Quadruple quandary – Canada needs a carbon price of C$210/tonne by 2030 if it is to meet its Paris Agreement GHG reduction target exclusively through carbon pricing, according to the final report released by think-tank Ecofiscal Commission. The organisation modelled various policy options – including carbon pricing, steeper regulations, and subsidies – and found that a more stringent carbon tax, coupled with rising rebates, would inflict the least amount of economic damage on Canadians. Ecofiscal’s preferred option would involve quadrupling the federal government’s ‘backstop’ carbon price of C$50 in 2022, with the ruling Liberal Party having not decided if it will raise the CO2 tax past that year. (CBC)

Cash stop – UniCredit, Italy’s largest bank by assets, has announced it will halt all lending for thermal coal projects by 2023. The new policy would take effect immediately but existing deals would gradually expire by 2023. Separately, French bank BNP Paribas last week announced it would cease financing thermal coal plants in the EU by 2030 and worldwide by 2040, stating that it would cease support for companies planning new projects. However, the bank’s new policy was silent on withdrawing support for coal mining or infrastructure projects and committed only to “intensify its dialogue” with utilities that operate existing coal plants. (CoalWire)

45Q quandary – New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez (D) called on the US Internal Revenue Services’ (IRS) watchdog to open an investigation into potentially fraudulent claims for federal ‘45Q’ carbon capture and storage tax credits. In a letter dated Nov. 19 to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, Menendez wrote that publicly available data showed the vast majority of 45Q credits have come without proper monitoring, reporting, and verification systems in place for storing the carbon, potentially allowing companies to claim millions of dollars while being out of compliance. (Politico)

PAF payments – The World Bank has made the fourth repayment of bonds issued under the Pilot Auction Facility for Methane and Climate Change Mitigation (PAF) in exchange for eligible emission reductions. The repayment amount of $13 million is linked to the reduction of emissions from methane and N2O at 20 project sites in Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, and Thailand, representing over 5 Mt of eligible carbon credits. The PAF is an innovative program introduced in 2015 that uses auctions and price guarantees, delivered in the form of bonds, to promote private sector investment in climate action. To date, $37.3 mln has been paid to investors in exchange for carbon credits representing 14.1 Mt CO2. The PAF recently announced that it will host a fourth auction next year that will focus on methane-reducing projects from landfill, animal waste, and wastewater sites. (Devdiscourse)

In memoriam – William Ruckelshaus, the first head of the US EPA and a key figure in the Watergate scandal, passed away on Wednesday. Ruckelshaus started as EPA administrator during the agency’s inception in 1970, guiding the it through the enactment of the first federal environment statutes. However, Ruckelshaus is perhaps best known for his role in the Watergate scandal and the “Saturday Night Massacre of 1973”. While serving as deputy attorney general, Ruckelshaus, along with Attorney General Elliot Richardson, refused to carry out President Richard Nixon’s (R) orders to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was investigating the scandal that ultimately forced Nixon from office. (CNN)