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TOP STORY
EU draft aims for 450 mln tonnes of carbon capture in 2050 -Bloomberg
The EU should capture as much 450 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2050 to meet its net zero emissions target, according to a leaked draft of the European Commission’s upcoming industrial carbon management strategy seen by Bloomberg, with the final text due to be officially presented in February.
INTERNATIONAL
Investors “flying blind” to financial risks of climate litigation, academics warn
Investors are “flying blind”, ignoring significant financial risks of climate litigation for polluting companies, academics have warned, while urging an overhaul in how these risks are assessed.
EMEA
Macron’s cabinet reshuffle leaves France without energy minister
After French President Emmanuel Macron nominated his thirty-four-year-old disciple and enfant prodige Gabriel Attal as the nation’s new prime minister this week, the new cabinet announced on Friday featured no dedicated minister in charge of energy and appeared to be a marked shift to the political right.
Turkish steelmaker plans to cut emissions by a quarter by 2030 as industry gears up for new ETS
The owner of Turkey’s largest steel plants will invest $3.2 billion to reduce their emissions 25% by 2030, the company announced this week, while the country gears up for its own decarbonisation mechanism with plans to introduce an ETS in the second half of 2024.
Euro Markets: EUAs post 14% weekly fall, hit 15-month low as early buying fades ahead of auction restart
Carbon prices in Europe tumbled to a new 15-month low on Friday afternoon amid growing geopolitical concerns and despite firmer energy markets, as early buying interest faded away and the EU ETS geared up for the resumption of daily allowance auctions from next week.
AMERICAS
What’s changing (and what’s not) for climate policy in Milei’s Argentina
Argentina’s new president Javier Milei promised free-market economic reforms but now looks to implement a national ETS while expanding the nation’s voluntary carbon market, also proposing administrative restructuring that could impact the direction of national climate policy despite retaining core civil servants.
Canadian clean fuel credit supply expected to exceed compliance demand -official
Entities regulated under Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) are well positioned to comply with the 2023 annual carbon intensity (CI) reduction requirements for the first compliance period, considering a likely excess supply of credits, a government executive told conference participants on Friday.
Washington Senate Committee fields amendment requests to proposed linkage bill with WCI carbon market
A Washington Senate Committee heard feedback on legislation facilitating linkage of the state’s cap-and-invest programme with the California-Quebec carbon market on Friday, with pushback from stakeholders on electricity importer amendments, allowance purchase limit changes, and stricter rules on offsets.
Brazilian coffee cooperative achieves carbon negative harvest -study
Farmers in a region of southeastern Brazil achieved the harvest of coffee that results in the sequestration of more CO2 than it produces via the employment of organic farming techniques, according to a study from a Brazilian NGO.
US researchers discover microbes that convert CO2 into rocks
A team of scientists in South Dakota found naturally occurring microbes that consume and convert CO2 into solid rock, the research lab announced earlier this week.
Speculators add largest CCA net haul in 11 mths, Washington below CFTC threshold for third week
Regulated entities dropped their holdings of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) as speculators recorded the largest net increase in holdings since last February, while no reporting of Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) took place for the third consecutive week.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia to join OECD peers in mandatory climate-related financial disclosure reporting, Scope 3 reports coming soon
Australia has released draft legislation on its first mandatory climate-related financial disclosures and will begin to require all Scope 3 emissions be accounted for by the second half of the decade.
China’s Guangdong adds three sectors to regional ETS, releases permit allocation plan
China’s Guangdong has expanded the coverage of the regional emissions trading scheme to cover three additional emissions-intensive sectors for the current compliance period as the economic hub seeks to strengthen its carbon market.
China appoints new climate envoy as Xie Zhenhua steps down
China on Friday announced it has appointed a new special climate change envoy, as veteran Xie Zhenhua steps down for health reasons.
CN Markets: CEA trading activity remains slow amid unclear supply outlook
Allowances in the Chinese carbon market dropped slightly over the past week amid sluggish demand, as the near-term outlook remains blurry due to the lack of policy updates.
Energy players band together for Singapore CCS work
A large group of Asian energy players have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to progress carbon capture and storage (CCS) work to help Singapore’s net-zero target.
Australian carbon firm eyes ASX listing, gets backing from major NY fund
The Australian Securities Exchange is set to see a new carbon player with backing from a New York fund join.
