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TOP STORY
INC-5: BRIEFING – Plastic credit market tipped to grow “with or without” UN treaty
Demand for voluntary plastic credits is slated to expand regardless of their inclusion in the UN global plastic treaty under negotiation in South Korea, major standard bodies told Carbon Pulse, amid growing concerns from environmental groups over the credibility of the nascent market.
AVIATION
Supply shortage may drive CORSIA credit prices above $90/t in Phase 2 -report
Airlines will need over 500 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent (MtCO2e) carbon credits to meet Phase 2 CORSIA requirements (2027-35), with prices potentially reaching $91 per tonne due to supply tightness, according to a new report released on Monday.
AMERICAS
Mexico calls for $24 bln reforestation fund at G20 summit -media
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called for the launch of a global reforestation initiative at the G20 Leaders’ Summit last week that, under her vision, could boast a $24 billion budget.
RGGI Market: Virginia circuit court decision fuels RGAs’ brief flight to $27
RGGI Allowances (RGA) skimmed $27 last week after a Virginia circuit court judge ruled the state’s exit from the Northeast carbon market to be unlawful, but readjusted lower in subsequent sessions as traders reset expectations for any immediate impact to the programme.
US EV sales double in 2023, vehicle emissions reach record low -report
US automakers showed progress lowering pollution from vehicles and nearly doubled electric vehicle (EV) sales to around 10% in 2023, according to a federal report published Monday.
US low carbon fuel voluntary certificates to cover biomass-based diesel
A voluntary US programme issuing tradeable certificates for ethanol producers that launched last year is expanding eligibility to include biodiesel and renewable diesel (RD) fuels, according to an announcement Monday.
Maryland’s environmental commission considers cap-and-invest for GHG cuts
Maryland’s environmental commission’s recommendations for climate investment mechanisms looks likely to include implementation of an economy-wide cap-and-invest scheme, as the state could risk missing its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets.
US EPA advances West Virginia’s CO2 storage permit authority approval
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this month proposed a rule to authorise West Virginia to oversee CO2 storage wells within the region, potentially positioning it as the fourth state to gain such primacy.
California diesel sales drop YoY in August, gasoline usage decline hits one-year mark
California diesel consumption year-over-year (YoY) in August slipped, while gasoline volumes also declined YoY for the twelfth straight month, state data published Monday showed.
North American investors commit $2 mln to Montana grassland carbon projects
A pair of North American investors announced Monday the finalisation of a $2 million investment in two Montana grassland conservation carbon projects.
LATAM Roundup: Road to Belem paved with carbon market intentions after landmark Article 6 decision
As this year’s COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan concludes with landmark decisions clinching the operationalisation of Article 6.2 and 6.4 carbon markets – with Brazil playing a key diplomatic role – expectations for COP30 in Belem, Brazil have highlighted the rise of Article 6 as a priority for the region.
ASIA PACIFIC
NZ Market: NZUs trade just above auction price floor as anticipation grows
Spot New Zealand carbon allowances on Monday traded just above the auction price floor for the first time since March, as observers said the market’s long quiet stretch is a sign of positive things to come.
AU Market: Activity, prices soften as updated landfill gas method expected to be signed by year’s end
Activity in the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) market has slowed, according to analysis published Monday, while a waste operator told shareholders it expected the updated landfill gas methodology will be finalised by the end of the calendar year.
PNG environmental groups oppose carbon market regulations being tested on “guinea pig” communities
Environmental groups have written to the Papua New Guinea government opposing its efforts to test its carbon market regulations on so-called “guinea pig” communities before addressing what it says are serious issues with the rules.
South Korea, Malaysia to work together on international emissions reduction projects
South Korea and Malaysia have teamed up to cooperate on GHG emissions initiatives, initially targeting a landfill project based in Terengganu state.
Biochar producer plots generating carbon removals from waste in Singapore
A Singapore-based biochar developer plans to generate over 330,000 carbon removal credits through making biochar from waste for applications in buildings, agriculture, and landscaping.
EMEA
BRIEFING: Truckmakers bet on electrification to meet 2030 EU climate targets
European truck manufacturers are investing chiefly in battery-electric vehicles to meet their 2030 climate goals, but point to a lack of charging stations on EU roads, urging policymakers to be more ambitious on infrastructure.
