Carbon Pulse

Forest protection deals inked between African nations and a World Bank fund could reignite international emissions trade under the Paris Agreement and ICAO’s CORSIA offsetting scheme for aviation.

The UK government has awarded £19.5 million in compensation to 60 companies for their 2018 costs relating to the EU ETS and the UK’s carbon price support, in an effort to shield them from carbon leakage risks.

Two US Democratic legislators reintroduced a bill Thursday to implement a national carbon trading programme that they said could gel with progressives’ Green New Deal (GND) resolution to decarbonise the US economy.

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.5% in 2018, according to provisional government data released Thursday, a decline driven by the ongoing energy sector shift from coal to cleaner gas and renewables but muted by colder temperatures.

China last year restarted construction on a number of previously suspended coal plants, offsetting a decline in the rest of the world to push up global capacity build figures for the first time in three years, according to a report published Thursday.

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UN aviation body ICAO has listed the members of its technical advisory board (TAB) for its CORSIA global offsetting mechanism, adhering to historical splits between rich and poor countries with the latter represented by major CDM host nations and oil majors.

EUAs gained for a third successive session on Wednesday as a continued rebound in key energy contracts lifted sentiment in defiance of a weak auction.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits took a step back this week as entities looked to complete purchases ahead of this week’s carryback compliance deadline.

California issued more than 620,000 across seven projects this week, with a bulk of those credits being issued to a new forestry project, regulator data showed Wednesday.

A California Assembly committee this week advanced a bill that would enable the state's Offset Protocol Task Force (OPTF) to recommend aggregation methodologies for new and existing protocols, which could prove a boon for neglected project types in the WCI-linked carbon market.

Switzerland has launched a consultation over proposed changes to its emissions trading regulations that are needed before it links its carbon market to the EU ETS, floating protective measures including allowance holding limits and a high price floor based on the social cost of carbon.

Investors in Australia and New Zealand are calling on their governments to design durable climate policies using carbon pricing as a tool to align with the Paris Agreement and set long-term zero emission targets.

China is likely to meet its Paris target of peaking CO2 emissions well ahead of 2030, but only if it fully implements its suite of planned policies, including reforming the power generation sector and establishing a broad emissions trading scheme, a study has found.

The New Zealand government on Wednesday announced it will introduce averaging accounting for foresters in the ETS, a move that could free up additional supply as forest-owners face fewer risks.

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

Fossil fuel major BP on Tuesday announced a $100 million fund to lower emissions from its upstream oil and gas operations, months after shareholder pressure forced the company to beef up its climate-related disclosures.

Virginia utility Dominion will permanently close 10 fossil- and biomass-fired units that it had previously placed on reserve last year, coming ahead of the state’s expected entry into the northeast US RGGI carbon market next year.

EU carbon notched a second straight gain on Tuesday to recover further from Monday’s three-week low, as a coal rebound lifted the energy complex amid continued EUA auction strength.

Australia on Tuesday shortlisted 12 projects for underwriting in a bid to boost energy reliability, but a major industry group still called for a more long term post-election policy that allows access to offsets for major emitters.