***Due to public holidays in the UK and US, CP Daily will not be published on Monday, May 31***

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TOP STORY

China limits price movements, off-screen trade levels for ETS -exchange

China will set a 10% limit on daily price movements in its emissions trading scheme, while block trades will have to stay within 30% of on-screen prices, the chairman of the carbon exchange in Shanghai told local media on Friday.

VOLUNTARY

Offset retailer says only a fraction of nature credits meet basic standards

An offset retailer has rejected around 90% of nature-based projects it has examined and is insisting clients buy almost four carbon credits for every tonne emitted from a chosen few initiatives to ensure an effective contribution to climate action.

EMEA

UK govt mulling increase to 2021 ETS auction supply

The UK government may significantly increase the amount of carbon allowances to be sold under the country’s new emissions trading scheme this year, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Analysts raise EUA price forecasts for 2021-22 as €50 seen as “new norm”

EU carbon will average €50 for the remainder of this year, analysts predict, with a number of bullish factors leading them to raise their forecasts for both 2021 and 2022.

Euro Markets: EUAs slump to week-low near €50, UK units slip to narrow premium

EUAs slumped to a one-week low just above €50 on Friday to notch a 1.4% weekly loss, while UKAs also sank as it emerged Britain was considering boosting this year’s auction supply.

Germany selects 62 ‘common interest’ green hydrogen projects

Germany selected 62 green hydrogen projects as eligible for state financing on Friday, with a large share intended to decarbonise the country’s energy-intensive industries.

AMERICAS

Nova Scotia considering options for CO2 pricing after 2022

The Nova Scotia government is mulling its options for post-2022 carbon pricing, according to a discussion paper released Thursday, suggesting the Canadian province could choose an alternative to its cap-and-trade scheme going forward.

WCI speculative position rockets to all-time high, as emitters hold first short since spring 2020

Speculators’ California Carbon Allowance (CCA) length surged to an all-time high over the past week, as emitters held a cumulative net short across the V20-22 contracts for the first time since last spring, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

US Carbon Pricing and LCFS Roundup for week ending May 28, 2021

A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing, clean fuel standards, and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level this week, including developments in California and Massachusetts.

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Carbon Pulse has teamed up with CME Group to provide its clients with regular updates on the global carbon markets. Check out these briefs for the latest insights on pressing trends and events impacting markets, published every other week. Registration required.

INTERNATIONAL

Nature need – A fourfold rise in investment is needed over the next 30 years to protect, conserve, and restore the natural world in order to tackle the interlinked climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises, according a UNEP study produced alongside the World Economic Forum and the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative hosted by the German development ministry and UK consultancy Vivid Economics. It found annual finance in nature needs to triple by 2030 from 2018 levels of $133 bln in 2018, of which private finance made up $18 bln. (BusinessGreen)

AMERICAS

Budget billions – US President Joe Biden’s 2022 budget proposal calls for more than $36 bln to fight global climate change, an increase of more than $14 bln compared with 2021, with major new investments focused on clean energy, climate, and sustainability research and improved water infrastructure. Biden’s main spending areas on climate include $10 bln for clean energy innovation, $7 bln for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research, $6.5 bln for rural clean energy storage and transmission projects, and $4 bln for advancing climate research. Additionally, the budget earmarks $1.2 bln for the UN’s Green Climate Fund. Former President Donald Trump refused to supply the remaining $2 bln of $3 bln in GCF monies originally committed by President Barack Obama. (CNBC)

Lock-in loathing – The US EPA staked out a new position on federal reviews of interstate natural gas pipelines, advising the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to weigh the potential for “carbon lock-in” and the “costly irreversibility” of building such infrastructure. The EPA letter, signed by Associate Administrator Victoria Arroyo, echoed a sentiment of environmental groups that FERC should be careful about locking in long-lived infrastructure that releases GHGs or creates the potential for stranded assets. The environmental agency backed the idea that FERC could seek mitigation of a project’s climate and environmental justice impacts, and offered possible options, such as considering compressor stations with electric turbines. (S&P Global Platts)

EMEA

Beyond Total – Oil and gas group Total has won more than 90% backing for its net zero 2050 climate plan, with shareholders also voting overwhelmingly in favour of its rebrand as TotalEnergies to mark its shift to renewable energy. Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne he wanted the company to become a “green energy major”, but said a more radical shift to abandon new oil projects would not be appropriate as the company needs to fund its transition and demand was projected to only start tailing off from 2030. (Reuters)

Not the final CAPdown – EU negotiators failed to agree reforms to the bloc’s huge Common Agricultural Policy after all-night talks on Thursday in what was meant to be the last round of talks, known in Brussels as ‘the final CAPdown’. The negotiations are due to resume in June and will focus on rules to protect small farms and curb agriculture’s environmental impact. The CAP will account for roughly one-third of the EU’s 2021-27 budget – €387 bln – on payments to farmers and support for rural development, with the new rules kicking in from 2023. (Reuters/Euractiv)

It’s big and green – Oman is planning to build one of the largest green hydrogen plants in the world in a move to make the oil-producing Gulf nation a leader in renewable energy technology. Construction is scheduled to start in 2028 in Al Wusta governorate on the Arabian Sea, with the aim to be at full capacity by 2038, powered by 25 GW of wind and solar energy. The consortium of companies behind the $30 bln project includes the state-owned oil company OQ, the Hong Kong-based renewable hydrogen developer InterContinental Energy, and the Kuwait-based energy investor Enertech. (Guardian)

VOLUNTARY

Russian to get ahead – Petrochemicals giant Sibur plans to offset some of its emissions by tapping the carbon-capture potential of Russia’s massive forests from 2024. Sibur will consider buying carbon credits from projects that plant trees or boost the CO2 absorption capacity of existing woodlands, becoming one of the first Russian companies to do so. Sibur is already supporting a carbon monitoring pilot project in western Siberia to assess the potential of local forests as carbon sinks. (Bloomberg)

Brick-a-brac – Offset retailer ClimateCare on Friday announced the issuance of 9,600 tonnes of Gold Standard credits from a business that aims to transform construction in Malawi and elsewhere. 14Trees, a joint venture between LafargeHolcim and CDC, the UK’s publicly owned impact investor, has rolled out a soil-stabilised brick called Durabric that completely eliminates the need for kiln firing. The process cuts carbon emissions and saves on average of 55 tonnes of CO2 and 14 trees for every house built.

AND FINALLY…

(V)apes a poppin’ – Consumer goods business BAT on Friday announced that its Vuse product has become the world’s first global carbon neutral vape brand. In a press release, the company said Vuse’s CO2 neutrality has been delivered through carbon offset through reforestation projects. This includes a project in Uruguay to plant trees across 21,300 ha, where intensive cattle grazing has eroded soil and degraded land. The announcement precedes “World Vape Day” on May 30.

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