Turkiye launches industrial decarbonisation platform, targets $5 bln by 2030
Turkiye has unveiled a new industrial decarbonisation investment platform that targets $5 billion in funding by 2030 to cut over 20 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Euro Markets: EUAs advance as much as 3.3% before energy-wide sell-off caps gains
European carbon prices set a new 12-week high on Monday, as the strong correlation with bullish natural gas initially dragged EUA prices higher, before news of a possible ceasefire in Lebanon triggered a general sell-off across all energy markets.
VOLUNTARY
Unlocking billions of dollars in carbon credit demand hinges on smoothing buyer “friction points”, report warns
The voluntary carbon market will remain underdeveloped, achieving a tiny fraction of the annual CO2 removals needed and falling short billions of dollars in investment potential until buyer “friction points” are addressed, a new report has warned.
VCM Report: Voluntary sector drifts despite landmark carbon markets decision at COP29
COP29 may have given a shot in the arm to future international carbon trade, after countries finally clinched a deal on Article 6, but the voluntary market continued to drift aimlessly over the past week.
INTERNATIONAL
Transparency on climate action costs by developing countries key to unlocking private finance -report
Just one-third of developing countries have disclosed the costs of key climate mitigation and adaptation measures, potentially limiting access to public and private finance, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
Study makes link between stabilising global CO2 levels and reducing risk of climate disasters
Stabilising atmospheric CO2 levels could significantly lower the risk of climate-related disasters, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Cambridge.
BIODIVERSITY (FREE TO READ)
All our nature and biodiversity articles remain free to read (no subscription required). However, as of Oct. 24 we will require that all readers have a Carbon Pulse login to access this content in full. To get a login, sign up for a free trial of our news. If you’ve already had a trial, then you already have a login.
ADB launches plan to scale nature investments
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a road map for increasing its nature positive investments, part of which involves exploring biodiversity credits.
Iceberg Data Lab plans to double coverage of corporate nature impacts
French data provider Iceberg Data Lab plans to double the coverage of its deforestation, biodiversity footprinting, and climate analysis tools up to 16,000 companies, Carbon Pulse has learned.
COMMENT
After COP29, companies can no longer sit on the sidelines
As COP29 concludes, the progress on Article 6.4 signals potential for a robust global carbon market, but with a $1 trillion annual funding gap, companies must step up, leveraging emerging solutions like streamlined carbon credit auctions to decarbonise and secure a competitive, sustainable future.
ICYM
Countries clinch Article 6 deal in momentous win for international carbon markets
Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have reached a historic agreement on international carbon markets at COP29, in a decision that finally concludes the rules governing the trading and crediting of mitigation outcomes under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Baku closes with frustration over new $300 bln climate finance goal, omission of fossil fuels
Wealthy countries will aim to shore up $300 billion per year of climate finance by 2035, as the core part of a global annual economy-wide target of $1.3 trillion, under a contentious agreement struck early Sunday morning at the close of COP29.
Reactions to the new Baku Finance Goal, Article 6 deal
Here are selected party, stakeholder, and expert reactions to the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance (NCQG), dubbed the Baku Finance Goal, as well as the agreement on Article 6 reached at the COP29 climate summit, which wrapped up early Sunday.
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EVENTS
*NEW* Carbon Forward Middle East – Jan. 16-17, Abu Dhabi – Announcing Carbon Forward Middle East in Abu Dhabi, a great new event to explore carbon markets in the MENA region. We’ll be releasing more details about this conference soon. For now, put Jan. 16-17 in your calendar and email info@carbon-forward.com to express interest in attending, speaking, or sponsoring.
European Industrial Carbon Management Summit – Dec. 5, Brussels: The Zero Emissions Platform flagship event will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, civil society and scientific experts to discuss the future of industrial carbon management across Europe. Get ready for insightful keynotes, case studies from pioneering projects, and panel discussions on the deployment of industrial carbon management technologies. The Summit is the perfect space to connect with peers working at the forefront of industrial decarbonisation. Registrations are now open – do not miss your chance to be part of the conversation.
