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

ANALYSIS: The ‘ugly sister’ of climate policies, carbon pricing still crucial to limit warming

Carbon pricing is touted by nations rich and poor as a crucial response to climate change, but despite so far failing to play a sustained role, the measures are still seen as crucial given the scale of the problem.

Opponents line up legal challenges to Washington state carbon cap

A swelling number of utilities and industry groups are filing lawsuits in US state and federal courts seeking to overturn Washington state’s plans to cap carbon emissions from its top polluters.

Pressure grows on Australia to streamline carbon policy, consider baseline-and-credit scheme

Australia needs a national carbon policy rather than a mix of state-level initiatives, a key energy lobby group said Tuesday, adding to voices calling for a meeting of state ministers this Friday to discuss setting up a baseline-and-credit trading scheme for electricity generators to drive CO2 emission cuts.

China’s Fujian province eyes carbon trading links with Taiwan

The government of China’s Fujian province has pledged to explore options for cooperation on emissions trading and carbon finance with Taiwan.

Nova Scotia premier eyeing cap-and-trade after rejecting carbon tax

Nova Scotia is considering implementing a cap-and-trade scheme to comply with Canada’s new carbon pricing regime, Premier Stephen McNeil said Tuesday, adding that his province had ruled out a carbon tax.

EU Market: EUAs ease back from 3-month high as technical gap remains unplugged

EU carbon prices dipped on Tuesday but still remained above €5 to stay within reach of a technical gap that some traders say could provide the impetus for further gains.

BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Paris in play – The European Parliament today voted in favour of a fast-track ratification process by 610 votes out of 679 in a packed Strasbourg assembly that saw a speech from UN chief Ban Ki-moon. The deal allows the EU to break with its usual best practice of depositing instruments of ratification together, paving the way for the seven member states that have completed their national procedures to deposit later today. That’s enough to cross the threshold and to allow the Paris Agreement to enter into force just in time for November’s UN climate negotiations in Marrakech.  Read Carbon Pulse’s take on what that means for the UN process and the EU’s own climate goals here. The World Resources Institute also goes into the upcoming UN process here.

***Carbon Pulse’s 60-page international dossier provides an overview of international climate policy relating to carbon pricing, including a detailed breakdown of the Paris Agreement and concise summaries of all its INDCs, global themes in carbon markets, internal carbon pricing, international climate initiatives and climate finance***

German coal shutdowns – A quarter of German hard coal-fired generation capacity may shut ahead of schedule if plant operators forgo spending on upgrades to keep aging stations open, according to consultants Nena. Utility Steag said it is considering shuttering at least five of its 13 German coal stations before plan. The move will cut EUA demand but also alter the hedging requirement used to shape the supply-curbing Market Stability Reserve. (Bloomberg)

Latin bank tilt – Latin America’s largest development bank BNDES said it will no longer finance coal-fired or oil-fired power plants in a push to discourage carbon-intensive energy projects. It also decided to reduce credit to gas-fired power plants to 50% of total investment from 70% while nudging up financing for solar developments to 80% from 70%. (Reuters)

Catnip for wonks – The autumn issue of Carbon Mechanisms Review by the JIKO unit of the German environment ministry is out.  It profiles the German-led Nitric Acid Climate Action Group, has notes on how ICAO’s offsetting mechanism could avoid double counting and article on how to scale up mitigation via better teamwork between the CDM and GCF.

And finally… Cheers to this – Long Root Ale may be the world’s first beer that can boast it’s good for the planet. Instead of just malted barley or wheat, this beer incorporates Kernza, a perennial grain that can stay planted for years at a time, uses less water than most grains, and its deep roots help lock in carbon dioxide. (H/T Climate Nexus)

Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com