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TOP STORIES
Turkey to establish national carbon crediting programme to help meet climate goals
Turkish will establish a national programme to scale carbon credit supply to help meet its 2053 net-zero target, aiming to expand project activities into a regional market and move away from a reliance on renewable energy projects, the government said over the weekend, also confirming that plans for an emissions trading system were underway.
Nigeria’s sovereign wealth manager, climate council sign deal to establish carbon pricing infrastructure
Nigeria’s Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) on Monday signed an agreement to advance climate action in the country, including by establishing infrastructure for carbon pricing.
EMEA
EU’s Market Stability Reserve to withdraw another 272 mln allowances from ETS starting Sep. 2023
Some 272.35 mln carbon allowances will be withdrawn from the EU ETS over the 12 months starting this September and inserted into the Market Stability Reserve (MSR), the European Commission announced Monday in its annual ‘TNAC’ update.
Euro Markets: Weak auction triggers EUA sell-off amid falling gas prices ahead of auction pause
European carbon prices dropped sharply on Monday after a weak auction triggered sustained selling, despite this week’s significantly lower auction supply, while EU data showed the market stability reserve (MSR) will take out 272 million EUAs from September 2023 through to August 2024.
Total EU greenhouse gas emissions fall in Q4 as bloc’s GDP grows -official data
The EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions fell by 4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier, even as the bloc’s economy grew, according to data released by the EU’s statistical office on Monday.
VOLUNTARY
Denmark strikes first full-scale CCS deal, Microsoft agrees to buy chunk of removals
The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) announced on Monday the signing of a 20-year contract with utility Orsted to support the delivery of a full-scale CCS project that aims to trap 430,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, while additional funding will come from tech giant Microsoft agreeing to buy resulting carbon removals.
VCM Report: Standard prices continue to slip lower, while fresh vintage OTC values steady
Standardised carbon credit prices continued to slip further below $2 over the past week, extending a long trend, while well-known projects were confined to pockets of higher-priced sales of fresh vintages.
Latin America’s biggest investment bank buys minority stake in Brazilian offset developer
A Brazilian offset developer active in REDD+ projects has sold a minority stake in its company to Latin America’s largest investment bank, the firms announced Monday.
Canada-based VER investors accumulate smaller net losses for January-March period
A pair of Toronto-headquartered voluntary carbon credit financiers registered slimmer net losses over the first three months of the year when compared to the same period in 2022 as the firms’ revenue streams began to materialise, according to earnings reports published Monday.
UN launches tender to buy 12k Gold Standard CERs
The UN has opened a tender to buy almost 12,000 Gold Standard CERs to offset some of the organisation’s emissions.
ASIA PACIFIC
Thailand’s Move Forward party looks to form coalition govt following election, promises cap-and-trade scheme, coal phase-out
Thailand’s opposition party is looking to form a coalition government after the weekend’s snap election, promising to introduce a raft of green policies including a cap-and-trade emissions scheme and the phase-out of all coal-fired power stations by 2035.
Australia to consult on offshore CCS potential, as oil and gas industry want more support for carbon removal tech development
Australia will soon hold a consultation on offshore CCS acreage in the country’s waters, as its resources minister told an oil and gas conference Tuesday that the government supports the development of CCS, but without promising any direct financial support.
Australian agtech companies form carbon data development partnership
Two Australian agricultural tech companies are partnering to use 3D-modelling they say will increase transparency in the country’s carbon market, they announced Monday.
AMERICAS
RGGI Market: RGA prices inch up, while EPA power plant regulations could motivate membership
RGGI Allowances (RGAs) posted modest price gains this week despite a lack of clear market drivers and reduced volume, while traders said newly released draft federal CO2 regulations may incentivise additional states to join the cap-and-trade scheme in the future.
INTERNATIONAL
EU seen pushing clean tech rollout over ‘difficult’ fossil fuel exit in latest talks
The EU is likely to avoid seeking decisive discussions on a global fossil fuel phase-out during upcoming international events, instead focusing on forging partnerships to spur the deployment of clean technologies.
BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)
Canada launches consultation on 2030 biodiversity strategy
The Canadian government has launched a public consultation on its 2030 biodiversity strategy, asking citizens to provide their thoughts on what must be included in the future plan as it aims to finalise a draft version by the end of the year.
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Carbon Pulse is hiring!
