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TOP STORY

RGGI emissions continue slide in Q2, as Mid-Atlantic states boost cuts

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic US RGGI power sector cap-and-trade system saw CO2 emissions decline once again during the second quarter due to sizable abatement at facilities in Maryland and New York, programme data showed Tuesday.

EMEA

Euro Markets: EUAs buckle under heavy selling pressure despite auction cuts as UKAs plunge to record low

European carbon began the month of August on a weak note, belying expectations of a supply cut-driven rally as aggressive selling drove the market to a seven-week low, while front-December UK Allowance futures dropped to the lowest price on record as the outlook for British demand continued to worsen.

Listed companies to face new EU climate disclosure reporting rules from next year

The European Commission has adopted rules that will eventually require all listed companies operating in the EU to disclose their impact on the environment and how the climate affects their operations.

Uniper EU fossil generation drops 22% in H1, plans billions in green investments

German utility Uniper’s EU ETS-covered power production fell by over one fifth in the first six months of 2023 compared to 2022, as it announced plans to triple its green investments in the coming years, in quarterly results published Tuesday.

Bulgarian court defers anti-pollution decision to enable coal power plant to keep running

Bulgaria’s supreme court deferred a decision on Tuesday that could have shut down one of the biggest coal power plants in the EU ETS, according to green groups frustrated that their long-running air pollution battle is now set to continue.

South Africa proposes to extend timeline for use of older carbon credits against carbon tax

A pool of older carbon credits will have their eligibility extended for application under the South African carbon tax, according to a draft amendment released this week in a move that could boost supply in the domestic-only market that has seen offset use fall away over the past year.

VOLUNTARY

INTERVIEW: Voluntary and compliance markets to converge as carbon pricing becomes mainstream, says exchange

The founders of a carbon exchange are counting on an upswell of compliance carbon pricing to drive demand for carbon credits in the coming years, with the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) expected to speed a global expansion and ratcheting up of carbon pricing schemes and the eventual convergence of the voluntary and compliance markets.

Air carrier ANA inks carbon removal credit offtake with Texas direct air capture project

Japan-based airline ANA on Tuesday announced it will purchase tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon removals from a direct air capture project in the Lone Star State.

US forest carbon companies launch initiative to broaden non-industrial landowner participation in voluntary market

Two US forest carbon firms on Tuesday announced they will collaborate to provide smaller, non-industrial landowners across 13 Southeastern states the opportunity to participate in voluntary offset markets.

US agriculture offsets firm adds legumes to cover crop mix

A US-based agricultural carbon offset firm has expanded its offerings to include legumes in its cover crop mix.

Climate tech company raises $10 mln in Series A funding round

A carbon project developer tech service company has raised $10 mln in a Series A funding round, which will go towards expanding its global partnerships and project pipeline, it announced Tuesday.

UK carbon-negative construction materials firm raises £2 mln in extra funding

A UK-based carbon-negative construction materials firm has raised £2 million in additional funding.

Director leaves Climate Impact Partners a year into role

A director at voluntary carbon market experts Climate Impact Partners has parted ways with the firm just a year into the role.

AMERICAS

Second largest credit holder grows share of California LCFS surplus bank by end-Q1

The top two California Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit holders increased their share of the programme’s surplus credit bank over the six months ended in March, with the number two player’s holdings expanding the most, according to government data filed Monday.

Alberta TIER credit prices continue recent stagnation through July

Spot carbon credit prices under the Alberta Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction programme ticked up slightly in July, but stayed well within a months-long range amid summer trading doldrums, according to a report published Tuesday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Seagrass a missing link in Indonesia’s emissions reduction potential, research says

Stepping up efforts to protect and restore seagrass in Indonesia, as well as counting it in its climate change monitoring and reporting frameworks, could drastically mitigate the country’s CO2 emissions, according to new research.

Japanese power company launches J-Credit generation services for solar power operators

A power company in Japan has introduced a self-consignment service for businesses to generate domestically issued J-Credits from solar projects, the first of its kind in the country, aiming to streamline the credit creation process.

INTERNATIONAL

Nordic nations top MIT’s annual ranking for progress towards a low-carbon future

Nordic nations dominate the top of a green technology index produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Review published on Tuesday and ranking 76 nations and territories on their progress toward a sustainable and low-carbon future.

BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)

UK opens consultation on private investment for nature recovery, greenwashing risks

British lawmakers have opened a consultation to scrutinise whether the UK government’s policies to promote natural capital and investment in biodiversity protection are adequate, focusing on greenwashing risks as well as how best to scale private finance to achieve the goals of imminent biodiversity net gain legislation.