Japan to encourage carbon market participation via funding support -media
The government of Japan is planning to encourage participation in the country’s newly established voluntary carbon market by setting up requirements for companies that intend to receive financial support for their decarbonisation measures, local media reported.
Indian state launches plan to restore coastal areas, create framework for carbon credits trading
An Indian state has announced measures for the restoration of coastal areas and conservation of marine biodiversity, while also creating a framework for the trading of carbon credits, a state government official told a local newspaper on Thursday.
VOLUNTARY
Shell’s huge carbon credit retirement spree includes 1 mln units linked to discredited rice methodology
Oil major Shell has retired more than a million credits this week that were generated from a discredited UN rice farming methodology deactivated by certifier Verra last March amid integrity concerns.
INTERVIEW: Carbon removal developer targets “industry influencers” to create market traction for its credits
A developer of nature-based carbon removal credits is taking a strategic approach to selling its credits by approaching “industry influencers” willing to support the development of high-quality carbon projects, in a bid to generate momentum around removals and lay the seeds for mass-market adoption.
Blue carbon projects account for a fifth of raters’ high scores, but market struggling to scale
The so-far tiny blue carbon sector has one of the highest integrity scores in the voluntary carbon market but the market is struggling to expand because of barriers to entry, finds a rating agency.
Scientists convert CO2 into useful carbon nanofibers, with potential for offsetting or removal credits
Scientists have found a way to convert CO2 into carbon nanofibers – materials with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses – in a process they said could be used for offsetting or carbon removals (CDR).
Crop merchant partners with NGO to roll out regenerative agriculture practices and curb habitat loss
A major agricultural commodities trader will work closely with an environmental NGO to encourage the take-up of regenerative agriculture practices in key supply chains while also conserving vital habitats for the preservation of biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)
Social, political disparities in biodiversity data can impact global conservation efforts and investment decisions, study says
Social and political disparities in biodiversity data may significantly impact global conservation efforts and investments in biodiversity-related initiatives worth billions of dollars, researchers said in a recent paper published in the journal Science.
Environment Bank ‘overwhelmed’ with potential biodiversity credit projects
UK-headquartered conservation company Environment Bank has engaged with numerous managers of sites globally that could become its next biodiversity credit venture, an executive has said.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
EMEA
Cough up for gas – Germany plans to contribute €7.55 bln, just a fraction of the €60 bln needed to build new backup gas-fired power plants that can later be converted to hydrogen, while funding will start two years later than previously planned in 2028, according to the Finance Ministry’s draft budget plan, seen by Bloomberg. That’s likely to disappoint both industry and climate experts studying how the nation will plug its power gap in the future. The plan is due to be discussed by the parliament’s budget committee on Jan. 18 and is expected to be voted on later this month.
Quicker quitting – Poland must eliminate coal from power generation by 2035 as producing electricity from the fuel will not be economically viable, endangering energy security, according to Warsaw-based think-tank Forum Energii, adding that coal would disappear from the energy and heating by 2030 “if economic criteria were to be decisive”. The former government promised unions to mine coal till 2049 but output is declining rapidly amid rising costs and geological issues. The new administration, led by Donald Tusk, aims to foster renewables but has not defined a strategy for coal. (Reuters)
Record wind – The EU built a record 17 GW of new wind energy in 2023, slightly up on 2022, but still not enough to reach the EU’s 2030 targets, said WindEurope. The industry association also said the sector accounted for 19% of all electricity produced in Europe last year. In 2023, the EU build 14 GW of onshore and 3 GW of offshore wind. Germany built the most capacity, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. The IEA estimates Europe will build 23 GW a year of new wind over 2024-2028.
Teresa talk – Teresa Ribera, Spain’s third deputy prime minister and minister for energy and climate, is prepared to take on a job in the European Commission after the EU elections in June, if she is nominated by her government. Asked by Reuters whether she could rule out being socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s candidate for the Spanish commissioner after the June elections, Ribera said: “I do what my boss tells me to do.” Climate policy veteran Ribera has become one of the most influential policymakers on the issue and, during Spain’s EU Council presidency in the second half of last year, she was a key voice at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. (EurActiv)
ASIA PACIFIC
More clarity – Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry is set for a little more certainty after Resources Minister Madeleine King released a consultation paper designed to allow better engagement with Traditional Owners when companies are seeking approval for environmental plans related to their projects. Recently, a lengthy backlog of EPs was approved by the offshore regulator after over a year in limbo. In 2022, a full bench of the supreme court upheld an earlier decision that found one project developer had not adequately consulted with TOs and put a halt to development drilling until it could adequately consult and then resubmit its EP. The regulator, unsure of the full ramifications, essentially iced any new approvals, even for removal of ageing equipment related to shuttered projects.
