*** COMING JUNE 18: Carbon Fast Forward – Online ***
A virtual conference bringing in-depth insights to help navigate the vast uncertainty cast over environmental markets by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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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
Eight offset programmes apply for CORSIA aviation mechanism during second intake
UN aviation body ICAO’s expert panel will consider eight additional emissions unit programmes for the global offsetting mechanism CORSIA, with the submissions ranging from Kyoto-era crediting methodologies to jurisdictional-scale forest and land-use activities to an unauthorised application to incorporate the Northeast US RGGI carbon market.
AVIATION
EU seen backing CORSIA baseline changes, sinking prospects for airline offset buying
EU nations are expected to side with European Commission proposals to modify the emissions baseline for the UN’s CORSIA international flight offsetting mechanism this week, even as the bloc’s executive expects the changes to eliminate airlines’ buying requirements until the mid-2020s.
UN must uphold CORSIA rules to avoid delaying airlines’ climate action, say campaigners, offset providers
Governments must ignore airlines’ pleas to modify the UN’s CORSIA international flight offsetting mechanism in the wake of the coronavirus impact because weakening the existing rules would set the sector’s climate action efforts back many years, campaigners and offset industry players urged on Monday.
PODCAST
CARBON PULSE CONVERSATIONS 010: Biofilica
In the latest instalment of our Carbon Pulse Conversations podcast, we chat with Plinio Ribeiro, CEO of Brazil-based offset project developer Biofilica, about COVID-19 related impacts on the REDD credit market and the outlook for compliance and voluntary market-based programmes both internationally and in Brazil.
EMEA
New EU shipping emissions data reflects sector’s global reach, potentially presaging ETS inclusion
Around two-thirds of emissions from ships using European Economic Area (EEA) ports are from voyages to or from countries outside that region, EU data has confirmed, in findings that reflect how the bloc’s future climate regulations could affect trade far beyond EU waters.
EU Market: EUAs set new one-month high above €22 as technicals point upwards
EUAs broke above €22 for the first time in a month on Tuesday as bullish technical signals helped spur momentum despite an uptick in supply following a three-session auction pause.
AMERICAS
California lawmakers advance proposal for earlier rulemaking on ETS surplus
California legislators passed budget language in a subcommittee Sunday requiring regulator ARB to conduct rulemaking that considers improvements to the state’s cap-and-trade scheme, including a mechanism to address the WCI allowance oversupply.
NA Markets: California carbon prices increase on ETS-related budget language
California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices rose Tuesday morning as traders saw a bullish outlook from legislators advancing budget language this weekend that would require regulator ARB to conduct a cap-and-trade programme rulemaking by next year.
ASIA PACIFIC
China coal integration plan raises questions for carbon market
China has announced major merger plans in the coal sector to pave the way for shutting down over-capacity, raising questions about its intensity-based approach to doling out CO2 allowances under its emissions trading scheme.
Japan, ADB extend carbon market partnership
Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have extended by three years their cooperation on climate change and carbon markets, including the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).
Veolia sells A$2.9 million worth of carbon credits to Australia’s ERF
Veolia’s Australian subsidiary has delivered 220,000 offsets to the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), worth almost A$2.9 million ($1.9 mln).
INTERNATIONAL
UK proposes Nov. 2021 for rescheduled COP26 climate talks
Britain has asked the UN climate agency to reschedule the delayed COP26 summit in Glasgow for November 2021 in order to further mitigate the impacts of coronavirus pandemic, with a decision slated for later this week.
World Bank Group launches tender to buy almost 200k carbon offsets
The World Bank Group has launched a request for proposals (RFP) to buy almost 200,000 carbon credits to offset the organisation’s emissions.
