COMMENT: Brussels gets twitchy about EU ETS speculation
EUAs endured a boisterous day on Thursday, first reaching a new record of €40.12 and then plunging more than 3% in the last 20 minutes on news the European Commission was considering limiting speculative positions. It’s not the first time the Commission or member states have reacted to price volatility in the market, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. But something doesn’t quite add up here.
Read MoreCOMMENT: May you live in interesting times
Well, this has been an interesting week. In the space of 72 hours carbon has risen 14%, reached a new all-time record and if things keep going like they have been, it’s just a matter of time before the EU ETS starts becoming the subject of $GME-type memes. There have been a number of explanations for the nearly €5 spike in EUA prices; I’ll list them and if I missed any, please shout.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Quality counts – scaling voluntary offsetting the right way
Owen Hewlett of Gold Standard welcomes the Taskforce to Scale the Voluntary Carbon Market’s intention to make sure companies can take responsibility for their emissions, but argues that scale alone should not be the marker of success.
Read MoreMARC(U) MY WORD: MSR review – evolution or revolution?
While the ETS and carbon pricing are critical components of the EU decarbonisation process, the functioning of the EU ETS has long been impacted by a what was seen as a “structural” surplus of emission allowances (EUAs), or what was labelled a “supply-demand imbalance”, explains Andrei Marcu of think-tank ERCST.
Read MoreCOMMENT: WWF ‘Blueprint for Corporate Action on Climate & Nature’ – Key takeaways for the voluntary carbon market
In Dec. 2020, WWF published a ‘Blueprint for Corporate Action on Climate and Nature’, setting out a vision for how companies should follow the mitigation hierarchy to address the climate emergency, informed by science and the Paris policy environment. Here are Gold Standard’s key takeaways for the voluntary carbon market.
Read MoreCOMMENT: The UK ETS – It’s (officially) a thing
So it’s official – the UK will launch its own emissions trading system in 2021. Of course, it won’t actually begin on January 1, as the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – the regulator – has yet to work out what the free allocations should be, how many UK Allowances (are we OK with UKA as an abbreviation?) will be auctioned, etc etc. But we know a few things…
Read MoreCOMMENT: From 40% to 55% – what does the EU’s new emissions target mean for companies?
(Free read) – With the Green Deal, the EU is producing a regulatory storm that will stretch far into the future, deep into today’s profit models, and way beyond Europe’s borders. Companies should bring the Green Deal into the heart of their business in order to secure the competitive advantage of regulatory pre-alignment, argues Christiaan Gevers Deynoot of South Pole.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Scaling the voluntary carbon markets without sacrificing quality
The TSVCM rightly calls for science-based target setting in tandem with robust carbon offsetting, clear claims guidance for credible communications and broad public support, and long-term corporate commitments and futures contracts to de-risk project development. Yet having sat in Taskforce discussions and observed several emerging instruments that seek to operationalise the forthcoming ‘blueprint,’ Gold Standard’s Owen Hewlett spots several concerns about the quality of what is meant to scale.
Read MoreCOMMENT: EU ETS Phase 4’s starting pistol misfires
The last week has seen a couple of significant changes to the predicted supply schedule for the start of EU ETS Phase 4, and while they may not be big game-changers in the long term (overall supply in 2021 won’t be affected), they do have the potential to change the market dynamic in the first quarter at the very least.
Read MoreCOMMENT: How the credibility of sustainable development impact claims can strengthen – or compromise – the voluntary carbon market
The success of sustainable development taking root in the voluntary carbon market has presented both tremendous opportunity and an important risk: SDG washing, writes Owen Hewlett of Gold Standard.
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