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TOP STORY

EU climate chief Timmermans to leave Commission to run in Dutch elections

EU climate chief Frans Timmermans will leave the European Commission in mid-August to pursue a leadership bid of a new Greens-Socialist democrats party alliance in the Netherlands, he told Dutch public broadcaster NOS in in an interview Thursday morning.

VOLUNTARY

Developer plans largest ever forest project in the Americas, won’t use REDD+

A Canadian carbon credit streaming company announced an 8.3 million hectare avoided deforestation project in Bolivia as part of a partnership with a private equity firm on Thursday, using a methodology the company claims will better meet the Core Carbon Principles than REDD+.

Xpansiv to host new ecosystem-focused voluntary carbon standard

Xpansiv will host a new carbon standard that specialises in the certification of small-scale forestry and nature restoration projects, it announced in a release Thursday.

Gold Standard awards first finance programme approval to impact fund

The first impact fund to gain approval under Gold Standard’s financier-focused programme marks a key threshold in efforts to assure effective impact investing for sustainable development, the certifier said on Thursday.

‘Greenhushing’ claims look unfounded as carbon credit disclosures hold, say analysts

Fears about a rise in ‘greenhushing’ are unfounded with the downturn in carbon credits retirements  largely pinned on just two airlines dropping out of the voluntary market to meet their climate targets, a webinar heard on Thursday.

Carbon rating agency secures $3.75 mln in funding as investor cash continues to pour into sector

A start-up carbon credit rating agency has secured $3.75 million in seed funding after a year of operating amid growing investor appetite in this fast growing sector of the voluntary market.

INTERNATIONAL

US, China to work on climate talks regularly ahead of COP28 -Kerry

US climate envoy John Kerry said Wednesday that Washington and Beijing will stick to their global commitment and hold climate meetings on a regular basis, after three days of talks to revive the dialogue between the world’s two largest carbon emitters.

EMEA

EU approves steel industry aid from Germany and France

The European Commission green-lighted two state measures in France and in Germany to help decarbonise steel production from two major producers, the bloc’s executive announced on Thursday.

Euro Markets: EUAs at four-week high as anticipation of August rally drives market

European carbon prices rose above €90 for the first time in almost four weeks on Thursday as buying pressure steadily boosted the market for a sixth day ahead of the annual August cut in auction volumes, while energy prices reversed early losses to advance for a third successive session.

Vattenfall reports dip in EU fossil-based generation, stops UK offshore wind farm plan

Swedish utility Vattenfall posted a year-on-year drop in EU ETS-covered fossil generation in its H1 2023 results published Thursday, and halted plans to build a new offshore wind farm in British waters

INTERVIEW: Britain needs an economy-wide ‘carbon regulator’ to harmonise future climate policy

The UK government should establish an independent, economy-wide regulator to oversee carbon policy developments and ensure consistency between ETS reforms, carbon leakage, and emissions accounting across sectors, according to a net zero research centre, speaking to Carbon Pulse.

Nature-based solutions could help European cities cut emissions by up to 25% -study

European cities could harness nature-based solutions (NBS) to cut urban carbon emissions by up to 25%, a new study has found.

AMERICAS

WCI Markets: CCAs extend ARB pre-workshop euphoria, WCAs perk up at tail-end of week

Expectations ahead of next week’s WCI cap-and-trade public rulemaking workshop have continued to fuel California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices higher, while Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) picked up at the end of another week of light transaction activity.

Building energy leak-sealer raises $67 mln in Series B fundraise

An Ohio-based climate tech firm that reduces building energy leaks has secured $67 million in a Series B fundraise.

ASIA PACIFIC

New Zealand partners with Fonterra, commits NZ$90 mln to cut coal emissions

The New Zealand government has partnered with the country’s largest dairy cooperative, committing NZ$90 million ($56 mln) in co-funding to Fonterra to cut coal use at six of its dairy factories, which is expected cut manufacturing emissions in half by 2030.

