COMMENT: Five massive drivers of future demand for offsets
Prior to the onslaught of COVID-19, a quick scan of the news each day would reveal that climate change is on the minds of customers and corporates worldwide. Warmer winters with rain where there was once snow, colder weather anomalies due to destabilization of the polar vortex, and summers punctuated by raging fires in both hemispheres make the topic impossible to ignore. And, while new regulatory regimes are cropping up across the globe, voluntary action is on the rise.
Read MoreNA Markets: CCA prices rise after coronavirus-fuelled meltdown, as RGGI recovers
California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices rose week-on-week for the first time since permits plummeted below the current WCI floor price amid a speculator-led selloff, while RGGI allowance (RGA) prices recovered nearly all of their previous losses seen over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreUtah GOP approves budget with funding for California ETS lawsuit
Utah Republicans have passed a budget that restores funding for a lawsuit to challenge the legality of California’s cap-and-trade programme and emissions performance standard (EPS), a government spokesperson confirmed.
Read MoreCalifornia fuel consumption dips in 2019, likely cutting ETS obligations
California fuel consumption fell slightly year-on-year in 2019 as gasoline demand slid, likely reducing WCI-covered emissions compared to the prior year, state data published this week suggested.
Read MoreCarbon consultancy offering ‘Corona Credits’ to offset emissions reduced by global virus lockdown
*FREE READ* – A new carbon consultancy is calculating the global greenhouse gas emissions being saved by people working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it is packaging and selling the reductions as voluntary carbon offsets.
Read MoreCanada holds firm on ‘backstop’ CO2 tax increase amid coronavirus pandemic
Ottawa will go ahead with Wednesday’s scheduled rise of its federal carbon levy, maintaining the revenue-neutral tax will financially benefit most Canadians at a time of economic turmoil due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read MoreSpeculators opened California CITSS accounts before allowance price drop, data shows
Eighteen entities opened WCI Compliance Instrument Tracking System Service (CITSS) accounts in the California carbon market during the first quarter as 16 participants closed theirs, data from state regulator ARB showed Monday.
Read MoreCalifornia offset registries hanging in amid COVID-19 challenges
California offset registries are not experiencing any operational delays since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, though discussions are continuing on providing additional flexibility for developers of WCI-eligible credits.
Read MoreSpeculators’ CCA position craters after liquidation while compliance holdings rise, data shows
Speculators slashed their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings for the second consecutive week as several firms were forced to liquidate positions amid fears of a global recession and spreading coronavirus pandemic, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data.
Read MoreCalifornia grid experiencing shift in electricity demand amid COVID-19 outbreak
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is seeing a reduction in power usage due to the statewide shelter-in-place order announced last week to combat the coronavirus outbreak, likely cutting entities’ compliance obligations for the sector in the WCI-linked ETS.
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