Carbon Pulse

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

Officials from two New York agencies outlined in a webinar Friday a preliminary analysis of potential market effects and wider impacts of the state's future cap-and-invest programme under different modeled price-ceiling scenarios, finding that all substantially reduce emissions, but obligating electricity could result in leakage and higher costs.

The Biden administration will assess the impacts on energy costs, energy security, and the environment during the temporary pause in pending approvals of liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, the White House announced Friday.

Speculators reduced their positions and producers picked up holdings across North American carbon allowances, while information regarding Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) was finally disclosed after a month-long hiatus, data published by the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Friday showed.

The Climate Action Reserve (CAR) this week approved forest carbon protocols in Guatemala and Panama, continuing the US standard body’s policy to develop country-specific offset methodologies.

Elements of the EU nature restoration bill need resolving if the provisional legislation is to succeed, the deputy head of the European Commission’s biodiversity unit has said.

A forest carbon partnership programme in Mozambique, issuing large volumes of carbon credits to a project in the country, has experienced above-baseline deforestation at the site, with the nation's engagment in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) also subject to regulatory roadblocks, according to local and international sources.

Researchers have identified the countries most likely to the support the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and therefore which governments are most willing to accept it amid an objective of securing the policy’s survival and broader adoption globally.

The European Union's executive body, the Commission, should recommend an ambitious climate target for 2040, said the ministers of 11 member states on Friday, following a leak of the draft proposal seen by Carbon Pulse.

Companies that must comply with the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism are facing difficulties in submitting their reports less than a week before the first reporting deadline, multiple national EU registries have said.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has launched a new biodiversity standard for supporting organisations in assessing their impacts on biodiversity, as stakeholder demand for nature-related disclosures gains traction.

Investor appetite for climate tech deals in industry and carbon was particularly strong last year, even as overall investment dropped 30% on the year prior, say analysts.

A fresh expose this week about over-crediting in cookstoves projects has been met with a muted voluntary carbon market (VCM) reaction, although the sector is ‘well offered’, according to sources.

Oil and gas companies that have signed up to a COP28 sectoral decarbonisation pact are set to use over 60% of the world’s remaining carbon budget under a 1.5C warming scenario, according to an NGO.

A nature scientist clashed with a farming industry representative about how agriculture should address biodiversity loss, during an Ireland-focused webinar.

European carbon allowance prices posted modest gains on Friday after early weakness was erased by an unusually strong auction result that sparked a sharp rise in prices, even as traders continued to try to establish the market's overall direction with EUAs beginning to find a short-term level.

A startup based in Singapore focused on delivering data on biodiversity and carbon credits has closed its seed funding round.

Allowances in the Chinese carbon market rose slightly over the past week amid lukewarm demand, while the national offset market saw liquidity remain sluggish even after the official restart of the national voluntary programme.

A fresh initiative is spearheading the idea of compensating resource-rich nations for leaving oil reserves untapped, with potentially significant benefits for climate mitigation and the carbon markets.

Japan’s J-Credit certification committee on Friday registered 32 new projects to start earning credits under the scheme, while issuing some 75,000 units to existing programmes.