Carbon Pulse

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

China announced key economic targets for the next five years on Friday, avoiding an absolute cap on greenhouse gas output and instead setting intensity goals that if met would see annual emissions rise around 1.9% over the period.

Organization: Sandbag Climate Campaign Position: Romania Research and Policy Analyst Duty Station: Home-based, Romania Deadline for Application: until suitable applicant is found

The Carbon Buyer Partnership Manager will work through Indigo’s identified target customer profiles, define repeatable sales roadmaps, and develop and convert a pipeline of Indigo Partner opportunities that ultimately drive demand for Indigo’s Carbon offering in line with the company’s transaction, sales, and gross margin targets.

We seek a policy analyst to strengthen our team in the area of reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in land-use, agriculture and food systems. The position involves a combination of analysis and project management tasks in close cooperation with the existing project teams.

The Resources, Science and Industry Division of the Congressional Research Service seeks an Analyst in Energy Policy. The analyst will cover energy and climate policy, focusing on the application of multidisciplinary quantitative models.

Delta Air Lines announced plans on Thursday to spend more than $30 million on voluntary emissions reductions (VERs) to offset its GHG output last year, with the company slated to include forestry projects that reduce, avoid, and remove emissions in its portfolio.

Offset standard developer and manager Verra announced plans on Thursday to revise the methods for setting reference levels under its VCS project-level and Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ (JNR) programmes, aiming to streamline emissions accounting and incorporate scientific best practices.

RGGI allowance (RGA) prices rose slightly on the secondary market this week ahead of the publication of the scheme's first 2021 auction results, while California Carbon Allowance (CCA) values dipped after its own quarterly sale sold out slightly above the floor price.

One year after it was proposed, the European Climate Law is still far from being concluded, as mainly leftist and liberal MEPs insist on increasing the EU’s level of ambition and won't budge on key demands including a carbon budget and an independent scientific council.

Utility Uniper saw its European carbon intensity increase in 2020 as a new coal plant came online and another came back into service, it said in results on Thursday, marking a sharp contrast to deep decarbonisation among its rivals.

European carbon prices sank to an eight-day low on Thursday, pulled lower by wider risk-off sentiment in energy and financial markets.

Introducing position limits into the EU’s carbon market will not be “as simple nor as effective as it sounds” and could take years to negotiate before being introduced, two former top European Commission officials said in a report released Thursday.

China should set an absolute cap on CO2 emissions in its national ETS, expand beyond spot trade, and phase out the pilot trading schemes to improve the effectiveness of its carbon market, the Shanghai director of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has said.

Japan is likely to opt for a combination of emissions trading, a carbon tax, and subsidies, according to analysts that view the mix as the most effective way of driving GHG cuts, meeting international climate expectations, and overcoming industry opposition.

China National Coal Association expects the government to cap yearly coal consumption at 4.2 billion tonnes by the end of the 2021-25 five-year plan, it said this week, a move that could potentially generate additional CO2 emissions roughly equal to France’s total GHG output.

Global carbon prices need to rise to about $160/tCO2e over the next decade to support the economic transition necessary to limit global warming to 1.5C, according to consultants Woodmac.

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

Calgary-based power generator TransAlta saw its GHG emissions fall 20% last year partially due to lower thermal coal output and gas conversions that will result in lower compliance obligations under Alberta’s market-based large emitter programme, according to year-end earnings published Wednesday.

A Virginia utility commission should not approve a Dominion subsidiary’s rate request to cover RGGI compliance costs under the power sector carbon market, or at least should eliminate the generator’s ability to recover carrying costs, according to pre-hearing testimony released Tuesday evening.