Presenting CP Daily, Carbon Pulse’s newsletter. It’s a daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world. Subscribe here
EU Market: Prices plummet below €6 as participants posit selling sources
While some traders nervously await a rebound to what they see as a speculator-led overselling of EU carbon allowances, others suspect prices could fall further as European industry continues to reel, utilities shy away from bulk buying, and the next major supply-curbing measure remains years away.
TPP trade pact might hinder effective NZ ETS reform, report finds
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement might represent a serious hindrance for attempts to reform New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme as it could leave the government open to lawsuits by foreign investors, a report found.
Bite-sized updates from around the world
The World Bank, Secretariat of the Pilot Auction Facility for Methane and Climate Change Mitigation (PAF) will host a one-hour informational webinar on January 27th at 9:00 EST / 14:00 GMT to provide an update on its upcoming second auction and review the updated eligibility criteria and auction mechanics. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers in real-time. Click here to register
The Australian National Audit Office has initiated a probe of the Clean Energy Regulator’s crediting and selection of carbon abatement to purchase under the Emissions Reduction Fund, and is seeking input and comments from the public. “I think it has been managed very well by the CER, so I would expect the audit to be positive,” one market observer told Carbon Pulse.
The cost burden of Quebec’s carbon-pricing policy is likely to be modest across income groups and industries, according to a McGill University research team. One potential inequity is the province’s “generous” plan to hand out free emissions permits to incumbent industries is likely to result in some windfall profits for companies and shareholders, according to the researchers. (phys.org)
China will allocate 30 billion yuan ($4.56 billion) in funds over the next three years to support the closure of small and inefficient coal mines, but the move is unlikely to make much of a dent in the nation’s huge production capacity surplus. (Reuters)
Without the crippling economic restrictions on trade, Iran should be able to boost access to wind and solar power and technology to curb greenhouse gases from power plants, homes and factories, according to Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar, who is head of the country’s Department of the Environment. (Bloomberg)
The Financial Stability Board (FSB), a global group of national financial authorities, today named its task force for its year-long evaluation of climate-related financial risks. Ex-New York mayor Michael Bloomberg will be joined by executives from Bradesco, Unilever, AXA and the Singapore Exchange. It aims to develop voluntary disclosure standards that companies can use to provide information to their lenders, insurers, investors about how their businesses are affected by climate change impacts. Aiming to influence the task force’s work, non-profits Carbon Tracker Initiative and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board will on Friday launch proposals for risk reporting by fossil fuel companies.
And finally… a UK emissions haircut – The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change announced that it had made “methodological improvements” in the way that it measures the country’s GHGs. As a result of the changes, which affected sources including animal waste, grasslands, and agriculture, DECC applied across-the-board reductions to the country’s estimated emissions. It now calculates that the UK emitted 9 MtCO2e or 1.6% less in 2013 than its previous forecast, a decline that has been extrapolated back to equal a 10 Mt or 1.3% drop in 1990, the UK’s baseline year under Kyoto. The impact on most sectors is marginal, though the changes reduce emissions from agricultural sources by 11% and from LULUCF by 64% in 2013. DECC notes that these figures are not yet finalised and remain subject to change.
Got a tip? Email us at news@carbon-pulse.com