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REPORT
Discover High-Quality NBS Credits: Redefining carbon removal with community agroforestry – Dive into Supercritical’s latest report on Community Agroforestry, a high-integrity nature-based solution delivering high-quality carbon removal alongside transformative community benefits. With rigorous quality standards and satellite-based MRV, Community Agroforestry regenerates ecosystems, empowers local communities, and ensures measurable CO2 removal. Discover why this innovative approach is setting a new standard for impactful carbon removal. Read the report
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SURVEY
CDR.fyi has launched the first-ever durable Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Pricing Survey to gather insights on pricing perceptions within the CDR industry. The survey, now open until Dec. 6, targets both purchasers and suppliers of durable CDR with separate versions for each. It covers 15 CDR methods, including biochar carbon removal, DAC, and mineralisation, and is aimed at gauging optimal pricing and acceptable price ranges for various methods. The survey aims to determine the prices purchasers are willing to pay, the pricing suppliers need to expand operations, and demand signals across methods for 2025 and 2030. Responses will remain confidential, with data reported in aggregate and accessed only by non-conflicted team members. Results will be published post-survey, with a full report available to survey respondents and CDR.fyi premium users. The initiative seeks to provide essential pricing benchmarks to support carbon removal market growth.
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Job listings this week
- *Manager, Market Strategy & Engagement, Native – Remote (US)
- *Senior Director, Carbon Science and Technical Development, Native – Remote (US)
- *Event Coordinator, Carbon Forward – Remote (UK)
- *Asia-Pacific Environmental Markets Correspondent, Carbon Pulse – Remote
- Policy Officer, Sandbag – Belgium
*Premium listings
See all listings or post a job
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
EMEA
Running to catch up – The number of applications so far this year under the UK’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme, whereby homeowners can access a grant of up to £7,500 to replace their fossil fuel heating system with a heat pump, is more than double the same point last year, a webinar heard Monday. In Sep. 2024 alone, there were 3,223 applications for grants — a 12% increase on the previous month, and by the end of that month, the scheme had paid out 34,438 vouchers to installers at a value of about £218.1 mln, said David Capper, director, net zero buildings – clean heat, at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The UK aims to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2028 but is woefully behind on target, needing an 11 X increase on current rates to reach it, heard the webinar on decarbonising heat in UK homes hosted by Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum. Barriers to installing more heat pumps include consumer hesitance due to cost, lack of trust, and lack of awareness, coupled with the high cost of electricity compared to gas. Many webinar speakers referred to the latter, saying that the UK needs to rebalance the cost of electricity with gas, partly by reconsidering how the cost of green levies is currently applied to electricity. Just 2% of UK homeowners currently have a heat pump — far lower than in France, where per 1,000 residents, over 600 of them have a heat pump. The UK government is also looking to expand heat networks and further investigate hydrogen as part of its plans to decarbonise residential heating.
Green advice – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recruited Philippe Lamberts, a former Green party co-leader in the European Parliament, as a personal advisor “to help to support the transition to a climate-neutral economy,” the EU executive announced on Monday. The 61-year-old Belgian national has a background in business, having spent 22 years with US computing firm IBM in the Brussels region before joining the Greens. His 15 years of experience in the European Parliament will prove useful in “building bridges between business and civil society” as well as the Greens themselves, von der Leyen said. “The cooperation with the Greens/EFA group has been constructive in the current mandate and they played an important role in securing a pro-European majority at my re-election as Commission President in July. For me, the Greens/EFA group is part of the pro-European majority in the European Parliament,” the Commission president said in a statement.
ASIA PACIFIC
H2 tax credits – The Australian government has introduced legislation to establish hydrogen production tax incentives, as part of its Future Made in Australia legislation. The Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive (HPTI) is aimed at bringing forward project development, making renewable hydrogen available sooner, and building scale to reduce production costs over time, according to a government announcement. The HPTI will provide a A$2 ($1.30) incentive per kilogram of renewable hydrogen to eligible producers for up to 10 years, between July 1, 2027 and June 30, 2040, it said. The introduction of the legislation was welcomed by The Superpower Institute, saying in the absence of a carbon price the HPTI would help level the playing field to make renewable hydrogen more economically feasible.
Preparations – Indonesia’s Ministry for the Environment is preparing regulation for capturing and using methane from palm oil industry waste, Antara News reported. Environment Minister Hanif Faisol said over the weekend that the government hoped ministerial regulation or a temporary decision from the head of the Environmental Control Agency would regulate the limited management of palm oil mill effluent into methane capture. According to the Pollution Control and Environmental damage data, the palm oil industry produces some 36 MtCO2e. Faisol added that the ministry would look into practices to capture methane that are already being used by some companies as part of efforts to prepare a road map for methane utilisation more broadly.
