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TOP STORY
New York set to finalise RGGI regulation this fall –source
New York is expected to finalise draft regulations over the next two months to implement the post-2020 Model Rule for the Northeast US RGGI carbon market, a regulatory source told Carbon Pulse.
ASIA PACIFIC
ADB warns of major hurdles for effective carbon pricing in Asia
Asia’s ability to deploy carbon pricing instruments to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions at a lower cost remains hamstrung by regulatory shortcomings and a lack of success in attracting private sector finance, according to an Asian Development Bank think-tank.
AMERICAS
Speculators increased RGGI holdings in Q2 2019 -report
Speculators’ RGGI allowance (RGAs) holdings rose during the second quarter of 2019 as trading activity also increased in the Northeast US ETS, according to a new report.
Canadian Conservative climate plan seen missing Paris target by nearly 200 Mt -report
The Canadian federal Conservatives’ climate plan would take the country even further off its Paris Agreement GHG target by scrapping or altering a variety of CO2 pricing and clean fuel measures and replacing them with negligible or difficult-to-measure initiatives, according to a new policy brief.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs sink towards €26 after again failing to hold early gains
EU carbon prices slumped back towards €26 on Wednesday, reversing course for a second straight day after nearing €27 in a supply-starved morning.
VOLUNTARY
Voluntary climate initiative sees 46 firms commit to set tougher goals
Forty-six companies worth $2.2 trillion have signed up to set tougher climate goals under the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) ahead of an October ratcheting up of ambition.
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SAVE THE DATE
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Summit snub – President Donald Trump will skip UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ Sep. 23 Climate Action Summit in New York, three senior US officials told McClatchy. While one official said the situation could change as the summit draws nearer, an EPA spokesperson confirmed that agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler will participate “in part of the summit to highlight America’s environmental progress”. It remains unclear whether Kelly Craft, the country’s new UN ambassador who is navigating ethics obligations regarding her involvement in fossil fuel matters, will attend the conference.
Climate tracking – Chile, this year’s host of the December UN COP25 climate talks, will begin budgeting for “climate expenditures” in its government budgets beginning in 2020 as receding glaciers and drought put a squeeze on water and natural resources in the world’s top copper producer. The UN-sponsored methodology, called the Climate Public Expenditures and Institutional Review (CPEIR), is already applied in more than 30 countries, including Colombia and Ecuador. (Reuters)
Example-setting – Nordic prime ministers and business leaders signed a joint declaration to promote public-private partnerships. It said the region must lead by example and such partnerships were needed to make it a leader in combating climate change and achieving a more sustainable society. Business signatories included the CEOs of Equinor, Nokia, Storebrand, Telenor, Telia, Vestas, SAS and Yara. (Reuters)
Flight friends – Chicago-based United Airlines and US green group Environmental Defense Fund on Wednesday announced a partnership to develop a roadmap for the airliner’s 2050 GHG reduction target and goals under the global aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA. In a press release, the entities said that EDF will work with United to meet the company’s goal of slashing emissions 50% below 2005 levels by mid-century. They will also work to identify high-quality carbon offsets for the airline’s compliance with UN aviation body’s CORSIA programme, which begins in 2021.
Mercedes friends – California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday confirmed anonymously sourced reporting from The New York Times that Mercedes-Benz will join the vehicle emissions standards agreement inked between the Golden State and four other automakers forged last month. The deal would provide a middle ground in ramping up vehicle GHG standards between the Trump administration’s proposed rollback and the higher targets for Model Years 2022-2025 agreed during President Obama’s tenure. The New York Times also reported that either GM, Toyota, or Fiat-Chrysler intends to comply with the rules for at least the next four years, while Gov. Newsom told The Los Angeles Times that discussions are underway with a sixth major automaker. (Axios)
On the seventh plan, he rested – US Democratic presidential candidate and Washington state Governor Jay Inslee released his sixth and final climate plan on Wednesday, with this iteration focused on “Growing Rural Prosperity”. Inslee’s latest plan outlined paying farmers for practices that maintain soil carbon, with performance-based payments for on-farm carbon removal and the establishment of markets that reward this practice. The governor also said he would halt and reverse the Trump administration’s “rampant practice” of granting compliance waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and would use existing and federal authorities to transform the federal biofuels market after 2022 into a Clean and Renewable Fuels Standard (CRFS) that promotes low-carbon biofuels and electricity to lower emissions in the transportation sector. Inslee, who has centred his entire campaign on climate change, did not meet the 2% polling threshold to participate in CNN’s climate change town hall on Sep. 4.
And finally… I was saying Boo-lsonaro – Concerns over far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policy came to pass again this week, as the country’s space research centre INPE reported Tuesday that over 9,500 new fires started across the nation since last Thursday. That brings the total number of fires detected by the agency this year to a record 72,000, with an INPE researcher saying that the Amazon region has not experienced an abnormally warm or dry season that would lead to the mass conflagrations. Instead, the researcher said that the fires require the work of humans to begin, with the unprecedented surge having occurred since Bolsonaro took office in January vowing to develop the rainforest for farming and mining. The international outcry, which ramped up after Bolsonaro fired INPE’s director earlier this month over what the president said were inaccurate deforestation statistics, culminated in a hostile welcome for Brazilian environment minister Ricardo Salles at the UN’s Latin America Climate Week in Salvador on Wednesday. (Climate Home)
Brutal reception for Brazil’s environment minister @rsallesmma at the UN’s Latin America #climate week… burning forests, dying bees – not a great record pic.twitter.com/oWoe8z48oG
— Ed King (@edking_I) August 21, 2019
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