AMERICAS
Misaligned – Exxon Mobil withdrew its membership with the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), a trade group known for aggressively opposing government attempts to rein in the oil industry, reported E&E News. The fossil fuel company noted that the IPAA was “misaligned with supporting society’s ambition to achieve a net-zero future” as the trade group has advocated against strong methane regulation and does not have any climate-related policy principles. The resignation was revealed Monday in Exxon Mobil’s release of its 2022 climate lobbying review at the request of shareholders.
Wrong court – The 11 Circuit federal Court of Appeals in Georgia, Atlanta dismissed on Thursday one of the many challenges to US EPA’s rejection of small refinery exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a trade publication noted Friday. Hunt Refining Company should have filed their petition in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the ruling said, given the nationwide scope of EPA’s denials. The EPA had denied 105 hardship exemption petitions from small refineries across the country based on new statutory interpretation of the RFS. (Progressive Farmer)
Carbon money – Canadians in eight provinces will receive their first rebate of the year from the federal carbon charge on Monday, with a family of four receiving anywhere from C$184 ($137) in New Brunswick to C$386 ($287) in Alberta. In Saskatchewan, a four-person household can expect to receive $340, but economic policy experts have warned that this will decrease should the provincial government not return the charge to the federal government, as the provincial energy utility stopped collecting the charge from households as of Jan. 1. In the remaining provinces, rebates are calculated depending on respective provincial systems, while residents of the territories will see rebates returned by territorial governments.
MRV development – Protein Industries Canada, an industry-led, Canadian government-supported non-profit, announced Thursday the development of a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework to quantify the environmental outcomes of agriculture practices and produce Scope 3 emissions data. The announcement detailed a commitment to work with industry on the MRV that will allow for robust data for protein ingredient makers, downstream value chain partners and participating growers. The group, which sees multi-sector membership from the agri-food sector, noted that the ability to measure and support claims is “key to furthering our sector and contributing to our national emission reduction goals”. Parties interested in sharing thoughts on an MRV system or inquiring for more information can contact Protein Industries Canada.
SCIENCE & TECH
Lower-carbon consumers – This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an annual trade show hosted in Las Vegas focused on consumer technologies, saw an increased presence of climate-centric tools relative to past years, including e-bikes, household solar panels, and plug-in grills, Bloomberg Green reported. The display of consumer goods in pursuit of sustainability is perhaps representative of increasing government incentives and pressure from buyers for electrification.
AND FINALLY…
The truth Hertz – Car rental agency Hertz went from scaling back its electric vehicle ambitions to selling off its actual EVs in the span of three months. The company said in a regulatory filing Thursday that it will sell 20,000 vehicles, or roughly one-third of its global EV fleet, and use that money to buy gas guzzlers. The decision was made after Hertz reported higher depreciation and damage than expected to its EVs, amounting to $245 mln in costs for the company. Also, Hertz apparently couldn’t find enough customers for the EVs in its fleet, so selling a huge chunk of them will “better balance supply against expected demand of EVs,” the company said. The company had previously set a target for 25% of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024. According to The Verge, it’s quite the turnaround considering where things were just a few months ago. Hertz envisioned itself as the ultimate EV broker, doling out battery-powered vehicles to business travellers, ride-hail drivers, and tech newbies in an ambitious plan to prime the pump for the EV revolution. The company inked agreements with Tesla and Polestar to buy nearly 200,000 EVs. Hertz’s problem is a bit unique. Of the 100,000 Teslas acquired by Hertz, half were to be allocated to Uber drivers as part of a deal with the ride-hail company. And while drivers said they loved the Teslas, they also tend to drive their vehicles into the ground. This higher rate of utilisation can lead to a lot of damage — certainly more than Hertz was anticipating.
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