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TOP STORY
California considers LCFS price ceiling, advance crediting system
California regulator ARB is proposing to establish a “firm maximum” price for Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits and an advance crediting mechanism to bolster the programme’s existing cost containment provisions, officials said at a workshop on Friday.
AMERICAS
California allowance oversupply should be advisory body’s top priority -legislator
California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) should focus its attention on the WCI programme’s allowance oversupply and provide concrete remedies if a problem if determined, along with examining the state’s current forestry offset protocol, a legislator said Friday.
US court strikes down additional Obama-era HFC regulations
A US appeals court on Friday threw out parts of a 2016 EPA regulation limiting the use of HFCs, coming nearly two years after the same court overturned another Obama-era regulation governing the high global warming potential gases.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia could face pressure to cancel ERF contracts, expert warns
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator would likely come under pressure to cancel Emission Reductions Fund contracts under a new government, as Labor’s climate policy would push up secondary market ACCU prices, a legal expert has warned.
Queensland government funds projects to boost state offset market
The Queensland government has allocated A$1 million ($710,000) under its Land Restoration Fund to six pilot projects designed to help develop the Australian state’s carbon offset market.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Apr. 5, 2019
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
EMEA
EU Market: Energy gains, spec buying help EUAs touch new 2.5-mth high
This week’s surge in EUA prices slowed on Friday, though strong gains in key energy contracts and more speculative buying still helped push carbon to a new 2.5-year high to leave it with a 14% weekly gain.
Emitter buying in German auctions hits 9-mth low in February -report
Emitter buying in Germany’s weekly EUA auctions fell to a nine-month low in February, a report released Friday showed.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Destination: ‘Straya – In the seventh article in a series on how key emitters are responding to climate change, Carbon Brief looks at Australia’s complex climate politics and rising fossil fuel exports. Australia had the world’s 15th largest GHG emissions in 2015 and its citizens’ per-capita contribution is around three times the global average. The country is currently off track to meet its Paris Agreement NDC of cutting GHGs by 26-28% by 2030 over 2005 levels, though the poll-leading opposition Labor Party said it will toughen that emissions target and set up a carbon market if it wins the May election (See Carbon Pulse’s article here).
Study support – Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (D) supports allowing his administration to formally study a petition that would impose an economy-wide cap-and-trade programme in the Keystone State, AP reports. However, Wolf’s office said the governor is not taking a position on the roughly 400-page petition itself, which is scheduled for a preliminary vote Apr. 16 before Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board. A yes vote would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to study the petition and decide whether to recommend it for rule-making process, which requires another vote.
Green cash – A group of international banks has launched a $1 billion green finance facility for the ASEAN countries that will offer loans and technical assistance for sovereign projects in Southeast Asian nations in areas such as sustainable transport and clean energy, Reuters reports. The financiers include the Asian Development Bank, the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, KfW, the European Investment Bank, and the French development agency.
Choke hold – The EU has charged German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen with colluding to block the roll-out of emissions cleaning technology in a move that could lead to fines of up to 10% of their global turnover. It said the collusion occurred between 2006 to 2014 and took place during the carmakers’ technical meetings. (Reuters)
Scientists: assemble! – A US government climate change advisory panel that was disbanded by President Trump has called for better adaptation to the impacts of rising temperatures, the Guardian reports. The Trump administration scrapped the 15-person “Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment” in 2017. It has now reconvened at the invitation of New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, with support from Columbia University and the American Meteorological Society. (Carbon Brief)
Flying start – Specialist emissions verifier Verifavia has become the first to announce its worldwide accreditation under ICAO’s global aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA after gaining approval via Singapore. Airlines annual emissions above 10,000 Mt are required to have independently audited emissions monitored from this year and report them to the relevant administering authority in their country of registration. See Carbon Pulse’s CORSIA dossier for more information about the programme.
Singapore sling – The June 4-7 Innovate4Climate climate finance conference in Singapore has published its agenda, with the final of the four days focused on carbon markets. It features environment ministry officials and market participants from China, Korea and Japan as well as an Article 6-focused session with officials from Chile, Shell and several multilateral development banks.
And finally… Coral collapse – Climate change is hampering the birth of new corals in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, according to new research. A study published this week in the journal Nature found that new corals on the reef have plummeted by 89% since two major back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017, demonstrating how climate change is pushing coral ecosystems towards “ecological collapse”. “We never thought we’d see this happen,” lead author Andrew Baird told The New York Times. “We thought the Barrier Reef was too big to fail, but it’s not.” (Climate Nexus)
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