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Compliance offsets minted by California regulator ARB this week reversed course after falling for two consecutive periods, according to government data published Wednesday, while the price premium for credits with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) climbed to a new all-time high. 

An alliance set up to bring clarity and scale a biodiversity crediting market, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), will formally launch at a side event at the UN's biodiversity summit in Montreal on Friday, a member told Carbon Pulse.

A large group of developing countries walked out of COP15 UN biodiversity negotiations in the early hours of Wednesday morning, pointing to continued struggles related to money.

Snowy 2.0 contractor buys out crippled partner, but questions remain over fate of some other key projects including a transmission link and a gas generator.

The post Snowy 2.0 contractor snaps up assets of collapsed partner at bargain price appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Report by Australia Institute finds a windfall profits tax could collect almost all this money for public use

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Coal exporters from Australia reaped as much as $45bn in windfall gain in the 2021-22 year, with a similar bonanza likely this year, offering governments a budgetary boon for those willing to grasp it, the Australia Institute has said.

In a report released on Thursday, the institute’s economists said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent disruption to energy markets alone had delivered between $13bn and $23bn of gains to coalminers. All up, those gains totalled between $39bn and $45bn.

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Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund acquires nearly 10% stake in company with 30GW offshore wind pipeline, including three projects in Australian waters.

The post Saudi wealth fund buys stake in offshore wind developer with eyes on Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Regulator says generators withheld capacity and deliberately acted to inflate prices. The actions may not have been illegal, but they showed "no regard" to market outcomes.

The post “No regard” to market outcomes: Regulator savages generator behaviour appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Over-the-counter (OTC) deals for project-specific, nature-based voluntary carbon credits are maintaining a healthy premium over standardised future contracts despite the recent slump in underlying prices, market sources told Carbon Pulse Wednesday.

To achieve a target of 82% renewable energy generation by 2030 requires a huge number of new sites for solar and wind farms. Cheng Cheng, Research Officer, School of Engineering, Australian National University Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Anna Nadolny, Research Officer, 100% Renewable Energy Group, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Humans are expert pattern-finders. But artificial intelligence tools are better at trawling through vast data sets to find anything from waste dumps to heat-tolerant corals. Philipp Bayer, Adjunct Research Fellow, UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia Ahmed Elagali, Research associate, The University of Western Australia Julie Robidart, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia Kate Marie Quigley, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

5B, the Australian company specialising in low cost solar and rapid deployment, lands major funding deal with oil giant bp, and hopes to build its first big solar farm soon.

The post Australian low cost solar innovator 5B lands major funding deal with oil giant BP appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The December Nova Scotia cap-and-trade auction cleared roughly in the middle of the scheme’s price floor and all-time high settlement, according to results published Wednesday, though companies are reportedly still very short as the Canadian province’s carbon market gets ready to wind down at year-end.

EUAs rallied after dropping to their lowest in ten days on news that co-legislators agreed to use some EUAs from the market stability reserve to help fund the EU's efforts to shift away from Russian fossil fuels, while December options contracts expired quietly.

Delegates from developing nations leave discussions as divisions grow over who should pay to protect biodiversity

Divisions between developed and developing nations over who should pay to protect Earth’s ecosystems are threatening to derail a UN biodiversity summit after a group of developing countries walked out of discussions overnight.

In echoes of last month’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt – where countries agreed to create a new fund to compensate loss and damage from global heating in vulnerable nations – countries from the global south left Cop15 talks on Wednesday due to disagreements over finance.

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One of the world's biggest banks will end fossil fuel financing as part of efforts to become "net zero".

In Montreal, progress on biodiversity issues has been slow. We cannot go on like this

Even by the glacial standards of UN biodiversity negotiations, Cop15 has been slow. We have been in Montreal for more than a week and I am flabbergasted at the lack of progress, especially after how important several world leaders said the summit would be.

There is still time to turn it around. But there is no political urgency behind the biodiversity crisis or any desire for transformative change, as far as I can tell. Greta Thunberg’s “blah, blah, blah” criticism of government negotiations on the environment is proving right as things stand, unfortunately.

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The auto giant behind car brands including Jeep, Dodge, and Alfa Romeo, says the corporate PPA will take it to the equivalent of 100 per cent renewables in Michigan by 2026.

The post Car giant Stellantis signs deal for 400MW of new solar in Michigan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A group of rich industrialised nations will provide Vietnam with $15.5 billion to aid the country's transition away from coal and save an estimated 500 million tonnes of CO2 by 2035, as part of the third Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) deal that was agreed on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on Wednesday.

National park argues attempt by landowner to stop people sleeping overnight could restrict other ‘sedentary pursuits’

Banning wild camping on Dartmoor could also end up affecting birdwatching and rock climbing, lawyers for the national park have said, as a landowner tries to stop people sleeping overnight in the park.

The judge hearing the case, Sir Julian Flaux, the chancellor of the high court, has said he will give a judgment on the case early next year.

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Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) on Wednesday proposed to start taxing fossil fuel imports and some other carbon-related activities two years earlier than its previous proposal, as the government continues to work on its plan to gradually roll out a comprehensive carbon pricing system this decade.