Carbon Pulse

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator last week issued over 850,000 carbon credits, some three times more than average, while an analyst on Monday predicted the domestic offset market could reach 62 million tonnes of CO2e per year by 2030.

New Zealand carbon allowances on Monday closed just 5 cents below their all-time high as last week’s Productivity Commission report was seen bullish by some major market participants.

The Climate Change Authority, an independent advisory body to the government, has recommended Australia should establish a new offset type for land-based carbon cuts that also provide additional benefits for the agriculture sector.

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Data released by California regulator ARB for Q4 2017 this week shows that the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) recorded a yearly deficit for the first time in the programme’s history, with the publication coming alongside the agency handing out several fines and conducting the first board meeting on a series of possible amendments.

European carbon prices rose Friday to post a 3.9% weekly gain as the annual compliance season drew near its close and despite another weak auction result.

The allocation of free carbon allowances to power generators in EU member states eligible under the bloc’s Article 10c ‘derogation’ programme again came down to the wire this year, with most handing out their 2017 quotas some two weeks or less before the ETS compliance deadline.

Planning on attending COP24 in Poland this December? Then prepare for inflated accommodation prices and daily commutes to the venue of potentially two hours or more each way.

Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.

The decline in China's energy intensity continued to outpace national targets in Q1, with the shift towards a cleaner economy boosting domestic demand for gas and further cutting the country's GHG emissions, according figures published by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

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North American carbon prices stabilised over the last week as both the east and west coast markets began to focus on the spring auctions.

Mexico’s Senate passed a bill late Wednesday that gives a clearer mandate to the country’s planned carbon market and to align national emission reduction goals with Paris Agreement targets.

California regulator ARB does not expect tens of millions of unsold allowances in its cap-and-trade programme to jeopardise the state’s 2030 GHG target, according to the agency’s estimates.

Finnish utility Fortum emitted 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 from its EU ETS-regulated facilities over the first quarter, up 22% year-on-year, it said in financial results on Thursday.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) expects to start earning revenue from RGGI allowance auctions in fiscal year 2020, consistent with the department’s thinking outlined at a presentation last month.

EU carbon prices could dip back to as low as €11, some 22% below recent highs, if investors cool their recent interest or opt to take profits from selling EUAs bought at much lower prices, ICIS analysts said on Thursday.

New Zealand’s Productivity Commission on Friday urged the government to bring agriculture into the emissions trading scheme, and pave the way for carbon prices to grow almost tenfold over the next three decades in case new technologies are slow to emerge.

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EU carbon prices jumped to a one-week high on Thursday after the day’s auction cleared at the largest premium to the secondary market in nine months.