advance energy price talks, REPowerEU gets little attention
EU leaders gathered for two-day talks in Brussels on Thursday and agreed steps forward on new energy price-taming measures in the early hours of Friday, though an idea for larger REPowerEU funding got little attention.
Euro Markets: EUAs post late rally but market trades in narrowest weekly range since April
European carbon climbed towards the upper end of its recent narrow channel on Friday afternoon, while recording the narrowest weekly high-low since April as many traders again stayed away, and energy prices fell back as the prospects of healthy winter supplies erased Thursday’s gains.
AMERICAS
US social cost of carbon metric upheld by court, again
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favour of President Joe Biden’s $51/tonne social cost of carbon (SCC) on Friday, a verdict that likely pushes the case by the Republican states closer to the conservative-majority Supreme Court.
Industrial heat pumps could cut 77 mln tonnes of GHGs in US in 2030 -study
Using electric heat pumps at manufacturing facilities could cut the US industrial sector’s emissions by 5% below projected levels in 2030, according an environmental policy firm study published Friday.
US state laws may constrain CCS rollout across power sector, say experts
Constraining US state laws could limit opportunities for natural gas power generation combined with CCS when planning for long-term decarbonisation of the power sector, a summit heard this week.
Producers prefer 2022 vintages, financials scoop 2022-23 CCAs but step away from RGGI
Compliance entities boosted their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) and RGGI holdings in 2022 vintages, while financials picked up both 2022 and 2023 vintage CCAs while reducing RGGI holdings this week, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Western Australia places tougher GHG control and reporting requirements on Chevron’s Gorgon CCS
The Western Australian government has placed stricter GHG emission sequestration controls on Chevron’s Gorgon LNG CCS facility in the state’s north west.
Australia commits extra A$200 mln to Great Barrier Reef protection, fund blue carbon projects
The Australian government has announced an extra A$200 million to go towards protecting The Great Barrier Reef – a portion of which will go towards blue carbon restoration projects in the area.
Australian company completes trial of sustainable biomass use to displace coal at steel plant
A Sydney-based sustainable biomass company has successfully completed the first trial of renewable carbon material that can directly replace the use of fossil carbon in Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking, it announced on Friday.
CN Markets: Momentum still lacking in China’s carbon market, as political focus elsewhere
Traded volumes in China’s national emissions trading scheme remained stable over the past week with prices moving just marginally, and observers expect the negative sentiment to continue in the near term.
INTERNATIONAL
Green Climate Fund approves nine new projects to bring portfolio to over $11 bln
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved nine new climate projects worth $544.1 million, and a further $1.7 billion with co-financing, it announced in Friday as it concluded its final board meeting for the year.
VOLUNTARY
FEATURE: Experts cool on crediting ocean-based removals despite surging interest
Despite an increase in interest for ocean-based CO2 removals, experts are sceptical on their capacity to grow into large-scale carbon credit-generating technologies amid substantial hurdles relating to MRV, regulation, and the nascency of the technology itself.
Three ARR projects in Uruguay found to have higher additionality risks
Three ARR forestry projects in Uruguay have had slight downgrades in ratings by one agency this week, although they were still given a moderate chance of avoiding or removing CO2, while a fresh rating was awarded to a renewables projects in India.
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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
Loss and damage – Germany has positioned itself ahead of the forthcoming UN climate summit to lead G7 countries on the issue of loss and damage funding for poor countries worst affected by global warming, as it reported its highest ever international climate financing commitments, the FT reports. The German economy ministry committed this week to an increase in funding through a G7-backed financial agreement between Germany and the V20 group of vulnerable nations. Despite the European energy crisis that has hit Germany hard and prompted an extension of the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy, the country is keen to demonstrate that it will keep to its climate goals after taking over the G7 presidency this year. Germany’s agreement with the V20 group, dubbed the Global Shield, akin to an insurance fund, is distinct from longstanding calls by the world’s poorest countries for compensation for the effects of greenhouse gas emissions by the rich, through a global loss and damage financing facility. Jennifer Morgan, Germany’s climate envoy, said she also supported calls for a change in the leadership of the World Bank and its action on climate-related finance, after its president David Malpass recently declined to say whether he believed in climate science. He later changed his position after pressure from key shareholders including the US and Germany. The EU as a whole will support discussion of financial compensation for loss and damage at COP27, Reuters reported, citing a draft document of the bloc’s negotiating position set to be finalised next week. It remained vague, however, on what these talks would deliver, and whether the COP27 summit should launch the climate compensation fund that dozens of developing countries have called for.
