Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s free newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here

TOP STORY

California’s response to ETS oversupply leaves lawmakers debating action -senator

California legislators may take action on the WCI cap-and-trade programme’s growing allowance oversupply if state regulator ARB refuses to do so, a state senator told Carbon Pulse.

AMERICAS

US grid operator PJM to take up carbon pricing study

A committee of the US wholesale electricity market operator PJM on Thursday voted to assess methods of integrating a carbon price in the 14-jurisdiction market, a policy that could alleviate concerns about emissions leakage in the northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme.

California defends forestry offset protocol amid academic criticism

California officials on Thursday offered a strong rebuke to an academic report that claims California’s forestry protocol under its carbon market inflates the amount of emission reductions that have occurred, arguing the study did not fully understand the protocol or leakage risk.

Mexico to re-release pilot ETS rules next month as it prepares for 2020 market launch

Mexico will re-release draft rules for its pilot carbon market in mid-May, a government official said Thursday, which will kick off a consultation process that will help the government finalise them ahead of the scheduled Jan. 2020 launch of the scheme.

Ottawa still committed to implementing its large emitter programme in Ontario -official

The Canadian government is still planning to impose its ‘backstop’ output-based pricing system (OBPS) on Ontario emitters despite the province having said it will create its own regulation for large installations in place of the national mechanism, a federal official confirmed Thursday.

*Due to attending multiple carbon pricing conferences on Thursday, Carbon Pulse will publish its NA Markets report on Friday*

EMEA

Iberdrola’s remaining EU ETS-based output jumps 22% in Q1, Vattenfall profits rise as clean generation thrives on higher CO2 costs

Spain-based utility Iberdrola reported a 22% hike in its remaining ETS-regulated thermal output over Q1 as gas-fired production replaced hydro, the company said in financial results on Thursday.

Campaigners put EU industry in crosshairs after years of flatlining emissions

EU industry’s free allocation of carbon allowances must be phased out urgently as part of a wide-ranging industry climate policy framework to ensure the sector decarbonises following years of flatlining emissions, campaigners Carbon Market Watch said on Thursday.

EU Market: EUAs dip but keep within range of 11-year high

EUAs lost more ground on Thursday but kept within sight of their 11-year highs near €28 in choppy, technically-bound trade amid bullish energy signals.

ASIA PACIFIC

SK Market: Korean CO2 prices rise to all-time highs on lack of supply

Carbon prices in South Korea’s emissions trading scheme rose to all-time highs on Thursday as the ongoing supply drought continued to push up prices.

———————————

BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Vested response – French President Emmanuel Macron pledged “significant” tax cuts but said the French would have to work longer, speaking in a 2.5-hour response to months of ‘yellow vest’ anti-government protests that have shaken his authority and following three months of a public “Grand Debate”. In a speech that often lacked policy detail, Macron seemed to punt the responsibility for tackling climate change over to the EU, re-affirming his long-held positions of proposing an EU carbon tax, a carbon price floor, and “more ambitious green finance” policy at the EU level. “The climate has to be at the heart of the national and the European project,” he said, according to Politico. Read Carbon Pulse’s latest on how France could move to a floating carbon tax linked to oil prices, or a flat levy rather than the predetermined annual increase the government postponed following the start of the protests.

Chop chop – Some 12 mln hectares of pristine tropical rainforest were destroyed in 2018, according to satellite analysis from researchers Global Forest Watch, with beef, chocolate, and palm oil among the main causes. It also confirmed that deforestation is still on an upward trend, though 2018 losses were lower than in 2016 and 2017 when dry conditions led to large fires.  (The Guardian)

Capture pressure – Britain must commit to building CCUS projects it will need to meet the UK’s existing 80% 2050 climate target at least cost, with the technology vital for a zero emissions target to be achieved, a report by cross-party MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee found. Britain last year said it plans to develop the country’s first large-scale CCS project by the mid-2020s but the MPs said the government should aim to develop at least three sites by 2025. (Reuters)

Canada carbon cash – The Canadian federal government will take in C$2.6 bln this year and more than C$6 bln per year after five years from the ‘backstop’ carbon pricing plan, according to new analysis by the parliamentary budget office. The report says lower-income households will benefit the most from these payouts, while wealthier people will bear the brunt of increased costs of energy and consumer goods from the initiative. The projected revenue includes monies from both the C$20/tonne carbon levy on fossil fuels that took effect on Apr. 1, as well as the output-based pricing system (OBPS) for large emitters. (The Canadian Press)

Tell us what you want – Japan’s environment ministry on Thursday put the government’s new draft long-term climate change proposal out for public comment. The consultation period will run until May 15, and Japan wants to be able to present the final strategy at the June G20 meeting in Osaka. In the draft, the government has avoided measures such as carbon pricing or sector/company-level targets, focusing instead on technology development, including space-based solar energy.

And finally… Pipe doom – More than half of the world’s new oil and gas pipelines are located in North America, with a boom in US oil and gas drilling set to deliver a major blow to efforts to slow climate change, a new report has found. Of a total 302 pipelines in some stage of development around the world, 51% are in North America, according to Global Energy Monitor, which tracks fossil fuel activity. A total of $232.5 bln in capital spending has been funneled into these North American pipeline projects, with more than $1 trillion committed towards all oil and gas infrastructure. If built, these projects would increase the global number of pipelines by nearly a third and mark out a path of several decades of substantial oil and gas use. In the US alone, the natural-gas output enabled by the pipelines would result in an additional 559m tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide each year by 2040, above 2017 levels, according to Global Energy Monitor, citing International Energy Agency figures. (The Guardian)

Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com