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UK pledges to target “total carbon price” for 2020s, with details due in autumn
The UK will target a “total carbon price” from 2021, with further details to be provided in its autumn budget, the government said in its spring budget statement on Wednesday.
Luxembourg can reclaim ArcelorMittal’s unused carbon allowances, top EU court rules
Europe’s top court on Wednesday ruled Luxembourg can reclaim without compensation EU carbon allowances given to steelmaker ArcelorMittal to cover emissions at a shuttered plant, supporting a court advisor’s previous opinion in the case.
Chinese lawmaker pushes mandatory CO2 publication for ETS companies
Companies due to be brought into China’s national emissions trading scheme should be obligated to publish their annual CO2 emissions data and how many allowances they are holding, a lawmaker said Wednesday.
Australia can’t rely on “clean coal” for Paris target, report finds
The Australian government has in recent weeks been pushing for fresh investments in so-called “clean coal” to cut emissions and ensure a stable electricity system, but effective technology won’t be commercially viable until 2030 and can’t help meet the country’s climate targets, a study released Thursday found.
Forestry projects take home majority of California offsets in largest year-to-date issuance
California’s Air Resources Board this week handed out nearly 1.1 million offsets in the largest batch seen so far in 2017, according to data released Wednesday.
EU Market: EUAs fall to pre-Council deal levels as sentiment fades
EU carbon prices fell for a third straight day on Wednesday to give back the remainder of the gains recorded after last week’s EU Council deal on ambitious ETS reforms.
Australia’s Climate Institute to shut down
Australian think-tank The Climate Institute will shut down in June after failing to secure fresh funding, local media reported.
ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE: Investors with $600 bln AUM launch Latin America forest protection initiative
Green Century Capital Management announced it has organized 38 investors in the U.S. and globally, representing $617.5 billion in assets under management, to ask that companies reaffirm and extend zero deforestation commitments specifically to Latin America.
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**Navigating the American Carbon World (NACW) 2017: San Francisco, Apr. 19-21 – NACW brings together the most active and influential players in North American climate policy and carbon markets to address the most pressing topics in domestic and international policy, subnational leadership, carbon markets, climate finance, and carbon management initiatives. Visit the website**
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Oil majors’ major problem – Eight of the world’s largest oil companies including BP, Shell and Gazprom are responsible for as much of the climate-damaging pollution spewed into the atmosphere as the entire US, according to a study by a non-profit group CDP. According to Bloomberg, the companies released a fifth of all greenhouse gases outside of farming and forestry since 1988, the year most governments acknowledged man-made climate change as a risk, according to the findings, which suggest policymakers may be better off focusing on the practices of companies instead of national environmental policies. Separately, the CEO of ConocoPhillips on Wednesday said “it would be good for the US to stay in the [Paris] climate agreement,” according to Axios, joining rival Exxon in urging Trump not to withdraw the country.
Deniers rising – The New York Times outlines how new US EPA chief Scott Pruitt has stacked the agency with climate change sceptics intent on rolling back environmental regulations they see as harmful to business and putting them at odds with the career officials, scientists and employees who carry out the agency’s missions.
Europeans keen – Between 83-91% of Western Europeans believe that climate change is at least partly caused by human activity but only 24-35% believe there is a strong scientific consensus on the issue, according to poll of 4,000 residents of Britain, France, Norway, and Germany. It also found 70-93% of respondents holding a “very positive” view of solar and onshore and offshore wind. Most said they did not believe climate change was behind the current refugee crisis, but 40% worried that it could exacerbate the problem. (Reuters)
Cancelled – Spanish renewable energy firm Acciona has voluntarily cancelled more than 313,000 CERs from a Mexican wind project to offset the company’s 2016 carbon footprint, including at its construction, water and industrial divisions.
And finally… Fossil fuel thwarted by fossilised people – The discovery of burial grounds dating back 5,000 years could force the Polish government to reject plans by ZE PAK – a major Polish lignite-burning power generator – to build a new opencast coal mine in Wielkopolska. Government officials are considering whether to designate the 15 recently discovered burial tombs with protected status, though Poznan’s regional environmental protection agency may decide to issue the environmental permit for the mine even though the company’s environmental assessment did not address the latest find.
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