Carbon Pulse

This position will lead our engagement on the interface between climate change and trade, the interagency climate change work programme, and provide input into our climate change policy.

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

Supreme Court oral arguments against the Canadian government’s ‘backstop’ carbon pricing system entered the second and final day on Wednesday, as Quebec contended the federal system threatens its ability to implement its WCI-linked ETS, while New Brunswick offered Ottawa’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as a better model of cooperative federalism.

California Carbon Offset (CCO) issuances hit a five-month high this week, boosted by two large forestry projects receiving more than 8 million credits, as the total number of credits distributed by state regulator to date ARB topped 200 mln.

Voluntary carbon credit prices flatlined in 2019 amid increased transactions, as new buyers rushed to buy cheap renewables-sourced units ahead of this year’s cut-off for registering many clean energy projects.

Ontario’s GHG emissions rose year-on-year in 2018 from specified sources as Premier Doug Ford yanked the province out of the WCI-linked ETS midway through the year, according to recent government data. 

An Oregon-based forestry project registered under California’s compliance offset programme appears to have been affected by devastating wildfires in the American West, potentially triggering the WCI-linked cap-and-trade scheme’s credit buffer pool.

California will require all new vehicles sold to be zero-emissions by 2035, a move that will slash the state’s GHG emissions by an estimated 35% over this period, according to an executive order signed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday.

The European Commission is laying down the groundwork to propose a “robust” certification scheme incentivising farmers and foresters to cut GHG emissions, EU officials said on Wednesday.

The UN’s CORSIA international aviation offsetting mechanism will add just 17 euro cents to ticket prices for long-haul flights from the EU, according to an NGO-commissioned study published Tuesday.

Poland’s largest utility PGE must discuss the future of its Belchatow lignite power plant with environmental NGOs that want the facility shut down, a regional district court ruled on Wednesday.

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European carbon prices fell back on Wednesday, handing back much of the previous day’s gains as the market saw a heavy inflow of supply and technical signals remained bearish to maintain the wild volatility seen over the past month.

The proposed inclusion of carbon sinks under the EU's 2030 climate plans is unlikely to give emitters much wriggle room as the effect of Brexit and other shifts make the bloc's overall reduction goal harder to reach.

We are looking for someone to support business and public engagement focused on a long-term strategy for how the Government, working with other partners, can both communicate the Net Zero policy and drive meaningful behaviour change needed to meet our target.

Australia has announced plans to use its offset market to cut a staggering 35-90 MtCO2e worth of emissions every year through soil carbon projects, but even if the technological challenges are overcome, who will buy all those carbon credits?

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

EU carbon prices will average €57 over the next decade, or double current prices, analysts forecast, modelling a scenario where the bloc adopts a 55% emissions reduction target for 2030 and does not implement any other supply-tightening changes.

Three conservative-led Canadian provinces argued before the country’s highest court on Tuesday that the federal government lacks Constitutional authority to impose its ‘backstop’ CO2 levy and output-based pricing system (OBPS) on recalcitrant jurisdictions, while Ottawa and British Columbia contended that climate change is a matter of national concern that necessitates minimum national standards of GHG pricing.

The 12th new speculator of the year opened a RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) account this week, continuing the flood of financial entities into the Northeast US power sector carbon market in 2020.