Carbon Pulse

The California-Quebec carbon market and Washington’s cap-and-trade programme on Friday announced similar auction floor prices and allowance price containment reserve (APCR) levels for 2024, as the linked WCI scheme also established next year's sale volumes.

Compliance entities and speculators both shed their V23 California Carbon Allowance (CCA) holdings in favour of V24, favoring the reverse in RGGI, while both groups reduced their Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) positions over the last week, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed Friday.

California compliance offset retirements continued to decline during the interim cap-and-trade deadline in 2022, dropping to a third of the amount surrendered during the 2018–20 period, while higher premiums and supply constraints drove down the share of credits with direct environmental benefits (DEBs), according to official data published Thursday.

An update to an existing Improved Forest Management (IFM) methodology in the US will be proposed early next year, the certifier announced on Friday.

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) has launched federal funding for projects to accelerate the commercial deployment of carbon capture, transport, and storage throughout the US to address legacy GHG output, as well as emissions from industrial operations and power plants.

Norway on Friday announced a contribution of $100 million to support Indonesia’s continued efforts to reduce deforestation, pointing out that the Asian nation now has the lowest reported levels in 20 years.

A large tech company with a growing carbon removal portfolio is looking for ways to support early-stage technologies with access to project finance, and calls for better standardisation of registries in order to reduce the risk of over-crediting in the voluntary carbon market.

Climate Impact X (CIX) has temporarily suspended delivery of carbon credits from the Southern Cardamom REDD project (VCS 1748) for its nature-based benchmark, Nature X, with immediate effect, after a review found the project failed to meet eligibility criteria.

A framework to help asset managers and asset owners set targets for nature has been launched by the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation (FfB).

The US and other countries are implementing initiatives that could undermine efforts to introduce more robust and transparent standards for international carbon markets, risking missing the Paris Agreement’s goals by embracing existing but flawed approaches, according to a leaked EU document.

The World Bank plans to conduct an initial auction of carbon credits generated via select Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) countries by the end of Q1 next year, as it pursues a scaling up of the programme to a value of $2.5 billion and considers other sectors for future credit generation.

Vietnam announced its plan to mobilise resources towards implementing a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) on Friday at COP28, advancing the multi-faceted clean energy funding agreement struck over a year ago.

On Friday, 35 nations and the EU formally launched the “Climate Club” of ambitious countries at COP28 in Dubai, which will focus on decarbonisation of industrial sectors.

In a ruling on Thursday, the Brussels Court of Appeal said the Belgian, Flemish, and Brussels governments must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by the end of the decade, in the latest example of a growing trend of climate litigation cases against governments.

Demand for biodiversity credits could reach $180 billion annually by 2050 if a radical transformation in valuing nature happens, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has said.

Four environmental groups have filed an appeal against a Pennsylvania lower court's decision voiding the state's participation in the US Northeast carbon market, following a similar appeal launched by the governor a week prior.

Japan will stop constructing new domestic coal-fired power plants that do not take measures to reduce emissions, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday.

Climate measures financed by green bonds launched by the EU to stimulate growth following the Covid pandemic are capable of cutting 44 million tonnes of GHG emissions a year, equivalent to 1.2% of the bloc's total emissions currently, a report published by the European Commission on Friday has revealed.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Thursday highlighted the key role the voluntary carbon market can play in accelerating the roll-out of global carbon pricing, while emphasising that the market needs common standards to improve trust in the credibility of projects on the part of investors.

European carbon prices held on to early gains as December began, with the market supported by the first premium in a daily auction for more than two weeks, while energy prices rose for a second day as renewables output was below typical levels and temperatures remain low.