COMMENT: The EU’s MSR sale proposal – “Ooooh! Look at that cookie jar!”
The European Commission’s plan to bring roughly 200-250 million EUAs out of the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) and auction them to raise €20 billion to fund the bloc’s shift away from Russian energy has jolted the EU ETS, igniting “trust” concerns by market participants who liken the move to Brussels raising the EU’s climate cookie jar.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Can Brussels chase the speculators out of the EU ETS?
EU lawmakers want to clamp down on speculative traders participating in the EU ETS. There’s been a steady drumbeat of complaints over the past few months from MEPs and some member states, claiming that unnamed speculators have driven the price of EUAs too high, and that it’s costing industry too much money. But is restricting speculator access to the EU ETS such a good idea? And is it even feasible?
Read MoreCOMMENT: Risk of surplus in the EU ETS – a short story
The EU’s carbon market reform is going the wrong way by not properly addressing the system’s surplus, argues Adrien Assous, executive director, Sandbag Europe.
Read MoreCOMMENT: REDD+ evolves with Verra’s changes to key methodologies
Standard-setting body Verra has proposed changes to tools for estimating emission reductions from its key REDD+ project types that will ensure Verra’s methodologies reflect the latest science and practices while aligning with jurisdictional GHG estimation procedures, Steve Zwick of Verra writes.
Read MoreCOMMENT: We must protect intact forests, but CORSIA got it wrong
While it is essential for the world to protect forests that are not under immediate threat of deforestation, treating carbon credits from their conservation as fungible compliance instruments threatens to undermine carbon market integrity, argue several consultants critical of UN aviation body ICAO’s recent decision to accept ART TREES carbon credits from jurisdictions under its CORSIA offsetting programme.
Read MoreCOMMENT: The voluntary carbon market needs ratings agencies
A new breed of ecosystem asset ratings agencies is needed to scale ecosystem markets. Their role is to fuse incentives in capital markets with conservation outcomes, and to generate huge opportunities for wealth creation, says Mani Gangadharan Venketachalam, President, BeZero Carbon.
Read MoreMARC(U) MY WORD: The EU ETS review is flying under the radar
The ETS is still seen by many as the cornerstone of the EU’s decarbonisation effort, though its latest reform has so far been overshadowed by other elements of the Fit for 55 climate package. But negotiating the package in silos will not be helpful in reaching an optimal solution, argue Andrei Marcu and Juan Lopez of think-tank ERCST.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Deceived wisdom in the EU ETS
It’s been a somewhat wild start to 2022, and with it the received wisdom that that carbon and gas prices move together, is – temporarily? – deceived wisdom.
Read MoreCOMMENT: Response to IETA Council Task Group on digital climate markets
As the largest player in this nascent space, we feel it is necessary to respond to some of the concerns communicated by the IETA task group on digital markets, as well as highlight important areas of collaboration and innovation moving forward, with the ultimate objective of scaling climate action, write two of the core members in crypto carbon outfit KlimaDAO.
Read MoreCOMMENT: IETA Council Task Group on digital climate markets – Key findings and recommendations
The International Emissions Trading Association will set up a Task Force to produce guidelines for the development of digital technologies for the carbon offset industry, including tokenised carbon credits, aiming to bolster the environmental integrity and transparency of the emerging digital carbon sector.
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