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TOP STORY
ETS ‘fit for purpose’ for current EU targets, but may struggle long-term -report
The EU ETS is ‘fit for purpose’ to deliver the bloc’s current climate objectives, even despite the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, but it will struggle to deliver the long-term ambitions under the European Green Deal in its current shape, according to a report released Tuesday.
EMEA
Green Deal the ‘compass’ to guide EU’s post-virus recovery, urge Merkel, von der Leyen
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday reiterated her support for a more ambitious EU emissions reduction target for 2030, and along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged fellow lawmakers to ensure that the bloc’s Green Deal is a central and guiding component of Europe’s post-coronavirus recovery plan.
EU’s 2030 GHG cut goal should be 65%, says EU Parliament’s lead climate envoy
The EU should raise its 2030 emission target to a 65% cut under 1990 levels to align with the Paris Agreement, according to the lead lawmaker on the issue for the European Parliament, setting an ambition marker far higher than Brussels is planning.
Analysts double size of estimated 2020 EU ETS emissions drop from coronavirus
Emissions in the EU ETS this year will plunge by twice as much as previously thought, analysts have estimated amid predictions of a major economic contraction for the bloc in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
EU Market: EUAs hold above €20 after strong auction as technicals converge
EUAs dipped below €20 early on Tuesday amid a weakening technical outlook and sliding energy prices, but soon climbed back following a stronger auction.
EU Commission puts off scrutiny of national climate roadmaps as several are late
Brussels will delay its assessment of the bloc’s 27 National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) initially scheduled to be completed by June, as four countries have not yet submitted their own roadmaps, Croatia’s environment minister said on Tuesday.
AMERICAS
California gasoline consumption dips in January, cutting WCI carbon obligations
California gasoline consumption declined year-on-year in January while diesel sales rose over the month, but the statewide ‘shelter-in-place’ order implemented in March to quell the spread of the coronavirus is expected to cause those figures to plummet.
California legislators ask governor to resist climate policy rollback amid COVID-19
Three dozen California lawmakers asked Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday to hold firm on environmental and public health regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing industry attempts to utilise the virus outbreak to weaken those policies.
New England ISO power data suggests Q1 emissions drop due to COVID-19
New England ISO (NE-ISO) electricity generation slid during the first quarter amid the COVID-19 pandemic, likely reducing entities’ compliance obligations in the US Northeast RGGI ETS, data suggests.
ASIA PACIFIC
Guangdong the latest Chinese ETS to delay compliance over virus disruptions
China’s Guangdong province will delay the annual compliance deadline for companies in its emissions trading scheme by two months, the government said Tuesday, giving local emitters more time to finalise 2019 data verification.
Offset deliveries to Australia’s ERF rise in April despite COVID-19 restrictions
Carbon credit deliveries to the Australian government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) rose in the first three weeks of the month, Clean Energy Regulator data showed Tuesday.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
How hot – This year is on course to be the hottest on record, according to multiple meteorological organisations. There is a 50-75% chance that 2020 will break the record, which was last hit four years ago in 2016, per a separate analysis conducted by UK’s Met Office and the US Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Carbon Brief)
Coal-free stretch – The UK has gone without coal-fired power generation for its longest stretch since the Industrial Revolution, breaking the existing record of 18 consecutive days on Tuesday – some three years since the grid’s first coal-free day. The UK also set a new solar power record on Apr. 20 when solar farms generated more than 9.6 GW of electricity for the first time. (The Guardian)
Cheap & cheerful – Solar PV and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new-build generation for at least two-thirds of the global population, according to the latest analysis by BloombergNEF released today. The report shows that the global benchmark levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind and utility-scale PV has fallen 9% and 4% since the second half of 2019 – to $44 and $50/MWh, respectively. The benchmark LCOE for battery storage now sits at $150/MWh.
Summer freedom – California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said Tuesday that the state could reopen retail and manufacturing businesses in the coming weeks, giving a first glimpse of a timeline to remove his ‘shelter-in-place’ order. Newsom said the state was “weeks, not months” away from making changes to the Mar. 20 directive. WCI traders have seen the order as a bearish driver on California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices as they anticipate the state’s ETS-capped fuel sector emissions will plummet this year as a result. Market participants said the lifting of those restrictions could partly ease bearish allowance demand forecasts, but there concerns remain that a future recession could also weigh on the market. (Politico)
And finally… Masking in the glow – US adults worried about human-induced climate change report wearing face masks in public in substantially higher percentages than people who are not concerned about it, new Morning Consult polling shows. Some 54% of adults who are concerned about climate and agree with the scientific consensus on human causation said they “always” wear a mask over the past month due to the coronavirus pandemic. In contrast, among adults who say they’re not concerned about climate change, the share who report always wearing a mask drops to 30%. Experts attributed the overlap to respondents’ general scepticism of authority on science and health, an outlook more concerned with individual than community-level well-being, and partisan divides in views on both climate and the COVID-19 pandemic. (Axios)
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