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After the money dries up, CDM project discontinuation risks vary drastically -study

Some CDM project types face considerably higher risks than others of being discontinued due to the disappearance of carbon offset revenues, a new study shows, threatening to raise CO2 emissions by roughly a billion tonnes in the developing world if the facilities are dismantled.

Major Australian investor group joins carbon pricing choir but government expected to turn a deaf ear

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has become the latest group to tell the government’s climate policy review to put a price on carbon, but amid suspicions that the ruling conservative Coalition won’t change its mind on the matter, others are looking at alternative ways to meet the nation’s Paris Agreement obligations.

EU Market: EUAs hit fresh 1-month high after most well-bid auction in 3 months

EU carbon prices extended a one-month high early on Monday after the EU’s spot auction attracted the highest oversubscription rate since Feb. 20 as traders piled into the sale ahead of an upcoming three-sale pause.

Fujian carbon exchange changes trading rules to limit excessive price moves

The exchange handling Chinese province Fujian’s pilot emissions trading scheme moved on Monday to change trading rules in a bid to guard against small-volume trades excessively moving prices.

Australia’s offset issuance shrinks in latest round

The number of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) issued last week fell to just over 70,000 as major developers were absent from the process.

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Job listings this week:

Environment Officer, Market-Based Measures – Carbon Markets, ICAO – Montreal
Head of Analysis, Sandbag – London/Brussels
Board member (x2), Climate Trust – Portland
Climate Change Policy Project Officer, Queensland Conservation Council – Brisbane

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Is this finally the week? – World leaders expect President Donald Trump to announce this week whether the US will remain in the landmark Paris climate accord as they gather for the two-day G7 summit in Taormina, Italy on Friday, according to Germany’s environment minister Barbara Hendricks. A US State Department spokeswoman declined to say when Trump would announce his much-delayed decision. (Bloomberg)

Nudge, nudge – Lawmakers from nations in NATO are warning that global warming will lead to mass migration and conflict in the Middle East and Africa, suggesting another reason President Donald Trump should stay in the Paris climate deal. Climate change will lead to “dire” food and water shortages in the region, according to a draft report presented Monday to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Separately, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden warned that a withdrawal will put American companies at a disadvantage and weaken the US’s global standing. “It would be unhelpful on a number of fronts”, he told the Financial Times at their Washington office, continuing: “With the US being the largest investment destination for a company like Shell, yes, I think I would regret having a lot of business here that potentially could be at a disadvantage because of [the] implications of that decision to pull out of Paris.”

All hail the Franco-German giant – RWE and Engie are studying a possible share swap that could create a Franco-German giant in power grids, renewables and energy services with a market value of about €50 billion ($55.8 billion). Options being looked at could involve RWE swapping part or all of its majority stake in renewables and grids firm Innogy in exchange for a minority stake in Engie, four investment banking sources said. No active talks between the top executives of the two firms are under way, but the two utilities are discussing options and scenarios with advisers and bankers, the sources told Reuters. At this stage, no banks have been given a formal mandate.

The Swiss have spoken – A clear majority of voters in Switzerland have opted for a new energy law that aims to promote renewable energy, bans construction of new nuclear plants and fosters greater energy efficiency. About 58% of Swiss voters in a referendum on Sunday backed the government’s Energy Strategy 2050 programme, which had been debated for six years. Swiss energy Minister Doris Leuthard said the vote opened “a new chapter in Switzerland’s energy policy,” but there was “still a lot of work to do.” (Clean Energy Wire)

German Q1 – Germany’s primary energy consumption fell 1.4% in Q1, according to statistics from energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen (AGEB). While economic growth and low January temperatures pushed energy consumption higher, these factors were offset by warm weather in March and the fact that February had one day less than in 2016, which was a leap year. Renewable energy use was up the most at 5% year-on-year, while coal use was also up (2.6% for hard coal and 0.4% for lignite) and nuclear energy use was down more than 33% due to maintenance. (Clean Energy Wire)

Free will, not free – Voluntary domestic offset schemes offer great potential as instruments for advancing ambitious climate action though their scope is limited in countries with reduction targets. That’s according to a study carried out think-tank adelphi on behalf of the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) and the German Environmental Agency (UBA) analysing the characteristics of initiatives in countries that generate carbon credits from domestic projects for being used mainly as voluntary offsets. (adelphi)

And finally… Apocalyptic seed vault – Flooding breached Norway’s supposedly impregnable Arctic vault containing a collection of seeds stored for an apocalypse scenario last week, after warmer-than-average temperatures caused a layer of permafrost to thaw. Although no seeds were damaged and while minor flooding does occur at the vault every year, the Norwegian government will redesign the vault to protect against increasingly extreme future flooding. “It was not in our plans to think that the permafrost would not be there and that it would experience extreme weather like that,” said government official Hege Njaa Aschim. “It was supposed to [operate] without the help of humans, but now we are watching the seed vault 24 hours a day. (The Guardian)

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