Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here

TOP STORY

Asset managers far off track from meeting 2050 net zero commitments with US performing the worst -report

US asset managers’ climate ambition appears to have decreased since 2021, coinciding with a recent ‘anti-ESG’ trend in some parts of the country, although globally, firms are also far from being aligned to the Paris Agreement, a think-tank has revealed in its latest report.

EMEA

Euro Markets: EUAs snap 4-day losing streak as bulls and bears battle in narrow range, while UKAs hit new low

European carbon rallied on Thursday morning and held on to most of the gains, ending a run of four consecutive declines as aggressive early buying drove prices up by as much as 2.9% before bears held the line, while UK carbon prices fell to a new record low in thin trading.

EU carbon analyst leaves for role at oil and gas major

A EU and UK carbon analyst will leave their role at an energy consultancy at the end of the week for a new position at a multinational oil and gas firm, they told Carbon Pulse on Thursday.\

AMERICAS

WCI Market: CCAs recoil after record-setting rally, WCAs inch higher again

California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) experienced a rollercoaster ride in recent days as prices surged on potential cap-and-trade budget cuts and subsequently unwound on profit-taking and auction positioning, while Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) values once again climbed ahead of the programme’s permit reserve sale next week.

New York cap-and-invest success hinges on gas transition framework, EJ advocate says

The equitable and successful implementation of New York’s forthcoming cap-and-invest programme also hinges on the state adhering to its climate plan framework to transition off gas and thereafter retire fossil fuel plants, an environmental justice (EJ) advocate said Thursday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia’s proposed coal Safeguard baseline settings to have little impact on ACCU demand -analysis

The Australian government has released draft changes to the treatment of coal mines under the Safeguard Mechanism, however analysis estimates it will only have a marginal impact on future Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) demand.

China continues to add massive coal power capacity in H1 2023 -research

China’s regional governments approved more than 50 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power during the first half of this year, showing no sign of a slowdown in coal-based capacity expansion amid renewed worries over the country’s ability to tackle climate change, analysts have found.

Japan assigns three companies to conduct study on overseas CCS value chain

The government of Japan has commissioned three companies to jointly conduct a feasibility study on the establishment of an overseas carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain as part of the country’s broad decarbonisation strategy, which includes awarding carbon credits for domestic and international CCS projects.

VOLUNTARY

Canada-based VER investor sees Q2 income skyrocket after monetising first credit batch

A Toronto-headquartered voluntary carbon financier saw its net income turn from red to the black during the second quarter after receiving its first credit issuance and subsequently monetising those units, the company announced Wednesday.

Californian CO2-converting company raises $125 mln in new funding

A California-based company that uses microorganisms to transform greenhouse gases into sustainable materials that can be used in everyday products has raised $125 million from investors.

INTERNATIONAL

Article 6 body opens another consultation on methodological guidance

The body responsible for shaping the UN carbon market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement has opened another consultation on the methodological guidance under which projects may receive credits, focusing on baseline, additionality, and leakage assessment requirements.

SHIPPING

Major companies lagging in efforts to decarbonise shipping industry -report

Some of the world’s largest corporate retailers and carriers need to take responsibility for their emissions and step up to tackle climate change, as current efforts are significantly lacking in several areas, an environmental organisation alliance said in a report published Thursday.

BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)

Biodiversity Pulse Weekly: Thursday August 3, 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).

ICYM

UKA & EUA POLL: Analysts slash UKA forecasts while leaving outlook for EUAs unchanged

Analysts have left their short-term forecasts for EU carbon prices more or less unchanged despite a large drop in carbon-intensive power generation and sluggish demand from industrials, while again raising their longer-term outlooks and significantly slashing their expectations for UK carbon costs.

—————————————————

Premium job listings

• Carbon Development Director, Impact Carbon – Remote/Flexible Location
• Compliance Officer, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• Land Use Methodology Development Manager, GreenCollar Group – Australia/US
• 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

Or click here to see all listings

—————————————————

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

—————————————————

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

British boost – Britain has bolstered the amount available in its latest renewable energy auction round by £22 mln ($28 mln) taking the total to £227 mln, the UK government announced on Thursday, Reuters reports. The country’s  contract-for-difference (CfD) scheme, which was launched in 2014, offers renewable power developers a guaranteed price for their electricity. The funding boost announced on Thursday is for the fifth CfD auction, which is currently open for applicants, and is intended to send a strong signal to industry to invest. The funding move follows yesterday’s meeting by Energy Secretary Grant Shapps with industry leaders to discuss investment in new energy projects to help boost the country’s energy security and meet its net zero emissions by 2050 climate goal.

