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TOP STORY

ICAO moves toward long-term GHG goal, CORSIA launch despite opposition from 25 nations

ICAO’s Assembly on Friday backed the progression of work on setting a long-term emissions target for aviation and to advance the UN body’s CORSIA global offsetting mechanism towards operationalisation, though a fifth of the countries in attendance voted against the two resolutions in a surprise secret ballot.

INTERNATIONAL

Norway to release forestry cash to Guyana after renewable energy commitment

Norway has agreed to release the final $50 million of its forestry protection payments to Guyana after the South American nation agreed to increase its renewable energy use.

EMEA

Observers expect EU to work backwards on ramping up climate ambition

A fast-track EU climate bill will propose a net zero 2050 emission goal early next year but is expected to omit any ramping up of the 2030 target, observers said Friday.

EU Market: EUAs extend losses to hit new 6-month low, notch 9.3% weekly drop

European carbon prices dropped for a third day to hit a fresh six-month low on Friday, testing another major technical support as technical sellers and bearish factors continued to weigh.

ASIA PACIFIC

South Korea plans tighter CO2 caps for ETS companies next decade

South Korea plans to reduce the number of allowances issued to participants in its emissions trading scheme over the 2020s as part of its strategy to meet Paris Agreement obligations, according to a draft government climate plan.

AMERICAS

WCI allowance surplus edges closer to 200 mln during Q3

The WCI cap-and-trade programme’s allowance surplus rose towards the 200 million mark during the third quarter of 2019, while California and Quebec regulated entities shifted additional units into compliance accounts ahead of the November deadline, according to the carbon market’s joint compliance report published Friday.

Trump administration to mull increasing 2020 biofuel quotas, further examine RIN reform

President Donald Trump on Friday tasked two federal agencies with taking steps to elevate next year’s biofuel quotas under the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), also requesting that the departments continue to evaluate credit market reforms after previous proposals were shelved this year.

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Rick roll – US energy secretary Rick Perry will announce his resignation from the Trump administration by the end of November, three anonymous sources told Politico. The former Texas governor has drawn scrutiny recently because he led the US delegation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inauguration in May, a visit that came as the administration was trying to determine whether the new leader would be amenable to Trump’s demands, according to a whistleblower’s report that the White House released last week. Yet two of the sources said the scandal was unrelated to Perry’s departure, which they said he has been planning for several months.

Sweeping car ban – Denmark, backed by 10 other EU countries, has called for a strategy to phase out diesel and petrol cars by 2030 at a Council meeting of the bloc’s environment ministers. Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and several other countries however suggested that more must be done to stop the “carbon leakage” of selling second-hand autos from western Europe to the eastern region. (Reuters)

We’re out – Lloyd’s of London insurer Axis Capital has become the latest to rule itself out of providing coverage for Adani Enterprises’ contentious Carmichael coal mine project in Australia, withdrawing its quote for insurance of the mine’s railway, a source close to the company told Reuters. The insurer will publish a formal policy to cut its exposure to coal more broadly in the weeks ahead, the source added. Axis joins a growing list of global insurers to refuse to insure the project, which received the green light from Canberra in June despite fierce opposition from environmental groups. Queensland-based Carmichael mine is expected to chalk up annual production of 8-10 Mt of thermal coal, responsible for a large slice of the world’s carbon emissions.

Chevron’s chipping in – Chevron aims to reduce the intensity of emissions from its oil production by 5% to 10% over a seven-year period ending 2023 as part of an ongoing effort to combat climate change, the US energy major said on Thursday. Chevron, part of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) along with Exxon Mobil and BP, said it will also target a reduction of 2-5% in GHG emissions intensity from gas production over the same period. However, Chevron’s goals do not include plans to cut Scope 3 emissions, or those from its customer’s use of its fuels and other products. (Reuters)

Border buds – Washington Governor Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan announced the new Joint Clean Grid Initiative on stage at the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference in Seattle Thursday. The initiative will establish a working group with representatives of the two governments that will study ways to align BC and Washington’s efforts to transition to an energy grid powered by 100 percent renewable sources. That working group will then establish a Clean Grid Action Plan for the region with input from industry experts, research institutions, and other stakeholders. (GeekWire)

Steel supports – The German steel industry should receive billions in government support to become climate neutral, according to the state premier of Saarland in a letter to Chancellor and CDU party colleague Angela Merkel. Tobias Hans said “if we have €40 billion to phase out coal-fired power generation in the name of climate action, we must also be able to raise a billion-euro sum without double figures to lead our steel industry into a climate-neutral future”. He warned against allowing steel production to migrate to countries with fewer ecological and social standards, thus doing climate action a disservice. “Clean Energy Wire, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

And finally… That’s a lot of ketchup – One of the UK’s largest clean energy funds Greencoat Capital has revealed plans to invest £120 million in a pair of stadium-sized low-carbon greenhouses in eastern England, large enough to grow 20 tonnes of tomatoes a day or 10% of the UK’s homegrown crop. They will use the heat from utility Anglian Water’s water treatment facilities. CO2 emissions from an on-site electricity plant will also be funnelled into the greenhouses for the plants to absorb and help the site to produce vegetables with a quarter of the carbon footprint of regular greenhouses. (The Guardian)

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