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California governor proposes bill to extend cap-and-trade beyond 2020
California Governor Jerry Brown will propose a bill to extend the state’s cap-and-trade programme through 2030, claiming this was necessary to bolster auction revenue and restore certainty in the market.
China ETS to do little to cut emissions in early years -report
China’s national emissions trading scheme is shaping up to apply little pressure to most participants to cut CO2 emissions in its early years, with inefficient allocation and a lack of price discovery likely to hold the scheme back, a government-commissioned report said.
New York governor backs 30% cut in RGGI cap over next decade
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday backed a 30% cut in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s (RGGI) CO2 cap over the 2020s.
EU Market: Carbon rises for second day on short-covering, bullish auction results
European carbon prices rose for a second day on the back of more speculative short-covering and solid bidding interest in Tuesday’s auction.
RGGI to offer 14.4 mln allowances in Mar. 8 auction
RGGI states will offer 14.4 million emission allowances at their quarterly auction to be held Mar. 8.
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
**Climate disclosures webinar – consultancy Four Twenty Seven and law firm Crowell & Moring LLP will host a webinar on Thursday at 1700 GMT titled ‘What you need to know’ on the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. It will address how companies can put the recommendations into action**
Obama’s parting message – In the Jan. 13 edition of the journal Science, outgoing President Obama argues that the clean energy policy he fostered during his term will continue to grow due to market forces. “Putting near-term politics aside,” he writes in the op-ed, “the mounting economic and scientific evidence leave me confident that trends toward a clean-energy economy that have emerged during my presidency will continue and that the economic opportunity for our country to harness that trend will only grow.” The piece can be seen as both a celebratory bookend to the president’s various successful policies and as a direct address to the next administration. (H/T Climate Nexus)
Brussels cash grab – EU ETS auction cash can be among the potential new sources of income under a new centralised EU funding mechanism. That’s according to former Italian PM Mario Monti, who heads a panel due to report to EU finance ministers Jan. 27 on how Brexit could provide “unique window of opportunity to review how we measure the real costs and benefits of the EU.” (Politico)
Flights not fancy – ICAO’s global market-based climate measure CORSIA has the potential to deliver fewer emission reductions over its lifetime than the full inclusion of aviation emissions in a reformed EU ETS, according to Andrew Murphy of Brussels-based NGO T&E. He said even if the geographic scope of the EU ETS is restricted to cover only flights within Europe and half of the emissions from flights to and from Europe, CORSIA barely edges out the EU ETS over its 2021-2035 lifetime. Murphy therefore favours the EU ETS to have a full international scope at least until CORSIA starts in 2021 and for the ETS to retain intra-European flight regulations after that. Carbon Pulse has reported that Brussels officials have strongly hinted they will propose this month to extend the ETS’ suspension of extra-European flights to 2021. (GreenAir Online)
CCS is go in Texas – Utility NRG’s $1.04 billion CCS plant at its coal-fired power plant in Texas, the largest of its kind in the world, has begun operations. NRG and Japanese firm and joint venture partner JX Nippon put up $600 million, with $190 million in a US government grant and a $250 million loan from Japan. At its peak it is slated to bury 90% of the plant’s emissions or 1.6 million tonnes of CO2/year and has collected 111,000 tonnes since its Dec. 29 launch. The plant will generate income through trapping emissions, transporting them via an 80-mile pipeline and using them for enhanced oil recovery. (Reuters)
Brexit risks – Insurance giant Aon has launched Brexit Navigator, a solution designed to help businesses including utilities and other energy companies quantify the impact of Brexit risk exposures. Brexit Navigator is a three-step solution, suitable for organisations globally that have operations and business interests in the UK. Read more about it here.
And finally… Choking on – Poland’s 2 million-strong capital Warsaw offered free public transport on Monday to encourage residents to leave their cars at home and stop contributing to smog that monitoring site AirVisual said had made it the most polluted major city in the world that day. Green groups have long-targeted lobbying efforts on air pollution in coal-dependent nations such as India as a more effective driver of change that would see climate action as a by-product, but Piotr Siergiej of NGO Polish Smog Alarm doubts the measure will have a lasting impact of weakening the government’s pro-coal stance. (Bloomberg)
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