Gloomy outlook – Investors are increasing bets Europe will sink into a painful economic downturn, in growing contrast to the conviction in financial markets that the US is headed for a soft landing, the FT reports. The euro has fallen against the dollar over the past two weeks, while the surprise ascent of European shares this year has stalled, and German government bonds — investors’ preferred retreat in times of stress — are gaining in price. The shifts show growing confidence among fund managers that economic indicators in the eurozone are weakening in the face of higher borrowing costs, while the US has demonstrated resilience despite the most restrictive interest rate environment in 22 years.

Class of ’24 – Remove, a European accelerator for CO2 removal (CDR) startups, has commenced applications for its new cohort. Applications will be accepted until Sep. 14. The programme offers €50,000 in non-dilutive funding and a nine-month structured support split into two phases: foundations (10 weeks) and leap (6 months). These phases offer specialised coaching, access to an expert network of potential buyers and funders, insights into carbon markets, buyer perspectives, MRV issues, and assistance in overcoming specific business challenges. Founding partners include The Grantham Foundation, Carbon Removal Partners, The DOEN Foundation, and the Sustainability in Business Lab – ETHZ. Read about Remove’s last cohort here.

Stronger together – EU member states are being called upon to join the ‘H2 Global’ initiative in a bid to strengthen the bloc’s hydrogen purchasing power. A joint letter has been issued by Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck and the European Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson urging member states to get involved in the initiative, set up by Germany to trigger a ramp-up of the green hydrogen market.  The idea is to bundle the buying power of EU states to procure the fuel on the world market, whereby green hydrogen or derivatives are purchased abroad through auctions from the bidder asking for the lowest price, and resold in Europe to the highest bidder, also via auctions. Government funds will be used to compensate for the difference between the purchase price of the hydrogen and the domestic sales price. (Clean Energy Wire)

Deceitful Drax – UK power generator Drax Group has returned minimal cash to bill payers since electricity prices skyrocketed last year and its Unit 1 generator has comfortably made money without subsidies, a point at which its earnings should have been capped and Drax should have returned any extra cash to bill payers under the CfD (Contracts for Difference) scheme. Instead, as household energy bills began more than doubling, the company slashed production at Unit 1, idling the generator for weeks at a time — and used others that weren’t required to cap their earnings. Thereby allowing Drax to avoid sending consumers an estimated £639 mln as of July, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. Meanwhile, the company sold some of its biomass pellets at high prices on the open market. UK energy secretaries remarked that Drax appeared to have been “gaming the contract” and been violating the spirit of its 2014 subsidy agreement by prioritising profits over consumer interests. (Bloomberg News) 

France’s smarter batteries – The European Commission approved a €1.5 bln French measure to support Prologium Technologies in researching and developing a new generation of batteries for electric vehicles. The new type of battery, the solid-state batteries (SSB) for electric vehicles, uses solid instead of liquid electrolyte to develop batteries that have a higher energy density and are safer for consumers than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Better together – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed to synchronise their electricity grids with the European continental grid in early 2025 and disconnect from Russia and Belarus, the European Commission’s press service announced today. The three Prime Ministers signed a joint declaration on Thursday morning.

ASIA PACIFIC

Opening the door – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, cleared the contentious Forest Conservation (Amendment) bill 2023 on Wednesday, opening the door for development and exploitation of vast tracts of forest lands that are not recorded as such in government records and potentially endangering sensitive ecosystems in the Northeast that fall under a national security exemption. With this, the bill that seeks to overhaul India’s forest management with far-reaching changes, including in the definition of what constitutes a forest, has been approved by parliament. Hundreds of legal and environmental experts have flagged potentially damaging clauses in the bill that might endanger as much as 25% of India’s forest cover. (Hindustan Times)

Weeding out – Indonesia’s smallholder union have established a foundation to help farmers comply with new regulations that aim to weed deforestation out of global supply chains, Eco-Business reports. The Farmers For Forest Protection Foundation  was developed to support forest conservation and responsible deforestation-free practices that improve the welfare of smallholder farmers and rural communities. Smallholders have expressed concern that they will be unable to meet the requirements of the newly introduced EU deforestation regulation, which requires farmers to provide evidence that their crop was grown without cutting forests. The foundation will provide both monetary and non-monetary support to farmers, including how to follow deforestation-free and sustainable best practices.

