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EU ETS emissions fell 2.6% in 2016, preliminary data shows

EU ETS emissions excluding aviation appear to have fallen for a fifth straight year, declining by 2.6% in 2016, according to preliminary like-for-like data released by the European Commission on Monday.

Inaugural Ontario CO2 auction sells out at slight premium to price floor

Ontario sold all 25.3 million spot vintage 2017 carbon allowances on offer in its inaugural Mar. 22 auction, with the price clearing a cent above the sale floor, data published by the provincial government on Monday showed.

EU utilities diverge on fitness for low-carbon economy -report

RWE and CEZ are among the worst prepared of Europe’s big utilities for the move to a low-carbon economy, according to a ranking compiled by investor non-profit CDP.

EU Market: EUAs gain late after shrugging off data reporting confusion

EU carbon prices recovered from Friday’s pre-data sell-off to post a 3.8% rise on Monday, though many traders appeared wary of getting caught out by confusion emerging from the regulators’ annual CO2 data release.

NZ Market: New Zealand carbon pushes up as focus returns to trade

New Zealand carbon traders pushed prices up to a 3-week high on Monday, switching their focus back to the market after a couple of weeks finalising annual emission reports.

Landfill firm gets lion’s share of latest Australian offset issuance

Landfill gas project developer LMS Energy got nearly two-thirds of the nearly 270,000 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued last week, Clean Energy Regulator data showed.

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Job listings this week:

Principal Climate Change Policy Advisor, Victoria State Department of Environment – Melbourne
Air Pollution Specialist, California Air Resources Board – Sacramento, California
Senior Policy Advisor, Trade Association – London
Officer, Global Green Growth Institute – Kiribati

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Pruitt pushed – US EPA administrator Scott Pruitt appeared to walk back on claims made last month that CO2 is not a primary driver of global warming when pressed in a Fox News Sunday interview.  He was also grilled on the impacts of rolling back the Clean Power Plan on public health, the relationship on climate between the US and China, and the Paris Agreement. This came after Reuters reported that the EPA’s scientific integrity watchdog is reviewing whether Pruitt violated the agency’s policies when he previously said he does not believe CO2 is driving global climate change.

Brexit blow-out – Chemical firm and UK shale gas advocate Ineos is leading an industry lobbying attempt to exempt the petrochemicals sector from UK climate policy costs, the Guardian reports, citing documents released under freedom of information laws. The papers from industry-led Chemistry Growth Partnership dating back from before last June’s Brexit referendum, reveal efforts to encourage the government to exempt the sector from the Climate Change Levy on UK heavy industry and “seek a low-cost alternative to the EU ETS”. A later document shows the partnership seeking to abolish the UK’s carbon price floor fee for the country’s utilities.

All in favour – A slim majority of Australians say they would support an emissions trading scheme for the electricity sector, including 46% of Coalition voters, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.  The new weekly survey of 1,797 voters says 51% are in favour of an ETS for electricity, and more people are undecided than opposed. Some 20% were opposed and 29% undecided.

AAU graft – Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency said it has completed its pre-trial investigation of embezzlement related to $12 million in funds raised from the sale of the countries’ AAU carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol. It said the evidence was sufficient to draw up an indictment based on a government tender to install LED lighting won by dummy companies., Interfax reported. Read Carbon Pulse’s Jan. 2016 report of the firing of Ukraine’s acting environment minister and two senior officials for allegedly attempting to embezzle Kyoto Protocol revenues.

GCF meets – The board of the Green Climate Fund meets Tuesday-Thursday this week and will decide on, amongst other things, whether to accept funding proposals of a total $855 million to nine projects. Links to live streams from the meeting as well as background documents can be found here.

Panama promotes – Central American finance hub Panama City is home to the sixth UNFCCC regional collaboration centre. Originally designed to channel CDM project finance, these centres now have wider aims to catalyse climate action on the ground, with the view to working towards implementing the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. (UNFCCC)

Headline of the day – The entire US coal industry employs fewer people than Arby’s. “Looking at the level of individual businesses, the coal industry in 2014 (76,572) employed about as many as Whole Foods (72,650), and fewer workers than Arby’s (close to 80,000), Dollar General (105,000) or J.C. Penney (114,000).” (Washington Post)

And finally… Youth trials spread – The Indian government has become the latest to be sued over climate change inaction by young citizens. A 9-year old girl from Uttarakhand state is arguing that India has failed to put into action the promises it made in signing and ratifying the Paris Agreement. Among the demands she is making are that India prepares a carbon budget to ensure it doesn’t emit more than its fair share and to work towards pushing atmospheric CO2 levels back below 350 PPM. (The Independent)

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