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Offset developers prepare for battle as California lawmakers threaten to strangle investment
A new Senate Bill in California has intensified the threat hanging over the US offsets industry by proposing to prohibit the use of the credits in the state’s carbon market after 2020 – prompting a call to arms by developers.
ANALYSIS: In a rare glimpse of global carbon trade, Korea’s companies go hunting for foreign offsets
South Korean industry is making its first investments in foreign CDM projects to cut the costs of complying with the country’s emissions trading scheme, but a conservative approach expected from regulators means that demand is likely to be fairly limited.
New EU data reveals at least 100 ETS non-compliers
At least 100 entities participating in the EU ETS remain in non-compliance following the end of the latest reporting year, data published by the European Commission on Tuesday showed.
EU Market: EUAs stabilise after extending 2017 low
EU carbon prices hit a fresh 2017 on Wednesday, lowering the depths plumbed in the previous session before stabilising in becalmed trade.
Shanghai aims to put brakes on CO2 growth in annual plan
Shanghai on Wednesday released an annual plan for energy saving and climate change that will see the municipal government try to curb absolute growth in CO2 emissions for a third consecutive year.
CN Markets: Chongqing extends record lows amid over-supply, lack of confidence
The CO2 price in Chongqing’s pilot emissions trading scheme fell to new depths on Wednesday as companies continued to sell amid uncertainty over the future eligibility of the units.
Sichuan carbon exchange looking for voluntary market for offset demand
The Sichuan United Environment Exchange (SUEEX), one of nine Chinese exchanges with government clearance to offer carbon trading, is calling for policies to drive up voluntary demand for carbon offsets in the absence of clarity over the compliance use of the credits in the national emissions trading scheme.
Lithuania approval rounds out 2016 EU derogation allocations
Lithuania has been cleared to hand out free EUAs to its utilities for 2016, marking the completion of the approval process for last year’s derogation programme under Article 10c of the bloc’s ETS Directive.
ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE – Setting the rules of the game at the Bonn climate change talks
What’s true for sports is true for tackling climate change: to make things happen, you have to agree on the rules of the game. Paula Caballero, Global Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute and a former UN negotiator, explains.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Flip flop – The Trump administration is now apparently considering pulling out of the Paris Agreement following two senior-level meetings on the issue, multiple outlets reported yesterday. According to sources, White House counsel Don McGahn argued in meetings with senior advisers Monday and last week that the US could not lower its emissions reductions commitments and remain in the accord, a viewpoint at odds with both the State Department and top Paris negotiators. While the senior team remains divided on this issue and the president has not yet reached a final decision, Trump told supporters at a Saturday rally he would make a “big decision” on Paris over the next two weeks.(Climate Nexus)
And on the seventh day – German coal plants last Sunday contributed the lowest amount of electricity to the country’s power mix ever recorded in recent times, according to energy think-tank Agora Energiewende. Power production from coal and lignite plants stood at just 8 GW at the lowest point, while power production from renewables peaked at over 55 GW on the sunny and windy day, with nuclear contributing 5 GW. Solar, wind and other renewable power production met around 64% of German consumption over the weekend. (Clean Energy Wire)
Agreed on one thing – At the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) technical conference on wholesale power markets on Tuesday, stakeholders searched for ways to integrate state policies into the organized market construct. FERC called for the conference in March over concerns that state power incentives — particularly nuclear subsidies and renewable portfolio standards — could unravel the organized market construct. But short of a complete answer to market issues, one noteworthy area of consensus emerged from nearly every corner of the diverse stakeholder group — the need to price carbon in wholesale power markets. Read more from Utility Dive.
And finally… Pissed off – Concerns over the US pulling out of Paris have prompted environmental advocates and supporters of the agreement to take the unusual step of publicly defending the country’s right to weaken its climate target. The Sierra Club indicated in a recent internal memo obtained by Politico that it likely wouldn’t win a court challenge over withdrawal or a weakened domestic climate change pledge. And international officials are signalling the White House is significantly underestimating the international blowback withdrawing from the deal would create. Trump “will piss off every single country in the world” if he does so, said an international official who was closely involved in the negotiation over the text of the Paris deal. “It will haunt the administration in every aspect of its international diplomacy.” (Politico)
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