Feed aggregator

Certifier Gold Standard aims to launch an initiative this year to deploy more digitisation towards the auditing of carbon projects, the latest in a growing number of initiatives tapping big tech to help scale the role of carbon finance in tackling climate change.

The Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM) aims to set out a framework by the end of March to determine its Core Carbon Principles, a quality threshold for projects generating credits on the voluntary carbon market (VCM), a senior member of the group has told Carbon Pulse.

There’s a growing trend of climate litigation around the world. Here’s a look at the Australian cases likely to make headlines this year

In March 2021, a 16-year-old student and an octogenarian nun walked into the federal court in Melbourne for the hearing of a defining case in Australian climate litigation.

The lawsuit brought by Anj Sharma, along with seven other teenagers, and Sister Brigid Arthur, is part of a growing trend among climate activists and environment organisations raising climate issues in the courtroom, amid a lack of action by the federal government.

Continue reading...

European lawmakers are getting to grips with the design of a proposed new social fund meant to help the poorest households counter the potentially regressive elements of EU climate policy, seeking to ensure the money 'lands with the right people'.

Envoys at Brest summit sign up to measures to tackle fight against illegal fishing and cut pollution

Representatives from more than 100 countries have committed to measures aimed at preserving the ocean from human harm, including stepping up the fight against illegal fishing, cutting plastic pollution and better protecting international waters.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosting the high-level session of the One Ocean summit on Friday, said 2022 was “a decisive year, and we should take here, in Brest, clear and firm commitments.”

Continue reading...

Kwasi Kwarteng re-approves projects stalled by high court, producing enough energy for 4m homes

A vast windfarm off the Norfolk coast has been approved by ministers for a second time after a local man convinced a high court judge to overturn the decision a year ago.

The high court verdict last February forced the government to reconsider the plans by Swedish renewables giant Vattenfall to build two offshore wind farms capable of generating enough green electricity to power the equivalent of 4 million UK homes.

Continue reading...

EDF has downgraded its estimate for 2023 nuclear output, days after it further slashed its generation expectations for this year due to defects found at selected generation units.

White Turf race in St Moritz at risk because water in frozen lake is melting

Each February the rich and famous descend upon St Moritz, not just for the slopes and après-ski but for one of the world’s most exclusive horse races, held on ice.

Though the luxury resort has a nearby airport mainly catering to private jets, and visitors can be seen being ferried around in helicopters and Ferraris, moneyed guests are beginning to think about the climate emergency.

Continue reading...

EUAs recouped some of Thursday's losses as the EU lawmaker leading work on ETS reforms outlined possible ways to make the market's price control mechanism more responsive to sudden spikes, while energy prices rose after French utility EDF downgraded its generation forecast for next year.

The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including dancing Siberian cranes, a snowy cat and a lonely black-footed ferret

Continue reading...

China’s national emissions trading scheme is seeing near-record high price levels, but on very thin volumes as traders await clarity from the government on what happens next.

Contamination at a small farm discovered after sewage sludge was tested for PFAS, but officials downplayed incident as ‘isolated’

Cattle from a small south-east Michigan farm that sold beef to schools and at farmers’ markets in the state have been found to contain dangerous levels of PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals” that can pose a serious risk to human health.

The news comes after consumer groups in 2019 warned that using PFAS-laden sewage sludge as fertilizer would contaminate dairy, beef, crops and other food products. However, at the time a Michigan agricultural regulator publicly assured the state’s dairy farmers her agency wouldn’t test milk for the toxic chemicals as they didn’t want to inflict economic pain on the $15bn industry, she said.

Continue reading...

Beowulf Mining ‘hopeful’ for decision on mine in Sápmi despite opposition from activist, UN and Swedish church

A British company has fallen foul of Greta Thunberg, Unesco, Sweden’s national church, and the indigenous people in the north of the country over plans for an open-pit mine on historical Sami reindeer-herding lands.

The clamour of opposition was voiced as Beowulf Mining, headquartered in the City of London, suggested it was “hopeful” of a decision within weeks of a 5 sq mile iron-ore mine in an area where Sami communities have lived for thousands of years.

Continue reading...

Based in our Sydney Dealing Room, the Head of Global Carbon Trading role is both diverse and challenging and will include extensive management and engagement with key stakeholders across Corporate and Institutional Banking with a focus on the realisation of carbon trading capability.

New Zealand carbon permits extended their all-time high for a fourth consecutive session in Friday trade, with the relentless run raising some concerns over regulatory consequences.

MEP Peter Liese is considering a proposal to release allowances held in the MSR and to lower the threshold at which the Article 29a mechanism is triggered as part of a plan to control sudden EU ETS price spikes, he told Bloomberg in an interview published on Friday.

Oversupply in South Korea’s emissions market for 2021 is likely 5-10% lower than previously estimated as CO2 output rise, but there is still limited upside potential in price movement, analysts said Friday.

The surge in pricing for voluntary emissions reductions (VERs) over the past year has caused voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants to reassess their trading strategies, as buyers alter procurement methods and preferences while developers and intermediaries adjust to dwindling credit supply.

Australia’s minister for energy and emissions reduction, Angus Taylor, has asked the independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) to review the use of international carbon offsets by Australian companies, ahead of the launch of the regional Indo-Pacific Carbon Offset Scheme (IPCOS).

The Shanghai municipal government will hand out almost 4% more carbon permits under its emissions trading scheme this year as some facilities have been added to the market, and said Friday it could add new types of offsets to increase supply if necessary.