Australian carbon project developer launches pilot cookstove project in Laos

An Australian carbon project aggregator and developer has announced a pilot e-cookstove carbon project to help improve health and environmental issues in Laos, expecting to generate 6 million carbon credits over the next decade.

Japanese startup to create carbon credits in Bangladesh through rice farming projects

A Japanese climate startup will work with a social business development company to create carbon credits through the promotion of a rice farming practice in Bangladesh, eyeing the huge potential of the South Asian country’s agricultural sector, it announced Thursday.

Community aspect remains crucial in MRV even as technology adoption increases -expert

While MRV digitalisation is considered to help enhance visibility into the supply chain of carbon credits, the community aspect should not be ignored given the complexity of existing methods and natural ecosystems, a conference heard Thursday.

BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)

Dove partners with investor-led collective to protect Southeast Asian rainforests

Unilever’s skincare brand Dove has teamed up with the Singapore-based Rimba Collective to protect rainforests across Southeast Asia over the next five years.

CORRECTION – Data startup partners with voluntary carbon certifier to launch biodiversity standard by year-end

Corrects in headline and text that Pivotal and Plan Vivo plan to launch the standard by the end of 2023, rather than issue certificates as stated in the original copy

Biodiversity Pulse Weekly: Thursday July 20, 2023

A weekly summary of our biodiversity news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. All articles in this edition are free to read (no subscription required).

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Premium job listings

• Senior Program Officer, Forest Carbon Innovation Operations, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• Senior Engineer, Oil & Gas Sector with Carbon Market and Upstream Emission Reduction Project Expertise, ICA-Finance – Oslo
• Senior Program Officer, REDD+ Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• Senior carbon/commodities trading analyst, RepuTex Energy – Melbourne
• Manager, Energy and Industrial Innovation, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• Senior Program Officer, Industrial Innovations, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• Senior Program Officer, VCS Methodologies, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)

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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

Time to get real – The real estate sector is seeing a marked shift towards carbon pricing as a pivotal tool for decarbonisation, according to a recent survey by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC. By translating carbon emissions into financial terms, the industry can comprehend and adapt its practices more effectively, the summarising report said. While government-set carbon taxes often fall short of driving significant change, companies are proactively setting higher internal rates, clustering around €90 a tonne in Europe, with New York and Utrecht standing out at $268 and €875 a tonne respectively. However, the report highlights the industry’s oversight of embodied carbon, an area requiring more focus. A study by McKinsey of voluntary carbon pricing by companies in 2019 found that just 4% of real estate firms were using internal carbon pricing, compared to 40% in the energy industry and 29% in financial services, showing that real estate is lagging. Experts advocate for a comprehensive approach, considering all transition risks in property valuations, and emphasize the urgency to standardise and enhance carbon pricing mechanisms globally. (CRE Herald)

First move – Australia green energy and metals company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has made its first major move in the US, committing $24 mln to acquire 100% of the Phoenix Hydrogen Hub (PHH), near its namesake city in Arizona. The first phase of the PHH project is an 80MW electrolyser and liquefaction facility, capable of producing 12,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. The PHH project has further capacity to scale up production to help meet future demand. FFI said its investment in the PHH has the potential to create hundreds of jobs. First production of green hydrogen from the project is expected by the middle of this decade. FFI acquired the PHH from an affiliate of Nikola Corporation, a transportation and energy supply and infrastructure solutions company.

New boss – Corporate climate disclosure organisation CDP has appointed Sherry Madera as its new CEO to succeed co-founder Paul Simpson, who stepped down in June 2022, and interim CEO Jamie Neil. Currently a senior vice president at Mastercard, Madera has experience in business, policymaking, and diplomacy.

