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TOP STORIES
FEATURE: A year out, UN’s CORSIA aviation scheme mired in offset supply struggles
The UN’s CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme is just over a year away from entering into force, but a myriad of major supply-related concerns is clouding the horizon for airlines and investors, not least the fact that it remains unclear exactly which credits will be eligible.
Airlines seek out cheaper offsets even before CORSIA costs hit
Most airlines already seek out bargain basement carbon credits for their passenger offset programmes and are likely to be even less picky once CORSIA obligations start, a conference heard on Tuesday.
INTERNATIONAL
World Bank-led PAF to hold fourth carbon offset auction
The World Bank’s Pilot Auction Facility (PAF) will hold a fourth auction next year to buy methane emission reduction credits from projects in the developing world, the bank said Tuesday.
AMERICAS
Virginia Democrats’ election victory paves the way for potential RGGI entrance
Virginia Democrats won a majority in the state legislature on Tuesday, potentially allowing the state to join the Northeast US ETS in the coming years.
WCI speculators held onto allowance position amid US lawsuit, data shows
New financial entities have maintained their long position in California Carbon Allowances (CCAs), even as uncertainty rankled the cap-and-trade programme after the US Department of Justice challenged the state’s ETS linkage with WCI partner Quebec, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data
RFS Market: RIN prices approach 3-month low
Biofuel credit prices under the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) fell in recent days to near the 10-cent mark, as bearish sentiment continued to grip the market.
EMEA
European governments to auction over 5.7 mln EU aviation carbon permits in 2020 -EEX
Participating governments in the EU ETS will auction more than 5.7 million spot aviation allowances next year, sale host EEX announced late Tuesday, revealing the dates for the eight auctions.
EU Market: EUAs dip in calmer, rangebound trade
EUAs dipped slightly on Tuesday in relatively calm trade that kept carbon pinned between technical boundaries, as the market searched for clear direction.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Fired up figures – Brazilian emissions reached 1.939 billion tonnes of CO2e in 2018, up 0.3% year-on-year, according to a SEEG report, that showed stable emissions despite an increase in deforestation because they were offset by a larger use of cleaner energy sources, such as ethanol and wind power. While energy emissions fell 5%, deforestation emissions rose 3.6% to 845 million tonnes of CO2e, some 44% of the country’s total. The figure is expected to increase this year as deforestation sharply increased to the highest level in a decade. (Reuters)
Ready for the drop – Emissions under the EU ETS are likely to record their steepest plunge in a decade this year due to slowing economic activity and fuel switching, according to analysis firm Wattsight. The company predicts stationary installations will see their emissions fall 8%, or 135 Mt, in 2019 to 1,547 Mt, senior analyst Espen Andreassen told Montel. “We saw the industrial development during this summer being exceptionally weak and EU economic growth concerns expressed in the beginning of this year appear to have materialised,” he said. In addition, a combination of abundant cheap gas and elevated carbon prices has this year frequently made gas more competitive than coal for power generation. The trend looked set to continue into next year, Wattsight added.
Earlier end – Enel-owned Spanish utility Endesa has made a $1.6 billion impairment against its coal-fired power stations in its Q3 results, due to closures announced at the end of September. It had already announced closures for its fleet running on domestic coal, but the plan now includes two of Spain’s largest plants using imported coal. The situation is expected to leave Endesa about 3 TWh shorter than planned over the next two-to-three years – volume it expects to procure from the wholesale market. (Platts)
Cash dash – The British government has launched a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, with heavy industry able to compete for a share of up to £30 mln of funding from next summer, with a second funding round to be held in 2021. The fund builds on the £250 mln Clean Steel Fund launched in the summer. (Guardian)
First reading – New Zealand’s ETS reform bill on Tuesday passed the first reading in parliament and will be referred to the House’s select environment committee, which will report back to parliament on Apr. 2 for a second hearing. Meanwhile, the Zero Carbon Bill passed its second reading, meaning it is ready to go to the committee of the full House. NZ bills need three readings in parliament before they can become into law. The main opposition party, National, has chosen to support both bills for now, according to Stuff.
Unconstitutional – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated last week that his government might seek to limit the rights of people protesting mining projects or companies for climate change purposes, including imposing penalties on environmentally motivated boycotts. However, moves in that direction might be unconstitutional, academics now say. (Guardian)
Make room for McCarthy – Former US EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy will become green group Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) new president and CEO on Jan. 6, 2020, the organisation announced Tuesday. In her role as EPA chief from 2013-2017 under President Obama, McCarthy oversaw the agency’s work in implementing the first-ever limits on CO2 pollution in the form of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), as well as advancing international diplomacy that led to the US joining the Paris Agreement. Both of those moves have been reversed since President Donald Trump took office, with the stayed CPP replaced by the environmentally weaker Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule this year, and the US on Monday having notified the UN that it will formally withdraw from the 2015 climate pact next November.
Google gaggle – More than 1,000 Google employees sent an open letter to the company Monday demanding that it cut its GHG emissions and stop funding climate denial organisations. The letter, organised by Google Workers For Action on Climate, calls for the company to reach zero emissions by 2030 and cut all business relationships with fossil fuel extraction companies, and references recent Amazon and Microsoft movements making similar demands within their companies. Google came under fire last month after reports on its continued contributions to organisations funding climate denial. (Climate Nexus)
And finally… Sea it ain’t so – Global emissions up to 2030 could be enough to raise sea levels by more than one metre by 2300, a new study suggests. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimates this to be the long-term level of sea level rise, even if countries around the world meet the emissions reduction pledges they put forward under the Paris Agreement. (Carbon Brief)
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