Just transition – The German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony Anhalt have launched their Just Transition Fund (JTF) programming to support their fair transition to a green economy. It will be funded with €2.5 bln from the EU Territorial Just Transition programmes, which support regions facing specific challenges in the process. Germany committed to 65% less CO2 emissions by 2030, climate neutrality by 2045, and phasing out coal by 2038 or earlier.
Cohesion policy – Latvia will receive €4.6 bln in Cohesion Policy funding between 2021-27 to support economic and territorial cohesion, and social fairness. €839 mln under the European Regional and Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund will be invested in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, to increase the country’s energy security, energy efficiency and resilience to climate change. €823 mln will be directed to research and innovation, and to increase the digitalisation of small and medium-sized businesses. €1.2 bln will support integrated territorial development, sustainable multimodal urban mobility, such as trams, cycling paths and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. €192 mln from the Just Transition Fund will support Latvia’s 2030 plans to gradually stop using peat for energy and to restore peat extraction sites, while working towards a fair transition to climate neutrality.
ASIA PACIFIC
Net zero signings – Indonesia’s Pertamina will strive to cooperate with other state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as well as international partners in efforts to realise net zero emissions and develop an electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia, Antara News reports. Pertamina has signed cooperation agreements with several international parties, which are expected to encourage the achievement of the NZE target by 2060 and stoke economic growth in Indonesia, the state-owned energy company said in a statement. The company inked at least 12 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) related to the energy transition and clean energy during the “Road to G20: SOE International Conference,” which was themed “Driving Sustainable & Inclusive Growth,” in Bali. Pertamina also signed an agreement with Sembcorp to look at the feasibility of developing a commercial-scale clean hydrogen production in Indonesia, according to Singapore Business Review.
Liquid hydrogen – CB&I, McDermott’s storage business line, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co have signed a memorandum of understanding for a feasibility study of a large liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier including an LH2 storage tank design, Hydrogen Central reports. The ability to ship large quantities of hydrogen across the ocean is an increasing need to help countries, like South Korea, achieve carbon reduction goals in a hydrogen economy.
AMERICAS
Low-cost Canadian – The Canadian federal government partnered with the Atlantic province of Newfoundland and Labrador to jointly invest in replacing three oil furnaces with air-to-water heat pumps at the Sea-Force Hyperbaric Inc. Reception Facility, the government announced on its website Friday. It will cost the two governments a combined C$74,000. The money comes from the Low Carbon Economy Fund, which has C$2.2 bln to spend over seven years.
WCI gets spooky – The WCI is holding its annual board of directors meeting on Oct. 31 (Halloween) from 1100 to 1400 Pacific (1900 to 0000 GMT) in an open session over teleconference, it said in a press release. During the meeting, the board will vote on amendments, elect officers, appoint standing committee members, and receive a financial update. The open meeting will be followed by a closed one.
AND FINALLY…
Vote clearance – As Brazil’s far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro prepares to face his leftwing challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a presidential runoff poll at the end of the month, the future of the forest has not been a central issue, with the election dominated by the economy and questions of morality and religion. Under Bolsonaro, deforestation of the Amazon has surged, but Lula has promised to achieve “net zero” deforestation, allowing clearances only if an equal area of trees is replanted. The possible change of government has sparked a rush by criminal logging gangs, said campaigners, who report that people are racing to get hold of land because of the uncertainty. (FT)
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