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Job listings this week
- *Sales Trader, Voluntary Carbon Markets, AFS Energy – Amsterdam
- *Structured Carbon Deals Lead, Nature-based Solutions, Maya Climate – Berlin/London
- *Registry Architect, American Carbon Registry – Arlington, VA/Remote (US)
- Manager, Strategy & Regulatory Affairs, Low Carbon Solutions, BP – Chicago/Houston
- Project Manager, Low Carbon Strategy & Regulatory Affairs (Europe), Low Carbon Solutions, BP – London
- Community Manager, Climate Action Data Trust, Singapore
- Junior Carbon Analyst, Ekos Kamahi – Nelson, NZ
- Trader, Carbon Credits, Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH – Essen, Germany
- Carbon Policy Officer, Global Green Growth Institute – Vientiane
- Planting Design Specialist, Taking Root – Vancouver/Remote
*Premium listings
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CONFERENCES
Grow to Zero! – June 26-27, London: Insightful discussions on carbon market evolution? Thought leadership on blended finance for impact? Networking with impact investors and sustainability professionals? Find it all at Gold Standard’s Conference, Grow to Zero! 26-27 June 2023 at Kings Place, London. Tickets and agenda details available here: www.growtozero.co.uk
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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
Are you Syrious? – The UAE has invited Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to the COP28 climate summit it is hosting at the end of the year, possibly placing him in the same venue as Western leaders who have opposed and sanctioned him for years, Reuters reports. The invitation was extended by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, according to reports from a Syrian state news agency then confirmed by the UAE embassy in Damascus on Twitter. Arab states are turning back to Syria after having isolated Assad for over a decade. Last week, the Arab League readmitted Syria and Saudi Arabia invited the country’s president to its summit held in Jeddah, a move over which the US remains sceptical.
Running out – The world’s listed firms are set to exceed their carbon budget – the amount of CO2 emissions that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5C – by as early as Oct. 2026, new research showed on Monday. The expiry date is two months sooner than a previous estimate made in October last year, even though the number of global companies making commitments to combat climate change has risen 8 percentage points to 44% over the period, investment data provider MSCI said in its latest Net-Zero Tracker. It said only 17% of listed firms have set targets ambitious enough that align emissions with the 1.5C target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement, up 10 percentage points compared to last year. (Reuters)
EMEA
Bad ads – Adverts that claim products are carbon neutral using offsets are to be banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog unless companies can prove they really work, the Guardian reports. Amid growing concern that firms are misleading consumers about the environmental impact of their products, the country’s advertising standards authority (ASA) is to begin stricter enforcement around the use of terms such as “carbon neutral”, “net zero” and “nature positive” as part of a greenwashing crackdown later this year after a six-month review. Under the plans, the ASA will take action against firms that tell consumers they can buy their products without making global heating or nature loss worse by virtue of purchasing offsets – unless they can demonstrate they are effective. The move follows recent enforcement by the ASA against airlines Lufthansa and Etihad about green claims. The move away from such claims seems to be part of a wider trend, as Carbon Pulse has reported, of bodies and also companies moving away from labels such as “carbon neutral”, with a rising number opting for “climate contributions” terminology instead.
Own goal – South Africa is ahead of its target for cutting GHGs, Bloomberg reports, but this is more due to blackouts and malfunctioning infrastructure. Emissions are already falling even though its NDC, a target adopted by the cabinet in 2021, only forecast a decline from 2025. Regular breakdowns of the coal-fired power plants that supply more than 80% of South Africa’s electricity mean that less CO2 is being pumped into the atmosphere and daily rotational cuts are further limiting output from factories. South Africa now aims to reduce its emissions to between 350-420 MtCO2e by 2030, more ambitious than its prior target set in 2015 of emitting between 398-614 Mt by that date. The 2021 goal was key to South Africa securing pledges of $8.5 bln in climate finance from some of the world’s richest nations as part of its JETP agreement signed at COP26 in Glasgow. Separately, Crispian Olver, executive director of the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) – South Africa’s top climate policy body, on Monday suggested the government could delay retiring its ageing coal-fired power plants to address electricity shortages, adding a power crisis had put the country on track to meet its climate goals anyway. South Africa’s governing African National Congress has recommended that state power utility Eskom delay the decommissioning of its ageing coal-fired power stations to help minimise rolling electricity outages.
Greens sink – The governing Social Democrats (SPD) have emerged as the clear winner of the German state election in Bremen, while the Green Party suffered its worst result in the city state in almost 25 years. The SPD received 29.9% of the votes, followed by the conservative Christian Democrats with 25.7%, and the Greens as a distant third with 11.7%, according to preliminary results published by public broadcaster NDR. While the SPD was able to improve its result compared to the previous election in 2019 by almost 5 percentage points, the CDU lost 1 point, and the Green Party 5.7 points. The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), which together with the SPD and the Greens form the federal government coalition, received 5.2%, meaning it narrowly passed the 5-percent threshold needed to enter into the state’s parliament. The regional elections are considered a litmus test for the central government in the wake of the energy crisis and war in Ukraine. (Clean Energy Wire)
Headwinds – The UK’s push to reach net zero emissions in its power system is being undermined by the long wait time for new projects to connect to the electric grid, the head of Britain’s energy regulator warns. In a speech to the energy industry on Tuesday, Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley will pledge to reform the planning system that has many developers waiting years to connect new projects. Without a quicker pace, the UK’s goal of a decarbonised grid by 2035 will likely be impossible to achieve. “We can’t scale up the grid capacity needed by 2035 without much bolder intervention to get new power on the grid as quickly as possible,” Brearley said. “It is meaningless to dub the North Sea as the ‘Saudi Arabia of Wind’ if offshore farms can’t be integrated into the energy network.” Connection delays are also set to make it harder for the UK to reach its goal to have 50 gigawatts of offshore wind operating by 2030, more than triple today’s amount. (Bloomberg)
Nuke meet – France will host a meeting of ministers from 16 pro-nuclear European states on Tuesday aimed at coordinating expansion of atomic power and urging the EU to recognise its role in meeting climate goals for 2050, documents seen by Reuters showed. The meeting in Paris will include EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and representatives from 14 EU countries including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus Italy as an observer and the United Kingdom as a non-EU invitee. A draft of the post-meeting statement seen by Reuters said the countries would encourage the commissioner to integrate nuclear energy into the EU’s energy policy by recognizing nuclear alongside other green energy technologies in EU decarbonisation goals. They also called for the publication of an EU communication on small modular reactors. The statement, which could still change before it is adopted on Tuesday, said participants planned to boost EU nuclear capacity to 150 gigawatts by 2050 from 100GW today by building 30 to 45 new reactors, both small- and large-scale. Strengthening the supply chain and reducing dependence on Russia is also listed as a goal for coordination.
