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TOP STORIES
COP25: Major powers show signs of compromise on Article 6 -sources
Major powers were showing signs of compromise on negotiating the international emissions trade rulebook under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 on Friday, boosting prospects that a deal can be reached by the end of next week as UN talks near their halfway point.
RGGI auction discount, compliance purchases hit multi-year highs in Q4 sale
RGGI’s final auction of 2019 settled at its largest discount to the secondary market in more than two years, as compliance entities purchased their biggest share of allowances since 2016, according to results published Friday.
COP25
COP25: Indonesia to set up national ETS by 2024, pilot next year -official
Indonesia plans to launch a pilot emissions trading scheme for its power and industry sectors next year aiming to transition to full market no later than 2024, a government official said at the sidelines of UN climate talks in Madrid.
AMERICAS
Canada accepts Alberta TIER programme for 2020, though future years uncertain
The Canadian federal government on Friday approved Alberta’s market-based large emitter regime to operate next year, but the province indicated it would continue to resist Ottawa’s rising CO2 price mandate from 2021.
California carbon allowance industrial allocation jumps 16% in 2020
Industrial allowance allocation for California facilities regulated under state’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme rose by roughly 15 million in 2020, as the number of those permits eligible for past compliance obligations more than doubled, according to data published Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
South Korea to auction 8.25 mln CO2 allowances in 2020
South Korea has released the monthly auctioning schedule for its emissions trading scheme next year, with total volume slightly above this year’s levels.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Dec. 6, 2019
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs pulled back towards €25 magnet to post 1.1% weekly loss
European carbon prices edged up on Friday to stick near €25, with technical buying offsetting weaker fundamentals to notch a 1.1% weekly loss.
Low-cost EU airline emissions tumble in November as holiday travel season ends
Two of Europe’s biggest low-cost airlines posted a third straight month-on-month decline in their carbon emissions in November as flight travel in Europe decreased with the arrival of colder weather.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Pump it up at the pump – A position paper by Germany’s environment agency UBA calls for a drastic increase in fuel prices in order to bring about emissions reductions needed in the transport sector to help meet the country’s climate targets. The paper, which was obtained by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, says that the price for a litre of petrol should increase by €0.47 and for diesel fuel by €0.70 per litre. The average petrol price in Germany in 2019 was around €1.43 and the average diesel price around €1.26, according to statistics website Statista. Moreover, the UBA paper says that the current commuter allowance should be abolished and a general speed limit on highways set at 120 km/hour. The paper also calls for “social hardships” resulting from higher prices to be compensated. The German environment ministry (BMU), to which the UBA belongs, decided not to publish the paper that was compiled in the run-up to Germany’s recently agreed climate package, as fuel prices were regarded as the transport ministry’s (BMVI) responsibility. Environment minister Svenja Schulze told the Passauer Neue Presse that higher prices could not be introduced “without social compensation.” However, she also argued that a speed limit on highways “is free of charge.” (Clean Energy Wire)
Earlier exit – Delegates at the convention of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) will vote on a motion which aims to bring forward the country’s planned exit from coal-fired generation to 2035 from 2038, documents seen by Montel on Friday showed. “In 2032, Germany will decide whether we can finally phase out coal-fired power generation by 2035. We want to set the course for such an early exit to be possible,” it said. It also called for a “social offset” – in the form of a rebate – for the planned carbon price floor from 2021 which would “apply to everyone equally, in order to enable a higher CO2 price”. The fixed carbon price will start at €10 in 2021 and rise to €35 in 2025, before a more tradeable price corridor is introduced, though critics say these levels are too low to effect a low-carbon shift. Delegates at the SPD congress are also expected to approve the new party leaders, left-wingers Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Eskens. The duo last weekend beat a ticket led by finance minister Olaf Scholtz amid rising dissatisfaction within the party over its trajectory in coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU.
Suggestions welcome – A day after Ontario’s auditor general blasted Premier Doug Ford’s climate plan for not being based on “sound evidence” and for probably being insufficient to meeting the province’s 2030 targets, Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said his suggestion box is open. “My role as minister of environment, conservation and parks is to ensure that we’re listening to everyone who has an idea going forward,” Yurek told reporters Thursday after being grilled over auditor Bonnie Lysyk’s annual report in the legislature’s daily question period. “We’re going to evolve our plan, add in new ideas and ensure we’re going to make our target by 2030,” added Yurek, who faced criticism that the Progressive Conservative plan is “hot air” and “deceitful.” Yurek said his party needs to do a better job of picking up the mantle on reducing GHGs amid the auditor’s warning the existing plan could fall as much as two-thirds below the target level. But there is a caveat: ideas must be “conservative-based,” such as working with business and industry on innovations, Yurek said. (Toronto Star)
And finally… Bovine burps – A garlic and citrus feed supplement that lowers the GHGs burped out by cows has been approved by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) to begin earning carbon offsets. Mootral, a Swiss Agritech company, developed the new methodology that will reduce methane emissions from cattle, with sheep and goats next on the firm’s radar. Emissions resulting from the digestive process of livestock are responsible for approximately 30% of global anthropogenic methane output. The dairy and meat industries are under pressure to decrease their climate impact, with livestock accounting for about 15% of global GHG emissions. Mootral said its process has been proven to cut emissions by up to 38%. The company has trialled the feed at a dairy farm in Lancashire, England, which means that British cows will be the first in the world to generate carbon credits, it said. The company expects the first “CowCredits” to be generated next year, which could be eligible for use in ICAO’s global CORSIA aviation offsetting scheme should VCS and all its methodologies be accepted. (Bloomberg)
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