Recognition – The Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS) plans to sign a multilateral recognition agreement (MLA) with the International Accreditation Organization Forum (IAF) on carbon footprint verification, according to Yonhap. KOLAS, which has the authority to designate organisations that can verify carbon footprints in South Korea, expects the agreement to help Korean exporters reduce time and cost they will have to spend on overseas verification.
Forestry project – Project developer ByWill has teamed up with foresty company Kihara Zourin to create domestically issued J-Credits from forests in four prefectures, it announced Monday. ByWill will handle the offset creation procedures for around 8,300 hectares of forest in Mie, Wakayama, Okayama, and Yamaguchi prefectures. The Kihara project is expected to absorb nearly 130,000 tonnes of CO2 over 16 years through forest management activities, Bywill said.
AMERICAS
Spare EV credits – The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers, asked President-elect Donald Trump to preserve the tax credit for electric vehicles in a Nov. 12 letter. At the same time, the auto industry group asked for “reasonable and achievable federal and state emissions regulations aligned with current market realities”, suggesting potential for a rollback of stricter EPA emissions standards. Trump had campaigned on a platform opposing Biden’s EV purchase incentives, promising to eliminate the mandate, and his transition team is reportedly considering ways to eliminate the $7,500 credit for new EVs from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Politico reported last week. The EPA published its annual Automotive Trends Report on Monday, showing an uptick in EV sales and higher fuel economy averages for 2023.
VOLUNTARY
Ghana offsets – Tullow and the Ghana Forestry Commission have completed all requirements to start full-scale implementation of a joint nature-based carbon offset project, launched in May. The two parties will now engage stakeholders to finalise project details including carrying out an environmental and social impact assessment. The project, which supports Ghana’s REDD+ Strategy, will conserve and restore approximately 2 mln hectares of land in the Bono and Bono East regions, and is designed to generate up to 1 mln tonnes of certified carbon offsets annually. The initiative is key to the European oil company’s net zero strategy, allowing it to offset its hard-to-abate emissions.
How green is your grid? – Carbon registry Isometric has certified an update to the ‘Energy Use Accounting Module’ for carbon removal, detailing how to calculate emissions associated with the generation and use of electricity and heat in CDR projects. This will take into account the carbon intensity of the grid-supplied electricity supplied to carbon removal pathways such as direct air capture (DAC). The module suggests that for locations without a fully decarbonised grid, that CDR projects use instruments like Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to compensate for their grid usage. Ideally it suggests that procuring solar or wind through a PPA should be done on an hourly matching basis, even if done in a staged manner at first. DAC and hourly matching need to develop in parallel as otherwise the DAC industry won’t scale fast enough to reach climate objectives, wrote Isometric.
AVIATION
SAF signing – International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced a new sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) agreement with Infinium, with its airlines such as British Airways set to take delivery of Infinium’s power-to-liquid e-SAF from late 2026. The deal will help IAG to deliver its goal to use 10% SAF by 2030, for which it is on track, said the statement. Produced from water, waste CO2, and renewable energy, e-SAF is expected to reduce lifecycle GHG emissions by about 90% compared to today’s conventional jet fuel.
SHIPPING
Wind in its sails – Wind propulsion consultancy BAR Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mitsubishi Corporation and Nihon Shipyard, said a press release Monday. The partnership will pave the way for low-emissions vessels with BAR Technologies’ ‘WindWings’ sails to be delivered to the Japanese shipping market and for Mitsubishi to serve as agent for BAR’s WindWings technology in Japan. The agreement follows installation of BAR Technologies’ wind propulsion system onto Mitsubishi’s vessel Pyxis Ocean. The three companies see future collaboration as a way of expediting wind-assisted propulsion systems into Japanese vessel manufacturing and ultimately supplying both domestic and global markets.
AND FINALLY…
Retail therapy – Primark has reduced carbon emissions across its value chain by almost 11.6% since last year, and by 1.9% since its baseline year of 2019, the fast fashion chain announced Monday. Improvements came from actions such as the adoption of regenerative agriculture among cotton farms, and using more sustainable fabrics — two-third of clothes sold in Primark contained recycled or more sustainably sourced materials over the past 12 months, up 20% from last year. 3% of clothes sold in Primark over the past 12 months were circular by design. The chain aims to halve carbon emissions across its value chain by 2030. So far, Primark’s Scope 1 and 2 (market-based) emissions were reduced by 21% in 2024, compared to 2023, and were 52% lower than the 2019 baseline. This was achieved through energy efficiency in stores and procuring renewable and low-carbon electricity, the statement said.
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