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EU emitters convert 22.66 million offsets for 2015 emission swap

Companies covered by the EU ETS exchanged 22.66 million international credits – all CERs – for use in the scheme over the past year, well down on the previous two years, the European Commission said.

China’s Hunan province sets absolute CO2 target for 2020

Hunan in south-central China will limit its 2020 CO2 emissions to around 510 million tonnes, according to a provincial government plan, making it one of the first provinces to set an absolute cap on CO2 emissions.

Energy Aspects nudges up EUA price forecast, but eyes flat months ahead

Energy Aspects has raised its near-term EU carbon price forecasts following two downgrades earlier this year, predicting that EUAs will climb around 9% by the fourth quarter.

EU Market: EUAs drift towards €6 in thin trade

EU carbon prices slumped towards €6 on Monday amid very thin turnover hampered by the lack of auction and absence of many UK-based traders

Korean landfill firm converts 850k CERs into domestic offsets

South Korea’s Sudokwon Landfill Corp. has converted 856,000 CERs into offsets eligible in the domestic emissions trading scheme, taking the company’s total tally of cancelled UN offsets to over 2.2 million.

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Job listings this week:

Senior Carbon Market Analyst – Europe, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon – Oslo
Environmental Commodities Broker, Carbon Sales, STX Services – Amsterdam
Environmental Commodities Broker, French Market, STX Services – Amsterdam
Environmental Commodities Broker, STX Services – New York
Senior Climate Policy Advisor, ICF – Fiji
Climate Policy/Climate Financing Specialist, ICF – Fiji

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

ITRE gets going – Fredrick Federley, the senior lawmaker steering ETS reforms through the European Parliament’s industry committee (ITRE), has now published his proposed amendments in full. ITRE will debate Federley’s proposal on May 23, with the deadline for MEPs to make amendments on May 31 and to consider those amendments on July 12. Here’s the Carbon Pulse take on his main points. (EU Parliament)

Californians wait it out – Post-2020 ETS draft amendments will be delayed in order for the state to properly assess an upcoming leakage study, according to an Air Resources Board (ARB) official. Initially scheduled to be released at the end of May with a final hearing coming in spring 2017, the drafts will now not be released until July 2016. (ICIS)

“LALALALALA, I can’t hear you!” – Nearly half of the world’s top 500 investors do not take climate change into account in their investment decisions, according to a report by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project. It found only 97 of them take tangible steps to mitigate global warming. (Reuters)

Banks to encourage carbon markets – The Asian Development Bank and the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are signing an MoU, and plan to encourage developing nations planning to build high-efficiency coal plants to also introduce emissions trading markets, according to sources speaking to Nikkei.

Guernsey carbon tax – Guernsey, one of the UK’s Channel Islands, has introduced a carbon tax on new and second-hand vehicles, including a higher rate for diesel, BBC reports.  The country voted in 2014 to spend £4 million a year on measures to reduce car use.  But the tax has been called “a compromise” by motoring groups after the environment department had to scale back controversial plans aimed to improve air quality and cut congestion on the island’s roads.

And finally… Washington kids win climate lawsuit – A Washington state judge directed the environment agency to make recommendations on science-based GHG cuts by the end of 2016, Huffington Post reports. The decision upholds a petition by eight Seattle kids, and overturns a November verdict allowing the department to keep its timetable of 2017 because of the urgency of the climate issue. Current state targets, set in 2008, call for a reduction in emissions of 50% below 1990 levels by 2050. The kids argue that current science makes clear that the cut should be at least 80%. (H/T Climate Nexus)

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