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TOP STORY

Mexico ETS compliance phase delayed into 2024

The Mexican cap-and-trade system will not begin its operational phase until some time next year due to the complex process of establishing final regulations, a government official said Monday.

EMEA

Euro Markets: Carbon rises for a third day to nine-day high as summer holiday season reaches its peak

European carbon prices climbed to their highest in two weeks in relatively thin trading on Monday as trading activity slowed during the peak of the summer break but the market extended its gains for a third day.

UAE firm signs agreement with Zimbabwe for Article 6 carbon project development

The government of Zimbabwe and a Dubai-headquartered project developer have inked a Memorandum of Understanding for investment in emissions mitigation activities in the African country.

Austrian UNESCO world heritage site launches offsetting partnership

The Duerrenstein-Lassingtal Wilderness Area in Lower Austria has announced its first “climate partnership” with a cosmetics and food supplements company, aiming to provide corporates with a means to offset their emissions.

UK government drives to improve business decarbonisation plans

The UK government has launched a website with a free carbon calculator and a suite of new tools to help businesses in the country track and report on their emissions and cut energy bills amid reports of low take up and shoddy attention to decarbonisation targets.

VOLUNTARY

VCM Report: Prices flatline as summer slowdown subdues market activity

Carbon credit prices were little changed over the past week amid a typical summer slowdown that has been heightened by a generally gloomy macro-economic environment in the Global North.

Spanish utility establishes new nature-focused voluntary carbon markets firm

A Spanish energy company announced it has entered into the voluntary carbon market by launching a new company focused on nature-based projects as it targets mitigation upwards of 60 MtCO2e.

Canadian VER investor sees continued net losses, anticipates forthcoming sale of credits

A Toronto-headquartered voluntary carbon credit financier maintained its net loss for the first six months of 2023, in contrast to a robust net income during the same period in 2022, according to quarterly earnings reports published Monday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Australia Market Roundup: Bumper ACCU issuance as nearly 800,000 units generated, hydrogen tech awarded ARENA funding

Australia’s carbon market saw a large uptick of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued Monday as the crediting backlog of human-induced regeneration (HIR) projects continues to wash out.

Southeast Asian gas plans to balloon carbon emissions, report finds

Vietnam’s two largest undeveloped gas fields, Blue Whale and Block B, could add vast emissions to the atmosphere and are incompatible with climate goals, according to a report issued on Friday.

New Zealand fund to prop up more decarbonisation projects

The New Zealand government has awarded NZ$33.3 million in funding to projects across the nation in its latest Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) round.

Australian researchers look for partners to form Nature Positive Economy CRC

A new Australian research group will soon bid for government funding to establish itself as cooperative research centre (CRC) with the aim to support A$2 billion in annual investments in carbon, biodiversity, and natural capital markets.

AMERICAS

RGGI Market: RGAs stagnate as traders await catalysts

RGGI Allowance prices barely budged over the past week as a sympathy trade with California Carbon Allowances vanished, and in the absence of fundamental drivers from weather and regulatory developments.

Canadian developer announces first compliance carbon sale with multinational energy company

A Vancouver-headquartered carbon credit financier on Monday announced a multi-year carbon credit purchase agreement with the Canadian subsidiary of a large energy company, marking the firm’s first foray into developing credits for the country’s various compliance-based environmental markets.

US grants funds to consortium to study viability for CO2 capturing technology in the Pacific Northwest

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $3 million to a consortium of 13 public and private entities for conducting the first phase of a large-scale direct air capture (DAC) hub.

INTERNATIONAL

Singapore, Chile sign Paris carbon credit MoU

Singapore and Chile on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on carbon trading under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, including plans to explore potential collaboration with third countries.

SHIPPING

EU shipping sector’s emissions likely to flat-line in 2024, adding bearish pressure to EUA prices -analysts

Greenhouse gas emissions from the EU’s shipping sector are not likely to reach 2019 levels for the next two years due to lower demand for shipping services as well as the sector’s decarbonisation efforts, analysts predict, exerting additional downward pressure to an already bearish outlook for EUA prices in 2024.

BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)

Plan Vivo opens second consultation on nature crediting methodology

Nature and carbon standard Plan Vivo has launched a second consultation on its ‘PV Nature Methodology’, making significant changes from the first draft based on public feedback, such as introducing a standardised way to collect and analyse data, and amendments to the calculating of percentage change in biodiversity.

UK company wins government backing to kickstart biodiversity credits in Scotland

UK-based CreditNature has won a contract with the Scottish government to develop a biodiversity credit system, in an effort to catalyse the voluntary market in Scotland.

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Job listings this week

• *Senior Program Officer, REDD+ Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis, Verra – Remote (Worldwide)
• *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 Carbon Analyst, Origin – Sydney
• Carbon Compliance Analyst, Origin – Sydney
• Advisor International Carbon Policy & Markets, Carbon Growth Group – Sydney/Melbourne/Hong Kong
• Forester, Domestic Land Use, Ostrom Climate – Remote (Western Canada or Ontario)
• Senior Certificate Sales Manager (Carbon Markets), Agreena – Hybrid (London/Copenhagen/Berlin) or Remote
• Carbon Knowledge & Data, Abatable – London
• Carbon Strategy Advisor, Abatable – London

*Premium listings

Or click here to see all listings

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CONFERENCES

Argus North American Biofuels, LCFS & Carbon Markets Summit – Sep. 11-13, Monterey, CA: Join 600+ key government representatives and industry stakeholders from across the entire biofuels value chain and carbon markets sector for three days of networking and knowledge exchange. Hear from leading policy makers from California, Oregon, Washington, Canada’s ECCC, Alberta, and British Columbia and industry experts from LanzaJet, BMW of North America, Morgan Stanley, Chevron, Southwest, Mercuria, Radicle, Phillips 66 and more. Take advantage of this opportunity to gather the latest policy and market insights and reconnect with industry peers. Learn more here.

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

EMEA

Inflated carbon – The UK government is using a carbon price of nearly £150 per tonne, more than three times the current price, to underpin arguments that new wind and solar projects will be substantially cheaper than new gas-fired generation from 2025, in a paper published by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero last week. UKAs currently trade around £40 per tonne, about half that of EUAs, after the government last month released more carbon allowances and eased reduction targets for polluters. Now, UK industry believes that Westminster is sending mixed messages by using a higher pricing assumption in the document and making changes to the UK ETS, and could be inflating the cost savings associated with renewables projects in several years time when compared to fossil fuel projects. (FT)

Low and steady – The German economy looks set to remain on a low-growth trajectory in the coming months even though challenging factors such as price inflation and supply chain problems appear to be receding, the country’s Economy and Climate Action Ministry (BMWK) has said. After a mild recession during the winter months, the economy was stagnating in the second quarter of 2023, despite higher private spending, the ministry added. While falling energy and resource prices on global markets improved Germany’s terms of trade, companies remained pessimistic regarding their export prospects. Overall, industrial production in the second quarter was 0.6% lower than in the first, mainly driven by a 3.4% decline in energy-intensive production. (Clean Energy Wire)

Carbon injection – Hydrocarbon producer Perenco and partner Carbon Catalyst have been awarded a licence to progress the Poseidon CCS project encompassing the Leman gas fields in the North Sea, following the completion of the North Sea Transition Authority’s first competitive carbon storage licence round, reports Upstream Online. Leman offers a mixture of depleted gas reservoirs and saline aquifers that can be converted to permanently store recovered CO2 and is connected via pipeline to the the UK’s Bacton Terminal, which will receive and process CO2 from various onshore sources. The project is due to come online by 2029 and has the potential to significantly decarbonise Southeast England. Initial CO2 injection rates will be about 1.5 Mt/year, ramping up to about 10 Mt/year by 2030 and peaking at 40 Mt/year by 2040.

