Carbon Pulse

Voluntary carbon credit retirements in 2023 exceeded the levels of a year earlier on major registries after a surge in activity in December.

To support our team’s mission to proactively promote climate protection, we are looking for a Senior Director Nature Based Solutions.

ExxonMobil has an opportunity for an experienced Carbon Trading Analyst to be part of our Global Trading Analytics team. The role will work very closely with our teams on the trading floor and is based in our central London Trading office.

A total of 1,225 carbon activities registered under the Kyoto-era Clean Development Mechanism have taken the first steps towards transitioning to the Article 6.4 mechanism, according to UN data, as the deadline to apply expired at the end of 2023.

European carbon prices plunged on the first trading day of 2024 as speculative traders renewed bearish bets that had been unwound in the final two weeks of last year, while energy prices drifted despite forecasts for colder weather by the end of the week.

Electricity generation from fossil fuels in the EU slumped 21% year-on-year in 2023, according to transmission data, with coal producing half as much power over the last twelve months as in 2018, and the share of renewables also jumping in the bloc-wide mix.

Several members of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC), formed by the Marshall Islands in 2014 to phase out fossil fuels, may yet develop their own gas reserves, despite the COP28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels.

A government-commissioned working group containing some of Japan’s biggest companies has called for a broad set of actions to be taken to improve liquidity and quality in the nation’s emerging voluntary carbon market, including regulatory guidelines, rating systems, and greater transparency.

The price for Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) has started the new year at a six-month high, likely a result of end of year voluntary retirements. 

Several US banks and hedge funds opened accounts in California’s WCI-linked carbon market in Q4, while dairy digester offset developers continue to exit the cap-and-trade programme, according to state data published Friday.

Regulated parties and speculators built up 2024 vintage net holdings of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI allowances (RGAs) into the last trading week of 2023, while the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) did not report Washington allowance (WCA) positions in data published Friday.

Colombia-based credit standard Cercarbono has released for public consultation a methodology that will allow project developers to earn Voluntary Biodiversity Credits (VBCs) for the protection of ecosystem indicator species.

California tempered compliance-grade offset issuance for the last bi-weekly distribution of the year, with one-fifth of issued credits tagged with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs), still, total offsets distributed through 2023 stood nearly 20% higher year-on-year, according to data published by state regulator ARB on Wednesday.

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

The Washington Department of Ecology (ECY) has revealed the list of entities registered to hold allowances and offsets in the state's WCI-modelled cap-and-invest programme throughout Q4, with the number of companies more than 70% higher than entities that have qualified to bid in auctions.

Compliance entities in the California Carbon Allowance (CCA) market grew both V23 and V24 holdings, while speculators in the RGGI Allowance (RGA) market did the same, as Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) market saw both groups add to their net length, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed Friday.

An exchange backed by the Taiwanese government saw trade in international carbon credits on its inaugural day on Friday, with solid interest from domestic companies.

A Latin American airline group has agreed to buy 400,000 carbon offsets over 10 years to help protect 22,000 hectares in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes of Brazil.

Corporates would be left off the hook for climate targets if the VCMI’s new ‘flexibility’ claim idea for Scope 3 emissions is given the green light, warns a report that finds some companies could even increase their climate pollution up to 2030 as a result.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has completed a joint pilot project with China Baowu Steel Group that focuses on reduced emissions from mined iron ore used in the production of mining car wheels, and using carbon credits to offset the residual greenhouse gases.