EMEA

From elsewhere with love – After the EU sanctioned Russia, Europe shifted its oil imports from Russia to other countries rather than reducing consumption, according to a study by Transport & Environment (T&E). In 2022, Russia supplied 31% of European oil imports, which plummeted to 3% by Mar. 2023. The US became the primary exporter to the EU by the end of 2022, while oil imports from countries like Angola, Brazil, and Iraq saw significant jumps. Despite the recognised need to limit new oil and gas projects to meet the 1.5C target, numerous projects that will significantly exceed carbon budgets are still being planned, T&E said. Moreover, imports of refined oil products from China and India, suspected to originate from Russia, have increased. Europe’s oil consumption has risen 2% since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, primarily driven by the transport sector. T&E suggests that Europe can cut its oil demand by a third by accelerating road transport electrification, implementing speed limits, and reducing air traffic.

Stayin’ alive – Plans by Germany’s economy and climate ministry to lower industry power prices with subsidies should not become reality because this strategy could prevent necessary industry transformation by keeping unviable companies alive, according to the finance ministry’s advisors, as reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt, via Clean Energy Wire. Green economy and climate minister Robert Habeck had proposed to cap the power price for companies in competitive and energy-intensive industries at 6% per kWh until 2030 for about 80% of their demand, a measure estimated to cost the state some €30 bln.

NextGenerationEU – Belgium joined the club of those EU member states that want to add a REPowerEU chapter to their recovery and resilience plans. On Thursday, the country proposed four new reforms, 18 new investments, and seven measures transferred or reinforced compared to the initial plan. These aim to accelerate the development of renewable energies, in particular by streamlining authorisation procedures and shortening the processing of appeals against authorizations. Other measures encourage the energy renovation of buildings, support the installation of heat pumps and solar panels, or aim to decarbonise industry. Two reinforced investments compared to the initial plan concern sustainable mobility. The funds bring the overall amount of the modified plan presented to €5.3 bln. The Commission will now assess the request.

Progress check – The speed of Germany’s onshore wind power expansion is accelerating, but it is still too slow to put the country on track towards its 2030 capacity targets, the German Wind Energy Federation (BWE) and engineering industry association VDMA have said. In the first half of 2023, 331 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 1.6 GW were built. The figure represents 65% of the total expansion in the previous year. The total buildout this year is likely to reach between 2.7 GW and 3.2 GW, the industry groups estimate. BWE and VDMA said the government’s efforts in recent months had helped to further the expansion of wind power but was still not enough to reach the target of up to 10 GW annual additions from 2025. (Clean Energy Wire)

Not so plugged in – Germany’s electricity grids are not yet ready for the projected increase in electricity demand from electric cars and heat pumps, according to the CEO of Munich’s local utility, Florian Bieberbach. German local grids could become overloaded if everyone at once starts to charge their electric car at night. Energy industry association BDEW also said modernising the German distribution grids would be a huge task in the coming years. Renewable energy share in German electricity consumption is set to rise from the current 50% today to 80% by 2030. (Clean Energy Wire)

ASIA PACIFIC

Hydrogen cooperation – Japan’s largest power generation company JERA has signed an MoU with the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), to explore opportunities in the development of green hydrogen projects and derivatives, it announced Thursday. The collaboration will pave the way for the two parties to commence the necessary studies and feasibilities for the potential development of green hydrogen and derivatives projects, JERA said.

AMERICAS

Texas temperatures – Texas regulators have provided little enforcement on natural gas operators for proper winterisation after pipes froze in Feb. 2021 during Winter Storm Uri, preventing residents from heating their homes, an E&E investigation showed Thursday. That storm killed 240 people in Texas. The state Railroad Commission said only 222 of 7,000 natural gas facilities deemed as critical infrastructure were cited for issues. All of those citations were for failing to fill out paperwork by deadline except for 10 infractions. A total of $30,500 have been given out in fines by the Railroad Commission, all for failure to submit paperwork on time.

SHIPPING & AVIATION

Get ready – The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) on Thursday launched the Clean Energy Marine Hubs Initiative (CEM-Hubs) at its meeting in Goa, India, aiming to transform maritime transportation and production hubs for future low-carbon fuels. This partnership, supported by countries like Canada, Norway, and the UAE, as well as organisations such as the International Chamber of Shipping, seeks to prepare the energy maritime sector for the expected surge in low-carbon fuels by 2050. Currently, the infrastructure for transporting these fuels at commercial scale is lacking, with only one ship globally tested to transport liquefied hydrogen. The urgency of the issue led to the rapid adoption of this initiative, which will be highlighted at COP28 in Dubai. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) also back the initiative.

