Carbon Pulse

The electric car revolution could be set for a fresh incentive with drivers soon to be able to earn tokenised nature-based credits after plugging into a charge point.

Norwegian renewables powerhouse Statkraft gas ordered 40 MW of electrolysers from tech firm Nel, the companies said on Friday in a move that further boosts the country’s hydrogen capabilities following this week’s deepened energy partnership with Germany.

EUA prices consolidated on Friday after a turbulent few weeks, trading flat on thin morning volume with prices continuing to closely track gas markets.

Hong Kong is still keen to find a way to link up with China's carbon trading market, but more work has to be done to make that happen given the complexity of the issue, according to a top official at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).

Sentiment in the Chinese carbon market has fallen off a cliff in recent days after a flurry of trading activity in the last week of last year, while the central government has yet to make a final decision on allocation and offset rules going forward.

South Korean CO2 allowances lost a fifth of their value in the first week of 2023, as a glut of allowances and sluggish economic performance continued to weigh on sentiment despite government promises to improve market conditions.

The long-awaited findings of the review into Australia’s carbon market are expected to be released Monday, with market players hoping it will restore confidence in the system, and put lingering animosity between some actors to rest.

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

*PREMIUM LISTING - We are looking for an exceptional analyst who is motivated, dependable and deeply passionate about the role carbon markets play in mitigating climate risks, to join our award-winning market analysis team as a Senior Carbon Analyst reporting to the Manager, Market Analysis.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices began 2023 by eating into the end-of-year run-up, as Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) prices continued to accelerate ahead of the official launch of the cap-and-trade system on Sunday, jumping more than 20% over December.

The number of entities awaiting approval by California regulator ARB to participate in the state’s cap-and-trade programme more than doubled in the fourth quarter, according to analysis by Carbon Pulse, as authorisations are reportedly taking as long as 12 months to complete.

A British technology company and a Toronto-based ESG investment firm on Thursday announced a merger that they said will pave the way for a broader roll out of a blockchain-based environmental credit platform for creating and trading international offsets.

Why I remain bullish on the verified carbon markets, writes Melissa Lindsay, founder of Emstream and Emsurge.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which bought a 24.9% stake in Austrian oil refining group OMV in December, has earmarked $15 bln for decarbonisation projects to help towards a goal of reducing carbon intensity by 25% by 2030.

European carbon prices rose 1.7% on Thursday morning, rebounding after two heavy loss-making sessions, though fundamentals remain weak as gas prices continued to fall as warm winter weather has driven a return to incentivised coal-to-gas- fuel switching.

Norway’s Equinor and Germany’s RWE plan to develop a large-scale hydrogen-based value chain to help transition Germany away from coal, the energy companies said on Thursday alongside a wider cooperation deal by their respective governments.

China‘s State Council has recommended studying the possibility of including carbon sinks generated from soil and water conservation projects in its national offset market, in a move backing the long-awaited relaunch of the Chinese Certified Emissions Reductions (CCER) programme.

An Indonesia-based investment firm that will help drive investments and provide strategic advice on early-stage nature-based businesses in Southeast Asia is having its soft launch this month.

Northern China's Shandong province has rolled out a work plan for the construction of its own offset programme, the latest move for regional authorities in the country to explore new options in the absence of a national offsetting mechanism.

A government-commissioned expert group has recommended that participants in Japan’s domestic voluntary carbon market, the GX League, should set a single target for the 2023-25 pilot phase of the scheme, with final regulations for the initial trading period to be released later this month.