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Nations do their homework as UN resumes talks on carbon trading rules
UN climate talks resume in Bonn next week amid tangible signs that many countries are sharpening their focus ahead of a 2018 deadline for agreeing rules on international emissions trade and all other aspects of the Paris Agreement.
Ontario’s env. minister, ETS participants voice unease about Cali. Senate’s cap-and-trade reauthorization bill
Ontario’s environment minister is sounding less certain about linking to California’s cap-and-trade scheme, joining other Canadian observers in voicing concern over the state Senate’s proposed bill to reauthorize its market beyond 2020.
Australia hands out nearly 1 million offsets in latest issuance
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator handed out nearly a million carbon credits this week, with developers ALFA securing over 600,000 offsets for emission cuts at three savanna burning projects in the Northern Territory.
EU Market: EUAs nudge higher after strong auction to end week near-flat
EU carbon prices notched a slight gain on Friday after a strong German auction, ending almost flat for a week that repeatedly extended the 2017 low.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending May 5, 2017
Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.
Voluntary carbon market data from CTX for May 5, 2017
A table of Verified Emission Reduction (VER) prices and offered volumes, based on voluntary market data provided by Carbon Trade Exchange (CTX).
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Another week, another Trump Paris showdown – Senior White House advisors will meet yet again next Tuesday to make a decision on whether the US should remain in the Paris Agreement. Ivanka Trump, who wants to “ensure the president has all the information he needs to make his decision” on Paris, will talk with EPA chief Scott Pruitt before the larger pow-wow. Foreign leaders, congressmen, local elected officials, and businesses are weighing in with their support for the deal. And while the group in favour of exiting, including Pruitt and Trump advisor Steve Bannon, argue that lowering the US targets is legally impossible, French climate ambassador and key Paris negotiator Laurence Tubiana insists that it’s doable. (Axios, Climate Nexus)
No. – That was the written response by the Trump administration to China’s question, posed under the UN’s multilateral assessment programme, over whether the US would buy international offsets to help meet a shortfall in the country’s 2020 emission goals. The programme allows countries to inquire amongst each other with regard to the progress being made towards governments’ individual climate targets, with UN climate negotiations due to resume in Bonn from May 8 to 18. The process works on a rolling basis, with the US one of 18 nations currently undergoing review along with other major emitters Russia, Canada, and Japan. The Trump administration added that it is “reviewing existing [climate change] policies and regulations in the context of a focus on strengthening US economic growth and promoting jobs for American workers, and will not support policies or regulations that have adverse effects on energy independence and US competitiveness.” Read Carbon Pulse’s article on the latest round of questions here, and the full set of US answers here. And read Carbon Brief’s review of all the assessments here.
Rhode to a carbon price – In Rhode Island yesterday, SB-108 passed through the Senate. The bill instructs a Climate Change Coordinating Council to submit a plan to the governor and general assembly studying the effectiveness of either state or multi-state level carbon pricing, as well as effective ways to allocate the resulting revenue. The bill – one of several seeking to introduce a price on CO2 that are currently passing through the legislature – still needs to be approved by the House before it can be signed into law and the study can start.
And finally… A matter of physics – Global warming is manipulation, according to Bulgaria’s new environment minister Neno Dimov, who appeared in a video in 2015 describing climate change as fraud and alleging that the EU’s target for reducing emissions is intended to earn billions for business. The 53-year-old, who has a master’s degree in mathematics and a doctorate in physics, questioned if global warming was really happening and whether humans cause it. He also called for the deadlines the closure of EU coal-fired power plants to be examined and possibly deferred. (Sofia Globe)
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