ASIA PACIFIC

It’s affordable – NZ Green party co-leader James Shaw is adamant that its new clean power policy to cover the cost of installing solar pv and making energy efficient upgrades is affordable, Radio NZ reports. Shaw said the policy would cost about NZ$682 mln ($406 mln) a year, but most of that would come from the ETS. The party has announced its Clean Power Payment policy, which includes providing NZ$6,000 grants to cover the cost of installing solar panels and making energy efficient upgrades to households, interest-free loans of up to NZ$30,000 to cover the cost of additional zero carbon home upgrades, and tax deductible zero carbon upgrades for rental homes. Shaw noted that NZ will need to produce about 70% more electricity as the country is decarbonised due to EVs, companies switching from coal to electricity usage, and said the more that can be produced locally the less pressure will go on the national electricity grid and infrastructure.

Biodigestion – Mount Row Partners, a Singapore-based investment firm, plans to set up 1,000 MW clean energy generation capacity in India, by installing small projects that can convert waste material into energy across states in phases, requiring investment to the tune of $2 bln. The Singapore-based investment firm is betting big on biodigestion technology and the huge potential for waste-to-energy conversion in India. The idea is to set up small projects of 5-10 MW capacity each, and the first phase starts with Maharashtra where it is investing $150-200 mln building 10 such facilities based on Municipal Solid Waste. Director Geoff Pollard told ETEnergyworld that there is a huge opportunity for this technology in India and that the firm has set an interim goal of setting up around 1 GW capacity including projects of 5-10 MW capacity, which will be around 100-200 projects that they would like to build.

AMERICAS

Setback setbacks — Setback ordinances — local-level regulation enacted by municipalities, which restrict the construction of structures or other features within certain distances of roads or other buildings — could cut US wind resource capacity by 87%, and solar by 38%, according to a study published in Nature Energy. But the most restrictive setback ordinances in place today, if applied to the entire nation, would still grant the US access to more than enough renewable energy resources to meet its decarbonisation goals. (Utility Dive)

With great power… The DOE is proposing a “Responsible Carbon Management Initiative” to support responsible development of carbon management projects, including carbon capture. The aim is to “pursue the highest levels of safety, environmental stewardship, accountability, community engagement, and societal benefits in carbon management projects,” through 11 categories of principles to be finalised by September 11, 2023.  

Gas stoves be gone – Mayor of Boston Michelle Wu signed an executive order eliminating fossil fuel use in new building constructions and renovations, making progress towards the city’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. In Boston, municipal emissions constitute 2.3% of all of Boston’s carbon emissions, and over 70% of the city’s emissions are attributed to buildings. 

AVIATION

Air travel footprint – Southwest Airlines has launched a new tool for eligible corporate customers, allowing them to purchase claims for SAF to count towards their Scope 3 emissions and carbon offsets via an online portal. The carbon offset projects supported are from a selected portfolio of projects chosen for their credibility including the Delta Blue Carbon mangrove restoration project in Pakistan. SAF and their associated environmental attributes are tracked based off of how much neat SAF was purchased and delivered to an airline operator, and corporate customers can purchase SAF claims associated with the SAF even if they are in a different place than where the SAF is utilised by Southwest.

SCIENCE & TECH

SAF bet – The American Express Global Business Travel platform and Shell Aviation announced that Google has joined its SAF programme, Avelia. The initiative was launched in 2022 and aims to make 1 mln gallons of SAF available for corporate customers. Through the programme, Shell Aviation will supply SAF to support Google in cutting emissions from its corporate flying.

AND FINALLY…

Youth of today – A Montana judge on Monday found that the Treasure State is violating its residents’ right to a clean environment – delivering a major victory to the 16 kids, teens, and young adults behind the first US youth-led climate trial. Judge Kathy Seeley of the First District Court in Montana ruled that state lawmakers flouted Montana’s constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” when they passed a law barring agencies from considering the climate effects of fossil fuel projects. The case is being watched nationwide as a bellwether for litigants who want to hold governments and fossil fuel companies accountable for climate change. The verdict – which the state vowed to appeal to the Montana Supreme Court – could serve as a model for similar youth-led lawsuits in other states. (E&E News)

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