Carbon Pulse

Once a bastion of EU carbon trading fraud, France has found almost a fifth of its burgeoning 'white' energy efficiency certificate market to be "problematic" since it relaxed auditing rules, delivering another stark warning over the potential pitfalls of market-based environmental policies.

Over 60,000 forest carbon credits issued by the Guangdong provincial government sold at a 10% premium to allowances in China’s biggest emissions market, the local exchange said.

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

Carbon prices on both North American coasts stalled this week as participants found little incentive to trade ahead of the next round of quarterly auctions.

Historically, small landowners have had a difficult time accessing carbon markets in which to sell their forest-based offsets.

Governments have agreed to hold an extra week of negotiations on international emissions trade and other rules under the 2015 Paris Agreement, as two weeks of UN climate talks in Bonn ended Thursday yielding little progress.

A bill to expand Connecticut’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and revise the state’s energy plan passed a final floor vote in the House on Wednesday, but not before some legislators unsuccessfully tried to put forth an amendment amidst backlash from environmental groups.

Green group The Nature Conservancy and insurance company XL Catlin have teamed up to develop ‘Blue Carbon Resilience Credits’ for marketing the benefits of ecosystems that combine carbon sequestration and climate change resiliency.

Italian utility Enel reported a more advanced hedging position in Q1, continuing its accelerated rate from the previous quarter as EUA prices rose.

EU carbon prices hit a fresh seven-year high on Thursday, posting a third day of strong gains in the past four amid a supply-starved week and as the wider European energy complex marched higher.

The delay of China’s national emissions trading programme has forced a number of carbon specialist firms to refocus their business, sparking a price war in the emissions verification industry.

China’s CDM Fund has approved a 65 million yuan ($10 mln) loan to a Shanghai-based natural gas project in a bid to ramp up supply of natural gas seen as crucial to help bring down coal consumption and cut CO2 emissions.

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

A dry winter is expected to hamper low-carbon hydroelectric power generation in California this summer, according the state’s independent system operator, pointing to a potential tightening of the state’s cap-and-trade market.

California regulator ARB handed out over 6.4 million California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) this week in the third largest issuance in the programme's history, with one new forestry project receiving the vast majority of the credits.

European carbon prices rose above €14 on Wednesday, coming within sight of their recent seven-year high as the flow of short-term supply paused and President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of an international nuclear pact with Iran lifted the wider energy complex.

The US-based Paulson Institute has launched a green finance centre in China to help the world’s biggest-polluting nation drive private funding to cut pollution levels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Technology conglomerate Softbank and utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) are among the participants in a new blockchain initiative in Japan that will allow rural consumers to trade renewable energy in a bid to cut emissions.

New Zealand carbon allowances saw their second consecutive day of losses on Wednesday as buyers took a breather after pushing prices up to near-record highs.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator on Wednesday released new methods for generating carbon credits from savanna burning projects in a move to ensure developers can also earn for sequestering carbon.