Storage solution – Energy storage tech company MGA Thermal has secured A$8.25 mln in funding to help it scale its long-duration energy storage solution, the company said in an announcement. MGA said the fundraising attracted new investors including Pollination Group and Understorey Ventures, alongside existing investors such as New Zealand’s Climate Venture Capital Fund.  The company produces MGA Thermal Blocks that can stacked into large assemblies within thermal energy systems that can store millions of kilowatt hours of energy.  A stack of 3,700 blocks in the company’s demonstration unit, about the size of a shipping container, stores enough energy to power more than 135 homes for 24 hours. The company said its latest funding would help it gear up for commercial scale by helping it complete its on-site production line. The company estimates the production line will be able to produce 1,000 blocks per day.

AMERICAS

Renewable reticence – Alberta is temporarily halting approvals for new renewable power projects over one MW while it reviews what happens to green energy materials after their life cycle, how clean energy will affect the power grid, and where the projects are allowed to operate, The Globe and Mail reported Thursday. The oil-rich province has the fastest growing renewable capacity in the country in part because of its deregulated energy market. The United Conservative Party provincial government has suggested making renewable energy projects pay security bonds to ensure proper clean up of their operations. Approximately 15 renewable energy projects will get put on pause due to the move.

Michigan mitigation money – Michigan state’s budget for fiscal year 2024 includes $14 mln towards implementation of the state’s plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 as part of the MI Healthy Climate Plan. The plan released last April laid out a pathway towards carbon neutrality by mid-century and was developed with input from residents, environmental justice advocates, business, academia, and government. Reducing emissions by 52% from 2005 levels is the plan’s interim 2030 target. Michigan is one of 14 US states with economy-wide emissions reduction goals. (Michigan Advance)

REC rip-off – A group of eight Maryland environmental leaders have sent a letter to five members of the state’s public utility regulator Public Service Commission (PSC) requesting greater transparency in criteria for distributing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) as part of the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The eight groups have asked the PSC to include critical information that was previously omitted in its next annual report, due late in the year, including 1) the price of RECs by fuel source, so rate payers could estimate the result of dollars invested in wind, incineration, and biomass fuel sources; 2) the age of facilities selling RECs to determine whether the RPS was spurring development of new renewable energy or simply subsidising older facilities that predate the RPS; and 3) names of facilities selling RECs in Maryland and the number of RECs, so ratepayers could ascertain which companies were profiting from the programme. The group also asked commissioners to conduct compliance checks to ensure RECs sold in Maryland were generated by facilities that met eligibility standards, especially those standards mandated for waste-to-energy facilities – which non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) considered a “dirty energy rip-off”. (Maryland Matters)

VOLUNTARY

Congo collection – The public-private LEAF Coalition has accepted a proposal from the Republic of Congo to supply it with carbon credits from a jurisdictional programming covering five departments. The nation joins 25 other successful proposals from national and subnational governments and is the eighth successful African proposal received to date. The approval means Congo can now progress towards signing a Letter of Intent via LEAF’s coordinator Emergent and eventually towards a purchase agreement. Read Carbon Pulse’s reporting on LEAF activities.

AND FINALLY…

K-pop vs Coal – A beach synonymous with South Korean pop music, known as ‘K-pop’, due to the site hosting a famous photo shoot, has become a flashpoint for concerns over the country’s unwavering coal addition, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Protest group Kpop4planet is objecting online to the construction of a new coal-fired plant in nearby Samcheok, Gangwon province, after launching its ‘Save the Butter Beach’ campaign in 2021 with nonprofit Korea Beyond Coal. The coal plant near Butter Beach is expected to release more than 13 mln tons of GHG emissions every year, according to climate activists, and to cost 4.9 trillion won ($3.8 bln). South Korea’s government has recently scaled down ambitions for renewable energy and is instead ramping up its coal-fired power capacity. Coal is expected to account for about 20% of South Korea’s power generation by the end of the decade, retaining a crucial role in the nation’s energy mix.

Got a tip?  How about some feedback?  Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com