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World needs to cut GHGs 25% beyond Paris pledge -UNEP
The world must urgently and dramatically deepen its emission goals to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions to have any chance of minimising dangerous climate change, UNEP said Thursday in its seventh annual Emissions Gap report.
EU Market: EUAs hit 6-month high on French nuclear, Brexit setbacks
European carbon prices jumped to a six-month high on Thursday, boosted by higher energy on news of prolonged French nuke outages and a potential setback for a hasty Brexit.
California cap-and-trade programme hits 100% compliance rate for 2015
Every emitter covered by California’s cap-and-trade programme surrendered enough allowances to cover their 2015 compliance obligations by the Nov. 1, 2016 deadline, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced.
Australia’s ERF is buying low-quality, over-priced offsets, report says
Australia’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) does not deliver additional GHG cuts and would be unsuitable as a supply mechanism in an emissions trading system, a report said Thursday.
Norwegian firms call for new fund to back renewables, carbon credits
A group of Norwegian renewable firms is calling for the government to set up a 5 billion NOK ($611 million) guarantee fund to help companies build clean energy sources in developing nations that could generate up to 10 million UN-issued carbon offsets a year.
Quebec’s Gaz Metro inks second carbon credit offtake deal
Quebec-based energy provider and natural gas distributor Gaz Metro has agreed a second carbon credit offtake deal, it announced Thursday.
South Pole adds three staff to bolster low-carbon, sustainability businesses
Project developer and carbon credit vendor South Pole Group has hired three new people to bolster its renewables and sustainability divisions.
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Yuuuge cuts – Donald Trump said cutting “wasteful” federal climate change spending would save $100 billion over eight years. According to Bloomberg, the Trump campaign derived the figure by combining the Obama administration’s expenses on climate-related programs, climate finance contributions and Trump’s estimates of future savings if climate policies were reversed. A White House report in 2014 warned that climate inaction could cost the US $150 billion a year if global warming passes the 3C threshold. (Climate Nexus)
Last minute deal – Cabinet approval of German environment minister Barbara Hendricks’ Climate Action Plan 2050 before she travels to the COP-22 in Marrakech could be possible after all, reports news agency dpa. Ministry sources told dpa that Chancellor Angela Merkel had signalled support in finding a compromise ASAP. Merkel had on Wednesday rejected a call from Hendricks to intervene in the dispute that has prompted her cabinet to delay approving the plan, Reuters reported. Hendricks, a member of the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partner, had not wanted to show up in Morocco empty-handed, but Merkel said she needed to try to work out an agreement with other ministers before the Chancellor would get involved. (Clean Energy Wire)
Shut em’ down – German utility STEAG has announced the decommissioning of five coal-fired generating units with combined capacity of 2.5GW due to low electricity prices, Handelsblatt Online reports. The company, owned by a federation of municipal utilities, revealed in September plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs and step up its investments in renewable energy. (Clean Energy Wire)
Hazelwood shut-down – Australia’s Hazelwood coal plant will shut down in Mar. 2017, owner Engie announced Thursday. The 50-year old plant emits 15.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually, some 3% of the nation’s total. The plan’s electricity is expected to be replaced by a mix of black coal and hydro, according to Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg. (RenewEconomy)
US emissions to rise from Wyoming deal – The Obama administration this week leased more than 30,000 acres of public land to fossil fuel interests. If fully developed, that is likely to create addition 29 million tonnes in CO2 emissions, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Carbon neutral – Australia’s New South Wales on Thursday pledged to reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2050, joining Victoria, South Australia and ACT. However, the state government did not outline any interim targets on the way to zero. (Fairfax)
And finally… Some COP plane reading – Carbon market business association IETA has published its annual Greenhouse Gas Market Report for 2016-2017. It features keynote articles written by the EU’s top climate official Jos Delbeke, the World Bank’s Vikram Widge, and contributions from Swedish and Brazilian climate diplomats considering the importance of the key Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to both emerging and developed economies.
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