Carbon Pulse

The EU must tighten sustainability criteria for forest-risk imported commodities and introduce mandatory due diligence requirements, environmental campaigners said in a report published Wednesday.

A modest CO2 price could help spur investment, bolster economic growth, and help the US meet long-term climate goals, with the mechanism having little impact on economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published Tuesday.

More than 300 businesses and investors active in the US have called on President Joe Biden to deliver a Paris Agreement target that roughly doubles the previous commitment made under Barack Obama’s administration, according to a letter published Tuesday. 

Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) jurisdictions should raise the proposed fuel sector carbon market’s minimum and reserve tier trigger prices, while providing additional clarity and responsibility for equity advisory groups, environmental organisations wrote in public comments.

Shipbrokers are launching dedicated carbon trading desks or forging ties with market experts ahead of looming regulation and amid rising interest in mitigating the climate impact of their voyages.

EUAs hit an all-time high for the second straight day on Tuesday, but prices quickly fell back below €44 on losses put down to profit-taking.

Five Washington state senators this week reiterated their support for significant changes made to a recently-passed low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) bill, saying any final proposal must maintain its ties to a comprehensive transportation funding package and legislative reauthorisation to earn their backing.

California’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade floor price is on track to rise near $19.00 in 2022 due to higher inflation in March, according to federal data released Tuesday.

Australia's Clean Energy Regulator has issued just over 230,000 carbon credits in a little less than a week, while the government has opened funding applications for its new biodiversity pilot scheme.

A carbon tax of $25/tonne could put a significant dent in Asia-Pacific greenhouse gas emissions, but would have to be raised to three times that level to be in line with a 2C or lower global warming target, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

An emissions trading scheme with steadily tightening benchmarks and increased use of auctioning could cut CO2 emissions from China’s power sector by over 1 billion tonnes by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

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

Two of the world’s largest investment firms have teamed up to fund next-generation solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Virginia’s revised RGGI-modelled cap-and-trade rule should be invalidated because the programme represents an illegal tax, while tweaks to the regulation finalised last year failed to adhere to administrative requirements and went beyond legislative intent, according to a brief filed by an industry group last week.

Canadian emissions inched higher in 2019 on the back of rising Alberta GHGs and steady output from the transportation and oil and gas sectors, coinciding with the start of Ottawa’s federal ‘backstop’ CO2 levy and output-based pricing system, government data published on Monday showed.

The New York State Pension Fund will immediately divest of equity and debt associated with seven companies in its portfolio and cease new investments in companies with oil sands exposure after announcing a net zero target last year, the fund said Monday.

This position will develop, coordinate, and implement corporate engagements across Canada that will deliver against our conservation, funding and brand awareness goals. The preferred location is Toronto or Ottawa.

At bp, we are now looking for a lawyer to support bp Trading & Shipping (T&S), bp’s energy trading and shipping business, in respect of its power trading business and some of its low carbon, natural gas and bio gas trading businesses.

Voluntary emission reduction (VER) prices continued a month-long descent this week as activity picked up in the futures market, while voluntary carbon market (VCM) traders pondered the impacts of US-based The Nature Conservancy undertaking an internal review of its forestry projects over additionality concerns.

Quebec shifted past vintage allowances into its price containment reserve and doled out additional free allocations in Q1, with the remaining Vintage 2019 volume for the province's cap-and-trade programme to be auctioned at the May WCI sale, according to the provincial environmental ministry.