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Job listings this week
- Head of Climate Policy, Green Alliance – London
- Analyst, Climate Action 100+, IGCC – Sydney/Melbourne
- Program Promotions and Communications Manager, C40 Cities – Beijing
Or click here to see all our job adverts
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Gas matters – Eight EU countries – Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia – have urged the EU not to exclude gas in future funding, as the bloc’s executive prepares to unveil Wednesday its plan for a green economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic alongside its trillion-euro proposal for the bloc’s next budget. Drafts of the plan have only earmarked funding for gas projects that use CCS or repurpose pipelines to carry hydrogen even though the EIB has already pledged to stop funding most gas projects after 2021. (Reuters)
Czech U-turn – A draft statement from the Czech government calls on the EU economic recovery plan and long-term budget to fall in line with the European Green Deal, marking a U-turn from Prague’s earlier positions saying coronavirus measures should pause climate efforts. Despite the change of tone, the Czech government still voiced concerns about the bloc’s higher climate ambitions for 2030, reserving its final position based on the outcome of an EU impact study, which Prague insists should incorporate the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. (EurActiv)
Coal critique – Experts have criticised the German government’s draft coal exit law for deviating from the compromise found by the cross-stakeholder coal commission in early 2019. NGOs and researchers said changing market conditions mean that the text effectively prolongs coal use in Germany beyond what would otherwise be economically viable thanks to compensation payments. Industry said the proposal did not provide binding compensation for rising power prices. Consultancy Aurora Energy Research said instead of fixing payments, lawmakers should link it to the development of power and EU ETS allowance prices. (Clean Energy Wire)
Date with Datteln – German utility Uniper’s new Datteln 4 coal-fired power station will begin operating on May 30, the company said on Tuesday. The 1,050MW plant that has cost Uniper €1.5 bln was granted an exemption from Germany’s plan to exit coal power by 2038 after the company argued that it made more sense to shut old capacity with high CO2 emissions to clear the way for state-of-the-art Datteln to operate into the 2030s. Environmentalists have criticised the compromise, saying the government lacked ambition and allowed coal operators to get off lightly. The plant was meant to start production in 2011 but was held back by the environmental debate and by damages to its boiler during component tests. (Reuters)
Stringy strings – Germany has agreed a €9 billion deal to save flag carrier Lufthansa, taking a 20% share to turn the German government into the single largest shareholder in Europe’s second-largest airline. As with other airline rescues, the emphasis is on keeping the company going, and less on environmental goals like cutting emissions. The deal involves only a cursory reference to Lufthansa agreeing to continue with its “sustainability goals” but stops short of mandating a greener way forward. (Politico)
Danish hydrogen – Danish firms including Copenhagen Airports, shipbuilder Moller-Maersk, ferry firm DFDS, airline SAS, and utility Orsted have teamed up to jointly develop a new green hydrogen and e-fuel production facility as soon as 2023. When fully scaled-up by 2030, the proponents believe the project could deliver more than 250,000 tonnes of sustainable fuel for buses, trucks, maritime vessels, and airplanes every year. Production would potentially be based on a total electrolyser capacity of 1.3 GW, likely one of the world’s largest facilities of its kind with production reducing annual emissions by 850,000 tonnes. (Financial Times)
Speed demons – German luxury automaker Daimler said it aimed to reach carbon neutral production of passenger cars worldwide by 2022, expanding its previous goal applying just to Europe, Reuters reports. That plan involves using 100% renewables from 2022 and buying offsets to cover its process emissions. Daimler’s climate plans still involve the production of fossil fuel-powered cars for another 19 years.
Not happening – Australia will reconfirm its old Paris target of a 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030 ahead of the next UN climate conference and won’t set any new targets until 2025, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor has told parliament, according to the Guardian. The opposition had asked the minister whether the ruling Coalition would up its target after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had urged all nations to do so, but heard that the next NDC would simply outline how Australia would meet the target it pledged in Paris in 2015.
Stringent stability – The trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which includes automakers and vehicle parts manufacturers, on Friday moved to defend the US EPA’s auto emissions rollback – from a libertarian think-tank that argues the weakened rule is still too stringent. Increasing the standards’ stringency gives the industry a “return on its investment in advanced emissions-reduction and fuel economy technologies,” as well as public health and environmental benefits, the Alliance argued as it moved to intervene in the lawsuit brought by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. However, the companies in the group also set themselves up to defend the rule from upcoming attacks from Democrat-led states and environmentalists that it is too lax, though five automakers that signed a more stringent deal with California last year did not join the Alliance’s action. (Politico)
And finally… Medical matters – Health leaders representing about half of the global medical workforce have signed an open letter to the G20 leaders and their chief medical advisers asking for a green recovery to the coronavirus pandemic. They said this should include reforms to fossil fuel subsidies, with public support shifted towards renewable energy, which they say would make for cleaner air, cut GHG emissions, and help to spur economic growth of nearly $100 tln in the next three decades. (The Guardian)
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