- 23:45 GMTCalifornia power sector CO2 emissions continued to drop in March, albeit at a slower rate amid an increase in electricity use, state data showed.
- 23:40 GMTExxon knows - ExxonMobil remains committed to its low-carbon solutions, CEO Darren Woods said on an earnings call Friday. The oil and gas giant expects to generate $1 bln in earnings by 2030 from its investments in the division, the majority of which is attributed to CCS. Exxon CFO Kathryn Mikells said that low-carbon solutions constituted 10% of the company's total capital expenditures from 2024 through to 2030, totalling roughly $30 bln. Mikells said that CCS is overall progressing well and the company will soon be bringing on its first customer. She pointed to Exxon’s possession of permanent storage and continued drilling of wells and monitoring measures to be put in place as evidence of progress. Last week, competitor BP reported a plunge in profits following its pivot back to fossil fuels.
- 23:35 GMTThe monetary benefits of a new conservation bond are considered secondary to the relationship connecting investors to the land, said a financial conservation expert in an interview with Carbon Pulse.
- 23:27 GMTLawmakers in Maine this month introduced legislation to update the state’s renewable electricity sales targets, in part by enabling a new category for clean resources to fulfil a portion of the supply.
- 22:48 GMTCrude costs - A coalition of environmental groups, youth advocates, and community leaders urged Maine lawmakers on Monday to pass LD 1870, a bill that would establish a state-level climate superfund requiring oil and gas companies to pay for climate-related damages in the state. The bill would use payments from major GHG emitters to fund local adaptation and preparedness efforts. Similar legislation has recently passed in Vermont and New York, but have increasingly faced legal challenges.
- 22:47 GMTNew hire - Noah McQueen has joined Carbon180, a US-based climate NGO focused on carbon removal policy and research, as Director of Science and Innovation. McQueen is a climate scientist, systems strategist, and the cofounder of Heirloom, where they helped scale one of the world’s first direct air capture technologies.
- 22:45 GMTExtradition granted - A British court has agreed to extradite Amit Forlit, an Israeli citizen US prosecutors are investigating for hacking environmentalists who support climate change, E&E News reported. The outlet said Forlit’s attorneys publicly linked ExxonMobil and the lobbying firm DCI Group to a hacking campaign to steal information from environmental activists who helped US states and cities sue energy companies for contributing to climate change.
- 22:43 GMTFleet-focused future - ZM Trucks, the North American arm of zero-emission vehicle manufacturer ZO Motors, has partnered with US-based fleet consultancy The Merlin Group to accelerate the transition of large, multi-state commercial fleets from internal combustion engine vehicles to battery electric alternatives. The collaboration aims to support ZM Trucks’ strategy to offer end-to-end vehicle solutions, including factory upfitting, digital fleet management, incentive guidance, charging infrastructure, and financing.
- 21:53 GMTA series of developments across Latin America and the Caribbean over the past two weeks signalled fresh momentum for carbon finance and market mechanisms as governments, standards bodies, and the private sector moved forward on a range of initiatives.
- 21:12 GMTTwo US islands appear to be taking different approaches to weathering the US Department of Justice’s anti-climate lawsuit campaign.
- 20:54 GMTWhere does the money go? – Representatives from California agencies will hold a media briefing at 1200 EST (1600 GMT) on May 7 on the state’s Climate Investments Report, which details investments supported by the cap-and-trade programme. The report said revenue from the scheme supported 12,000 new projects using $1.9 bln in funding in 2024. The programme has also delivered $15 bln in rebates to utility customers, it added. The report emerges as ARB navigates multiple challenges surrounding the ETS, including concerns about its cost impacts, delays to updates, and attacks from the Trump administration, while state lawmakers look to reauthorise the scheme beyond 2030.
- 20:34 GMTA coalition of 24 US state attorneys, led by West Virginia, filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to block Vermont’s newly enacted Climate Superfund Act, arguing that the law imposed unconstitutional and retroactive penalties on out-of-state energy producers.
- Seagrass conservation projects offer the highest carbon credit potential among four methods studied, with a 100-hectare site projected to earn up to $1.53 million over 10 years, according to a new report.
- 15:09 GMTVoluntary carbon prices were little changed little last week, despite the official launch of the VCMI’s new Scope 3 action code that highlighted a market caught in limbo by the ongoing lack of Core Carbon Principles (CCPs)-stamped credits.
- Protocol revision - California-based registry Climate Action Reserve (CAR) is seeking feedback on a draft update to its US Nitric Acid Production Protocol. Version 3.0 proposes expanded eligibility for combined secondary and tertiary catalyst projects, as well as added safeguards. Comments are due by May 29, with a public webinar set for May 13.
- 14:23 GMTVerra now has its sights set on approval of more of its methodologies by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), as well as scaling supply eligible for the UN's CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme, an executive told Carbon Pulse.
- 13:06 GMTNo surprises - A leaked UN document reveals that the US under President Donald Trump's administration is actively working to weaken global development finance efforts aimed at assisting developing countries in addressing challenges such as climate change, Reuters reports. The document, prepared ahead of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) scheduled for June in Seville, Spain, indicates that the Washington opposes proposed reforms related to international taxation, fossil fuel subsidy reductions, and changes to credit-rating systems intended to benefit poorer nations.
- 07:00 GMTIt is Friday, June 14, 2019 and I am in the Vatican waiting for the Pope to make his entrance.
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