Carbon Pulse

European Parliament Roberta Metsola stressed the need to respect the EU legislative process on Thursday, the first day of a two-day EU leaders' summit held amid tensions over Germany’s last minute refusal to back an already done-deal on an EU ban of the internal combustion engine car sales by 2035.

Carbon credits from the Paris Agreement's Article 6.4 mechanism could be issued next year if the supervisory body and the secretariat of the UNFFCC get into gear, the President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) told Carbon Pulse on Thursday.

A unit of utility Engie has deepened its partnership with a data-driven startup certifier, aiming to accelerate the use of climate finance in the off-grid sector in sub-Saharan Africa through issuing and selling carbon credits to the voluntary market.

Depressed levels of carbon hedging by EU utilities in 2022, mainly due to the energy crisis, may well continue with a shaky macroeconomic picture further weakening in recent weeks, expectations of lower power sector emissions in 2023 and beyond, and the risk of gas supply shortages later in the year.

Carbon project certifier Gold Standard will look to credit the early phaseout of coal power plants and their replacement with renewables, according to a proposed methodology concept published Thursday. 

EU carbon prices rose strongly on Thursday morning as sustained buying after Wednesday's expiry of the March options contract and continued compliance buying drove the market to its most in eight days, while energy markets were also stronger amid an improvement in macro sentiment.

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The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has partnered with a technology platform that aims to rally the global gaming industry to join forces to protect nature in a 2023 event focusing on wildlife.

A group of six African and Latin American nations on Thursday officially launched the Freshwater Challenge, an initiative to restore 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands by the end of the decade.

The EU needs a dedicated funding mechanism to help member states prepare and implement their national restoration plans on nature and lead the world on freshwater biodiversity, green group Nature Conservancy urged as global negotiators are gathered for the three-day UN Water Conference in New York.

Negotiators of the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional deal early Thursday morning on the FuelEU Maritime initiative, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of the maritime sector by accelerating the deployment of sustainable fuels.

The legislation underpinning China's emissions trading scheme (ETS) is yet to be finalised, a situation that is creating regulatory uncertainties for participants around the definitions of allowances and trading rules, in turn impacting market activities, experts have told Carbon Pulse.

China’s coal demand is set to bounce back strongly in 2023 on the back of strong GDP growth, which could also push global consumption for the carbon intensive fuel to a new record level in the most bullish scenario, according to an outlook on the impact of China’s post-Covid-19 re-opening on the Asian economic giant’s demand for commodities.

New Zealand ETS observers were optimistic about the government’s announced review into the ETS, however there are fears that it will add even more policy uncertainty for the market ahead of the coming election.

An Australian agtech firm has announced plans to put forward a new soil carbon methodology of sequestering carbon to begin generating Australian Carbon Credit Units, in the hopes of leveraging compliance demand created by the reformed Safeguard Mechanism.

The Prince Albert II Foundation and Monaco Asset Management have launched a fund that aims to invest €100 million this decade in start-ups seeking to reduce ocean pollution and protect marine ecosystems.

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One of the biggest challenges facing the voluntary carbon market (VCM) is presenting a united front in the face of criticism, speakers at the North American Carbon World said Wednesday, noting this should include backing a learning-by-doing model that emphasises progress and impact.

Washington state should have the ability to alter its WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme and more closely align with California as the jurisdictions pursue linkage, though it is difficult to say whether full fungibility between the two carbon markets as currently structured could take place, a conference heard Wednesday.

The 11 RGGI member states will look into ratcheting down yearly allowance caps to zero by 2040 as one possible scenario in the power sector carbon market’s third programme review, according to a document posted Wednesday.