Carbon Pulse

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

California regulator Air Resources Board (ARB) may take steps in its current carbon market rulemaking package to address Ontario’s planned withdrawal from the WCI cap-and-trade programme, it said Thursday, while also hitting back against past comments that it had erred in the methodology used to set the state’s post-2020 emissions caps.

North American carbon prices gained on both coasts in the last week, with California traders shrugging off uncertainty generated by Ontario’s planned withdrawal from the WCI market and RGGI prices jumping in the wake of a stronger-than-anticipated auction result.

The US owner of a Bulgarian power plant that last week contracted to buy €79 million ($91.7 mln) in EU carbon allowances has revealed the details of the deal, shedding some light on the opaque world of corporate emission unit tenders.

Brazil’s government should introduce an emissions trading system starting with extensive free allocation and a $10/tonne price ceiling, according to an academic study commissioned by business groups.

Carbon taxes can be designed with more assurances that they will cut emissions, US think-tank WRI said in a paper on Thursday, as a new group of former lawmakers launched a new campaign to tax US greenhouse gas output.

EU carbon prices climbed by more than 5% from their intraday low on Thursday, rising back towards €15 after it became clear that Wednesday’s options expiry would not trigger a large sell-off.

The Support Unit is seeking a consultant to conduct desk research and consultations with 5-8 member countries and representatives of the partnership to inform an analysis of the challenges and opportunities around mainstreaming climate change.

Switzerland has announced the dates for its next two carbon allowance auctions in what could be among the market's final sales before it links with the EU ETS.

Europe’s highest court on Thursday rejected Poland’s lawsuit seeking to annul the EU’s decision to introduce the supply-curbing Market Stability Reserve (MSR) under the bloc’s carbon market.

Ontario has indicated that it will withdraw from Canada’s national climate change plan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday, meaning the province will likely forgo hundreds of millions in federal low-carbon funding.

Australia’s Carbon Market Institute has published a code of conduct for the nation’s carbon industry, which it hopes can help guarantee the quality of emission reductions projects and the accountability of market participants.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Prices for US biofuels credits under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) rose on Wednesday afternoon after several outlets reported that the EPA may reallocate waived compliance obligations in the agency’s upcoming 2019 rulemaking package.

EU carbon prices jumped late on Wednesday to end up 1.8%, in a move likely related to today’s options expiries.

European power sector association Eurelectric is urging Brexit negotiators to retain the UK’s participation in the EU carbon market to help maintain electricity trade.

CO2 emissions attributable to the largest electricity producers in the US have continued to drop from heights in the mid-2000s as energy efficiency measures and coal displacement drives reductions, according to new analysis published on Wednesday.

A blockchain partnership has teamed up with a California municipal utility to introduce renewable energy tracking for electric vehicles (EVs) and create a digital record of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits.

Analysts have cut their EU carbon price forecasts as the EU clinched agreements to raise its 2030 renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, warning that the impact of increased ambition won’t be fully absorbed by the market's supply-curbing MSR.

Australia’s former prime minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday threatened to vote against his own party’s proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) because it focuses too much on cutting carbon emissions.