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Manitoba reversal leaves Saskatchewan as sole opponent to pan-Canadian CO2 pricing plan
Manitoba on Sunday appeared to reverse course on its opposition to a pan-Canadian climate change plan reached between provincial and federal leaders Friday, leaving Saskatchewan the lone challenger and prompting its premier to repeat a previous threat to take Ottawa to court over carbon pricing.
‘Witch hunt’ fears as Trump team demands names of DOE climate staff
US President-elect Donald Trump’s energy transition team has requested the names of all employees who work on climate change issues as part of a questionnaire to the Department of Energy that is stoking fears over a possible ‘witch hunt’.
EU nations will try again for ETS revision deal after talks struggle
Officials from all EU member states will try again this week to agree a common line on the post-2020 ETS revision bill after initial talks made little headway.
EU Market: EUAs surge 9.2% to two-week high on oil, upcoming auction pause
EU carbon prices soared by 9.2% on Monday to hit their highest level since Nov. 28 as oil gains lifted the energy complex and as traders anticipated further rises in EUAs ahead of a three-week pause in auction supply.
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Job listings this week:
Climate Finance Expert/Economist, Climate Futures – Peterborough/Oxford/Epsom/London, UK
Principal Business Development Manager, Energy Efficiency & Climate Change, EBRD – London
Land-use Consultant, Climate Focus North America – Washington DC
Senior Programme Specialist, Climate Change Cluster, Asian Institute of Technology – Thailand
Research Associate, Ecological and Climate Economics, Climate Analytics – Belize
Communication Specialist, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre – Belize
Or click here to see all our job adverts
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Coal’s plateau? – Global coal use is flatlining as China continues to restructure its economy, says influential energy think-tank the IEA. The volume of coal used across the world fell for the second year running in 2015 and is set to stay below peak levels in 2016, the agency reported on Monday as it downgraded its medium-term coal market forecast for the fifth year in a row. According to Climate Home, the IEA expects demand to plateau until 2021 but not fall fast enough to align with the Paris Agreement goal of holding global warming below 2C.
Push for transparency – Companies should tell investors how their profits may be hit by tighter pollution rules and extreme weather events coming from climate change, a panel advising the Group of 20 nations will conclude next week. The group, set up by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in his role as head of the Financial Stability Board, is due to report on Wednesday on best practices for companies disclosing how they manage environmental risks, Bloomberg reports.
Upwards and onwards – New Zealand Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett on Monday was elevated to deputy PM to support new Prime Minister Bill English, after John Key stepped down last week. There was no information Monday on whether the move would impact her ministerial portfolios, which also include social housing, state services, tourism and finance (associate minister). Bennett took over the climate portfolio a year ago, and the domestic carbon price has doubled since, partly driven by her reassurances that the government will strengthen the NZ ETS to help the country meet its Paris target.
Ready for a fight – People who argue that climate change is not happening or that the scientific case for it is overstated should start preparing for a more robust response from scientists themselves. UK scientist Philip Williamson is urging his colleagues to challenge online lies and inaccuracies, to counter the climate deniers by objective statements of fact and to use the collective power of the internet to improve what information reaches users. It might be time-consuming, he writes in a commentary for Nature, but researchers need to defend the truth against a tide of misinformation. Read more from Climate Home.
And finally… He “gets it” – US President-elect Donald Trump this weekend told Fox News that “nobody really knows” whether climate change is happening or not. “Look, I’m somebody that gets it, and nobody really knows. It’s not something that’s so hard and fast. I do know this: Other countries are eating our lunch,” he said, while maintaining an “open mind” on the issue. However, observers pointed to the steady stream of fossil fuel executives and climate change sceptics being selected for cabinet roles, with Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson reported to be up for Secretary of State and Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers to be named Secretary of the Interior. Tillerson has said he thinks man-made climate change is occurring and has backed the introduction of carbon taxes, though critics point to that support stemming from his company’s oil & gas activities, which would benefit from higher costs for coal producers.
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