ASIA PACIFIC
Carpooling carbon — A new report by Australia’s oil and gas lobby (APPEA) has revealed how net zero zones could be created across Australia to bring together energy producers, emissions reduction technologies, manufacturing, and industry to boost the net zero economy transformation, Upstream Online reports. APPEA chief Samantha McCulloch said net zero zones would help Australia accelerate to net zero, saying they were like “carpooling carbon emissions”. The report identified nine net zero zones – based around existing resources, industrial and manufacturing regions — could be established with shared infrastructure for natural gas, renewables, CCUS technology and low-carbon hydrogen production. The report found that the zones could cover 79% of the 215 facilities captured by the federal government’s Safeguard Mechanism and 92% of their greenhouse gas emissions. APPEA said it would use the review’s analysis as a foundation for discussions and engagement with governments, industry and stakeholders across the regions.
AMERICAS
Guidance glimpse – The US Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued a notice of intent that offers a first glimpse at how the IRS will determine which renewable energy projects qualify for the 10% domestic content tax credit rider created by the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA contains two tiers of domestic content requirements – one for steel and iron components and one for manufactured products. Friday’s notice begins to define how individual project components will fall into each of the two categories. Industry groups generally praised the direction outlined in the initial guidance, but Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden said he’ll seek to increase domestic content to boost US manufacturing. (Utility Dive)
One down, one to go – The Alaska Senate has unanimously passed Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s bill to advance a carbon market in Alaska. SB 48, if passed by the House, would allow his administration to participate in the voluntary carbon market. SB 48 and its companion bill HB 49 establish a statewide carbon offset programme through forest sequestration within the Department of Natural Resources. The proposed carbon offset program has the potential to generate additional revenue for the State of Alaska through biologic carbon storage projects that can offset a portion of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. The bill seeks to grant DNR the ability to establish a carbon offset programme and enable offset projects on state lands that are not going to be used of forestry anyway. Current statutes do not allow for carbon offset projects. The programme will allow private parties to lease state land to undertake carbon offset programs and allow the state, through DNR, to implement its own offset projects, the governor’s office said. (Must Read Alaska)
Next gen SAF – Summit Agricultural Group, a private farm network, announced Monday the creation of Summit Next Gen, a facility to be based the US Gulf Coast region that is estimated to produce over 250 mln gallons/yr (946 mln L) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from ethanol using manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell’s Ethanol to Jet (ETJ) process technology. The project, the world’s largest ETJ facility, is expected to be operational in 2025 and has selected engineering consultants Burns & McDonnell to collaborate with Honeywell in development of the platform, the press release noted. SAF is nearly identical to petroleum-based jet fuel sources and is currently approved at blend rates up to 50% by technical standards body ASTM International.
Captured in Canada – A demonstration carbon capture plant in Richmond, British Columbia will begin turning CO2 into synthetic hydrocarbons, according to a press release on Monday. Carbon capture firm Svante first installed its experimental plant at cement maker Lafarge Canada’s operations in 2019, capturing one tonne of CO2 per day. The operations now plan on using that captured carbon to make 1.5 barrels of synthetic hydrocarbons per day. The conversion uses technology from New York-based Dimension Energy, which has entered into an agreement with the two companies, the press release said.
AND FINALLY…
The fusty crab – A recent study published in journal Global Change Biology has found that ocean acidification is affecting crabs’ sense of smell as neurons responsible for sensing odours shrink, which results in reduced ability to find food using olfactory-related cues, Salon magazine reported. The British Columbia west coast Dungeness crabs’ lower olfactory nerve sensitivities to find food could impact their population numbers and in turn affect the crab fishery industry worth about $250 mln annually, one of the study’s authors said, in addition to wider implications on the broader fishing industry.
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