Carbon Pulse

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

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices plateaued this week despite a forthcoming cap-and-trade rulemaking webinar and relatively strong WCI Q2 auction result, while the lull in activity ahead of Wednesday’s Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) auction was briefly interrupted by a small trade.

A carbon project developer is showcasing deals made with provincial governments in Indonesia, claiming that the agreements add a very significant volume of carbon credits to its project pipeline.

New York state is taking feedback on all design elements of its proposed economy-wide cap-and-invest system including speculative participation, trading restrictions, allowance holding period limits, and reporting requirements, even as it contemplates linkage with other jurisdictions’ programmes, government officials told a webinar on Thursday.

Oil major ExxonMobil on Thursday announced a carbon capture and storage (CCS) deal to bury 800,000 tonnes of CO2e annually from a US steelmaker.

Corporations that are “material” users of carbon credits have slashed their emissions twice as fast as companies that have not made such purchases, aa research firm said in a report published Thursday.

Verified emissions in the UK ETS rose by 2.5% in 2022, the government announced late Thursday, with the increase in output driven by a post-pandemic rebound in aviation.

Pressure is mounting on the UAE ahead of the UNFCCC's intersessional climate change conference in Bonn next week, with criticism building among stakeholders over the Gulf state's hosting of the year-end COP28 UN climate summit due to the lack of a clear agenda, split priorities among negotiating parties, and the potential influence of the fossil fuel industry. 

The body responsible for helping to shape which mitigation activities can be credited under the Paris Agreement on Thursday signalled it will drop the controversial tonne-year accounting method from its recommendations.

Tensions within the European Parliament have been rising for weeks, with fractious negotiations over the bloc's proposed nature restoration law reaching breaking point in recent days.

More than half of 1,986 large global corporations are yet to pledge a carbon emission reduction target, according to the latest findings of researchers tracking company-level activity that reveal a major gap shortfall in climate action and potential carbon credit demand. 

Protected forests worldwide store an additional 9.65 billion tonnes of carbon in their aboveground biomass compared to similar unprotected areas, according to new research.

The European Commission is likely to publish its first set of implementation and delegated acts in the coming weeks related to the recently-passed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), with experts weighing whether details are likely on the thorny issue of carbon price equivalency.

The government of Bangladesh has proposed a carbon tax in its 2023-24 budget, aimed at reducing carbon emissions, easing city traffic congestion, and promoting public transportation use.

Switzerland has issued a plea to project developers to reach out to the country to pitch ideas under Article 6.2, the mechanism for bilateral carbon trade between countries to help meet Paris Agreement targets, amid a paucity of available opportunities in the market.

European carbon prices fluctuated on Thursday morning amid a tug-of-war between short-positioned traders seeking to extend the recent decline, and others seeking to continue Wednesday's short-squeeze rally that had been triggered by data showing investment funds held their largest ever net short position.

The European Parliament voted on Thursday to approve its stance on a package of rules that will force EU companies to disclose their carbon footprint and take steps to reduce it as part of corporate sustainability requirements.

South Korea will be able to retire its entire coal fleet by 2035 in alignment with the Paris Agreement if the government provides sufficient support for transition finance, research released Thursday has found.

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An Austrian startup has generated the first certified credits from a series of regional forest management projects, the firm announced this week, confirming further activities across multiple other EU nations.