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
ANALYSIS: EU won’t budge on 2030 GHG goal, but plans to beat it massively
European leaders are unlikely to deepen the bloc’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission target next month, even as officials in Brussels prepare plans to overshoot it by an even larger margin.
EU Market: EUAs slip in quiet session, post 8% weekly drop
European carbon dipped slightly in quiet trade on Friday to post an 8.2% weekly loss as sellers continued to exert downward pressure on prices, which again tested their recent 20-month lows.
New Zealand’s ETS is well-functioning but inefficient, govt review finds
The ETS is operating smoothly and has helped New Zealand meet its international climate obligations, but it has barely made a dent in domestic GHG emission levels and the CO2 price is so low that hardly any NZ emitter takes the scheme into account when making business decisions, a survey by the Ministry for the Environment found.
NZ Market: NZUs barely budge as market awaits ETS review decisions
Spot NZUs fell 0.3% over the week to close Friday at NZ$9.47 ($6.34), as buyers and sellers were both unwilling to cede ground before more is known about the outcome of the government’s ETS review.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Feb. 5, 2016
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
Voluntary market data from CTX for Feb. 5, 2016
A table of Verified Emission Reduction (VER) prices and offered volumes, based on voluntary market data from Carbon Trade Exchange.
Bite-sized updates from around the world
US President Barack Obama is about to unveil an ambitious plan for a “21st century clean transportation system” and fund it with a $10-a-barrel tax on oil. The plan is set to be unveiled as part of his final budget request next week. It proposes more than $300 billion of investments over the next decade including in mass transit, high-speed rail and self-driving cars. The move has very little chance of passing the Republican-controlled Congress and Obama’s aides acknowledge it is mostly an effort to jump-start a conversation about the future of transportation. (Politico)
A Virginia senate committee has voted along party lines to defeat a bipartisan bill that would have pushed the state into joining RGGI or forming its own regional cap-and-trade scheme. Sen. Donald McEachin, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement “this bill would have greatly reduced our carbon emissions, created jobs, increased efficiency, and promoted renewable energy. In the face of these benefits, I’m disappointed that my Republican colleagues have once again refused to act.”
Ontario has announced a $100 million program to cut residential GHG emissions by helping homeowners upgrade their furnaces, water heaters and insulation. The money will come from a $325 million fund the province set up as a “down payment” on future auction revenues from its carbon market, which is scheduled to launch in 2017. (CBC)
The CEO of $4.6 trillion asset manager Blackrock, the world’s largest investor, has written to the heads of S&P 500 companies and top European corporations urging them to take ESG issues more seriously and vowing to support activist shareholders’ efforts on “long term value creation”. (Climate Home)
The China Southern Power Grid Co. this week began construction on a power transmission line to distribute power from the southern Yunnan province to the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong. The $3bln project is expected to finish in 2017, and will cut CO2 emissions 16 million tonnes per year and coal consumption by 6.4 mt. (Eco-Business)
Lawmakers in the Welsh Assembly have passed new climate change legislation committing Wales to cutting carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050. (BusinessGreen)
The latest issue of Conservation Biology contains an article called “Questioning REDD+ and the future of market-based conservation”, in which four university professors claim REDD was a ‘conservation fad’ that is about to be abandoned. The article is available here. (H/T REDD Monitor)
And finally… Next time your boss tries to convince you of the benefits of working from home, spare a thought for how that could contribute to wrecking the planet. More businesses than ever are asking employees to work remotely in a bid to cut rental costs for office space and take advantage of the growth of super-fast broadband, teleconferencing and smart phones. But working from your kitchen can actually increase CO2 emissions, since those who stay home usually turn up the thermostat. (Bloomberg)
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