Ocean impact fund raises funding target after latest investment, bets on seabed harvesting firm

A Luxembourg-based ocean fund has increased its funding target after attracting €30 million from an insurance company, while investing in a Norwegian tech firm specialising in harvesting seafood from the seabed without harming ecosystems.

French corporates call for government to make nature restoration a core part of planning laws

A collective of more than 150 companies and associations has called on the French government to make the regeneration of nature the focal point of its laws regarding development, in a column in Le Monde published Tuesday.

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CONFERENCES

North America Climate Summit – Sep. 19-21, New York City: The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) looks forward to welcoming delegates to our flagship North America Climate Summit (NACS) 2023, an official accredited event of New York Climate Week 2023 and the UN General Assembly 2023. The Summit is the ideal forum to take stock of the world’s evolving net zero landscape and clean growth opportunities, and a zoom into North America. Hear from policymakers, business leaders and innovators who are leading the pack in building, scaling and collaborating on carbon pricing and markets for net zero. Register here

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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

Still a lot of money – BP’s second-quarter profit slumped 70% from a year earlier to $2.6 bln, missing forecasts, as refining margins and oil trading income fell, but still allowing the energy giant to boost its dividend by 10%, Reuters reports. Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies have also reported sharp drops in quarterly earnings, due to a drop in energy prices from highs hit following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year and a half ago.

Amazon guarantees – Brazil will push the EU for better trading terms in return for offering environmental guarantees over protection of the Amazon rainforest, said a diplomat with knowledge of the EU-Mercosur trade deal negotiations, as reported by Climate Home News. EU negotiators included a “side letter” this year to the trade deal originally struck in 2019, adding environmental guarantees to the original accord in order to prevent against a relapse of environmental protection in the Amazon. The new Brazilian government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, which has made bold pledges to environmental protection, has taken its time to come up with a response. South American trade bloc Mercosur is expected to prepare its counterproposal this week before meeting with EU negotiators in August in the hopes of closing the accord by the end of the year. Brazil diplomats have complained that the new rules go beyond the Paris climate agreement.

EMEA

Common understanding – The European Commission has set important framework conditions for planned German state support to build and operate about 24 GW hydrogen power plants and fossil gas units, which will later be converted to hydrogen, the economy ministry said. The ministry and Commission have worked out a “common understanding” for support to build such gas-fired power plants, which the government considers a necessary supplement to intermittent renewables to secure the electricity supply. (Clean Energy Wire)

Climate pricing – Linking the pricing of products to their climate impact is the idea behind a week-long experiment at a leading discount supermarket in Germany, reports the Guardian. The experiment will see all 2,150 branches of the Penny chain increase the prices of a selection of products, mainly dairy and meat, in relation to their effect on soil, climate, water use and health. The campaign has seen the price of wiener sausages rise from €3.19 to €6.01, mozzarella go up by 74% to €1.55, and fruit yoghurt increase by 31% from €1.19 to €1.56. The experiment is being led in partnership with academics from the Nuremberg Institute of Technology and the University of Greifswald and is intended to help raise consumer awareness of the true environmental impact of certain foods. Excess proceeds made from the sales will be donated to charity Zukunftsbauer or Future Farmer, which supports family-run farms in Alpine regions, many of which are struggling amid low returns.

French resilience – France has submitted a second request to the European Commission for approval for a payment of over €10 bln under the recovery and resilience plan, as part of the NextGenerationEU fund set up for member states recovery following the pandemic. The funding will go to investments like renovating buildings to improve their energy performance and retraining or upskilling the workforce. The entire French recovery and resilience plan consists of 20 reforms and 71 investments that will be supported by €39.4 bln in grants, some 46% of which will support climate objectives and 21% will foster the digital transition.

ASIA PACIFIC

Serious threat – UN scientific advisors have recommended the Great Barrier Reef not be placed on a list of world heritage sites in danger, but stressed coral reef system remains under ‘serious threat’ from global heating and water pollution, the Guardian reports. UNESCO said in a report that the Australian government had taken positive steps to protect the reef since a UN monitoring mission visited Queensland in March last year. But UNESCO has essentially put Australia on notice, recommending the government provide a progress report in February, before the reef is reconsidered to be put on the ‘in danger’ list again in 2024. The Australian government said the report was confirmation it was acting on climate change.

Better predictions – Japan’s Chubu Electric Power has introduced the use of distribution future energy scenarios (DFES) in its power systems through the collaboration with the Mitsubishi Research Institute, in a bid to better formulate plans for power transmission and distribution facilities that support carbon neutrality, according to a statement released this week. The Japanese power company will use the newly developed DFES to improve demand forecasting based on the characteristics of each region and utilise distributed energy resources, such as solar and battery storage, it said.