Shipping watch – Oil companies were heavily represented at the recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) talks on how to cut emissions from the shipping sector, according to Climate Home. Ten oil and gas company lobbyists, from companies such as such as Shell, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco, as well as over 50 employees of the shipping industry attended the talks in London that saw delegates representing the 175 member countries of the UN’s IMO that saw the sector adopt “indicative checkpoints” of reducing emissions by at least 20% but striving for 30% by 2030, and by at least 70%, but striving for 80%, by 2040. Countries abandoned the zero emissions target by 2050, with the wording of the final agreement as reaching net-zero “by or around, close to 2050,” followed by whether “national circumstances allow.” Shipping contributes to 3% of the world’s total emissions currently, the equivalent of Germany’s emissions.

Record result – Britain’s EasyJet posted a record pre-tax profit of £203 mln for April to June quarter, above analysts’ forecasts, on the back of an ongoing rebound in summer travel demand and limited disruption despite ongoing strikes. Airlines in Europe are set to report strong earnings this quarter as post-pandemic travel demand continues to drive bookings across the continent at similar levels to 2019, with growth projected to continue into the winter, Reuters reports.

Trains, planes, and carbon emissions – Europe’s cheap flights and pricey train tickets promote dirty forms of transport, campaigners say, with “outrageous” tax breaks encouraging people to heat the planet as they head on holiday, the Guardian reports. Train tickets are double the price of flights for the same routes, on average, according to an analysis from Greenpeace published on Thursday. The campaigners compared tickets on 112 routes on nine different days. To get from London to Barcelona, they found, the cost of taking the train is up to 30 times the cost of flying.

VOLUNTARY

Good prep – British football team Manchester United will offset carbon emissions generated by air travel during its pre-season tour in the US through investment in renewable wind energy. The club has offset 450 tCO2e to cover the necessary air travel by players and staff during the club’s first visit to the country since 2018. The carbon offsets purchased by the club are from The Crow Lake Wind project in South Dakota. The club will also retrospectively compensate for carbon emissions generated from travel during the last domestic season, including flights for European matches and the club’s winter training camp in Spain, by planting 1,250 trees, through a collaboration with Trees4Travel where every tree is also backed up with UN CER renewable energy project carbon credits.

INVESTMENT

Sweet, sweet sewage sludge – AquaGreen, an eco-friendly solutions company from Denmark, has raised DKK 30 mln (€4 mln) in funding from Nordic Alpha Partners and FMG Circular Invest AB. Founded in 2014 and having grown to about 30 employees since its first capital injection in 2021, AquaGreen specialises in converting wet biomasses, like sewage sludge, into resources using a carbon-negative, patented technology. Their HECLA technology transforms sewage sludge into biochar, reducing carbon emissions and reclaiming 80% of the energy from biomasses. With successful installations in Denmark, the company aims for significant international expansion, with estimates suggesting the need for approximately 5,000 HECLA plants in the EU alone. (Silicon Canals)

AND FINALLY…

That’s Mittagsschlaf to you – Public health officers in Germany have proposed to introduce a midday break akin to the Spanish ‘siesta’ to protect workers during the hottest hours of the day, media network RND reported. The Federal Association of Physicians of German Public Health Departments (BVOGD) has suggested that the country should take the approach to work common in southern countries in the summer months: getting up early, being productive in the morning, and taking a siesta around midday. Extreme heat is reducing productivity and concentration levels, which could be countered by shifting more complex tasks to the morning hours and ensuring sufficient ventilation and drinks at the workplace. Relaxing the office dress code could additionally help by allowing people to wear lighter clothes on hot days. The German Trade Union Association (DGB) said employers should generally consider heat risk assessments for their workers, whether in an office, a warehouse, or on a construction site. (Clean Energy Wire)

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