**Due to a public holiday in the UK and US, no CP Daily will be published on Monday, May 27**
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
ICAO to limit CORSIA meeting attendance to aviation programme’s technical body
UN aviation body ICAO will restrict attendance at technical meetings for the CORSIA offsetting programme to members of the scheme’s 19-person advisory board, rebuking a central demand of environmental groups that have called for greater outside participation and transparency in developing the international carbon market.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs dip as UK PM exit stokes Brexit doubts, posting 1.9% weekly rise
EUAs fell on Friday to unravel more of what remained of the week’s gains as the UK Prime Minister’s resignation stoked Brexit uncertainty and bearish sentiment despite an auction-starved week ahead.
AMERICAS
US Carbon Pricing Roundup for week ending May 24
A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level taken this week, including the push to finish Oregon’s WCI-modelled cap-and-trade proposal, Maryland’s governor proposing an alternative method of achieving 100% clean electricity, and several developments related to compliance waivers and proposed biofuel credit trading reforms under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
ASIA PACIFIC
Utility AGL biggest earner in Australia’s latest offset issuance
Australia’s biggest-emitting company earned the lion’s share of this week’s newly issued carbon credits, receiving over 140,000 offsets.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending May 24, 2019
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
VOLUNTARY
World-first CO2 removal auction fetches average price higher than EU ETS
GHG removal credits were sold for an average €26.92 on Friday on a platform led by Finnish utility Fortum, the first of three pioneering auctions designed to test the trade in the voluntary carbon market.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Tax first – South Africa will begin applying its 120 rand ($8.97) per tonne CO2 tax on June 1 after being officially gazetted on Thursday. Under the carbon tax, the first on the African continent, all emitters will face an effective rate of R6-48/tonne based on the suite of exemptions available and the admissibility of offsets, with some companies able to reduce their tax burdens by as much as 95%. The implementation will come nearly a decade after the tax was first floated in 2010. (For more information, see Carbon Pulse’s most recent article here).
Messy methane – Atmospheric methane levels are on the rise and could endanger the GHG goals of the Paris Agreement, scientists warned this week. Researchers with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that methane growth rates have increased by 50% between 2013 and 2018 compared to the five-year period prior to that. While the scientists said that the sources of this specific surge are unknown, they point to the “urgent need” to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production. (Climate Nexus)
No more cash for you – China confirmed Friday that subsidies to onshore wind farms will drop to zero from next year, whereas subsidy rates for new projects this year will be reduced and those that want to be connected to the grid must pay the feed-in tariff. The phase-out has been expected for some time as China wants its renewables sector to be more competitive, and is among the main reasons the government is in the process of setting up a renewable energy credit trading system to support the industry.
Like to LEAD – A bipartisan group of US senators on Thursday introduced the LEADING Act as part of a large rollout of energy bills by Senate Republicans. The bill would spur research and development of carbon capture technology for natural gas power plants by requiring the Department of Energy to establish a programme for developing cost-effective carbon capture technologies, while also including participation by the national laboratories, universities, and the private sector. (Politico)
And finally… Striking hot – Hundreds of thousands of children and young people across the world today walked out of lessons to call for more climate action in what is likely to be the largest strike yet. Climate strikes are planned in more than 1,400 cities in over 110 countries, with organisers saying numbers could top the 1.4 million seen in the last global day of strikes in March. (The Guardian)
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