Nuclear expansion – China has given the green light to several expansion projects at three existing nuclear plants amid rising concerns over energy security, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the State Council. Six new power generation units have been approved to expand the capacity of existing nuclear facilities in provinces including Shandong, Fujian, and Liaoning, with a total investment of around 120 bln yuan ($16.74 bln), according to Chinese-language media outlet The Paper.

Public call – South Korea’s environment ministry has issued a public call to encourage more companies to participate in the ‘Green Industry Alliance,’ as part of the government’s support for overseas expansion of the domestic green industry, according to an official notice published Tuesday. The ministry plans to hold an alliance meeting around mid-August and operate specific meetings in the second half of the year to develop strategies tailored to each company, it said. More than 30 participants, including engineering firms and financial institutions, have joined the alliance.

AMERICAS

Utility opposition – Investor-owned utility lobby group Edison Electric Institute (EEI) will oppose the US EPA’s plan to mandate large natural gas-fired plants to begin using carbon capture by 2035, or co-fire with 30% hydrogen by 2032, Reuters reported Tuesday. The EEI supplies power to 250 mln Americans, making it the largest group of utilities in the country. Space constraints for carbon capture facilities are among the issues the EEI has with the plan. The group has until Aug. 8 to submit public comment.

A little bit longer – A coal-fired unit at a Texas power station, expected to host a carbon capture project that was shuttered in 2020, will return to service in late August, months later than originally planned, the utility NRG said on Tuesday. Unit 8 at the WA Parish plant in Richmond, Texas closed after a fire in May 2022. NRG brought back the 600-MW unit for several days last week in test mode and now expects it to return in late August after originally planning to restart it in late June. The coal unit had hosted the $1 bln Petra Nova CCS plant, which sent the CO2 gas about 80 miles (130 km) by pipeline where it was pumped into an aging oilfield to boost output. NRG shut Petra Nova on May 1, 2020, citing a plunge in oil prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. JX Nippon, a Japanese energy company, is now the sole owner of Petra Nova after buying NRG’s share last year. JX Nippon has said previously that the CCS plant will start up once Unit 8 resumes service. (Reuters)

Green gas – Renewable fuel firm Verde Clean Fuels is entering an agreement with a Brookfield Renewable-affiliated carbon capture outfit, Carbon TerraVault, according to press release on Tuesday. Brookfield and the California Resources Corporation run Carbon TerraVault as a partnership, and Verde will build a renewable gasoline facility on California Resources Corporation’s land under the agreement. As much as 100,000 tCO2 is expected to get captured at Verde’s facility every year, producing 21,000 gal (79,493 litres) of renewable gasoline per day.

VOLUNTARY

Loomis left – $310 bln Natixis affiliate Loomis Sayles has become the latest asset manager to distance itself from ESG-related investment practices as it leaves the Climate Action 100+ initiative “as a result of our routine evaluations to ensure that all our industry commitments continue to be aligned with the firm’s ESG philosophy” a company spokesperson said. The departure from the pro-ESG initiative comes about six months after Vanguard left a similar group, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, citing ‘confusion’ and left amid a time of increasing scrutiny and criticism of ESG from US Republican politicians. (CityWire)

Voluminous venture – Energy and transportation firm US Venture has committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2024 using carbon credits that meet CORSIA and CME Group’s Global Emissions Offset criteria, as well as RECs, according to the company’s sustainability report released Tuesday. Carbon neutrality for the company will apply to Scope 1 and 2 emissions during Financial Year 2023, and it will purchase carbon credits and other environmental products by the end of the following year. US Venture’s Scope 1-2 emissions totalled 77,100 tonnes in FY 2022, though it did not report Scope 3 output from the products it sells.

INVESTMENT

Millions for methane – Methane detection startup SensorUp has raised C$12 mln ($9 mln) in a Series B fundraise round, led by Climate Investment and with participation from BC-based Evok Innovations. The new funds are intended to accelerate the development and sales of SensorUp’s gas emissions management solution. The Calgary-based company, founded in 2012, helps oil and gas companies to be compliant with international standards around methane through its data-integration platform for methane leak detection and repair, measurement reconciliation, reporting, and verification of methane emissions. Climate Investment was founded by OGCI, an organisation of energy and oil and gas CEOs.

AND FINALLY…

Space sunshade – Using a huge sunshade to lower the intensity of sunlight reaching the earth, paired with an asteroid acting as a counterweight to balance gravitational forces, has been proposed as a method to counteract climate change by an astronomer from the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. The calculations were done with the goal of curtailing solar radiation by 1.7%, the amount scientists believe is necessary to avert ‘disastrous’ global temperature increases. The researchers theorised that a tethered counterbalance facing the sun could minimise the weight of the shield to around 3.5 Mt, which is almost 100 times lighter than former estimates of an untethered shield. (Space Daily)

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