Carbon Pulse

A new rule requiring all national emissions trading scheme participants in Hebei to measure and report the carbon content in their coal on a weekly basis is almost impossible to comply with due to a lack of auditors and increases the chances of data falsification, according to sources.

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

The UK ETS Authority will proceed with legislating to introduce new legal obligations to publish compliance and other scheme data, it announced late Thursday, while shelving plans to release regular reports on permit holdings.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices traded through a volatile week alongside Scoping Plan enthusiasm and broader market sentiment, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices continued a steady trek higher to levels not seen since the end of August.

The European Commission is launching the third call for large-scale projects under the EU ETS-funded Innovation Fund, confirming an earlier intention for the call to be at €3 billion.

A Toronto-based ESG investor signed a carbon credit streaming agreement with a developer to build a biochar pyrolysis pilot facility in Enfield, Maine, the companies announced Thursday.

The VCM is set to be the topic of several events organised on the margins of COP27 in Egypt this week, where experts are due to debate its merits over its weaknesses, while initiatives aimed at improving integrity highlight progress to date.

A Calgary-based investment firm is betting big on carbon credits under Alberta's Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regime, seeking to significantly ramp up its offset holdings next year after a large capital raise.

Italy's Enel reported a 45% increase year-on-year in EU ETS-covered fossil generation, while German firm Uniper published a record quarterly loss due to a cease in Russian gas imports, according to utility reports published Thursday across two of Europe's largest energy companies. 

US-headquartered offset developer and intermediary ClimeCo on Wednesday announced it has acquired the VER inventory and customer networks from a carbon credit retail firm that recently shifted its operational focus.

A Democratic sweep in Pennsylvania’s Nov. 8 election would not immediately spell an end to the state’s existing legal challenges to its RGGI-linked carbon market regulation, while there is no doubt what Republican control would mean for the future of the programme, experts told Carbon Pulse.

The share of greenhouse gas emission covered by carbon prices rose from 32% in 2018 to 40% in 2021, with average carbon prices rising in 47 of the 71 countries looked at, the OECD said in a report on Thursday.

A large volume of credits from a major Pakistan-based blue carbon project have been snapped up in auction to add to a flurry of trades this week.

The “misconception” that all forestry conservation (REDD+) projects are low quality is not true, according to a ratings agency that has classed more than 143 mln carbon credits as coming from projects with little risk of overstated claims, although they are still a minority of the offsets issued so far.

EU emissions fell by 5% in the last three months, as the energy crisis encouraged a speedier roll-out of low-carbon energy alternatives and high energy costs dampened industrial output in the bloc, according to real-time emissions tracking analysis.

Climate Finance Partners (‘CLIFI’), an innovative impact investment firm, is seeking an experienced and highly motivated analyst to help support its growing carbon investment business.

EU carbon was marginally firmer on Thursday morning despite a strong auction, as prices consolidated after three days of losses, while energy markets continued to increase amid falling temperatures.

Thailand has raised its 2030 climate target in its 2nd updated NDC submitted to the UNFCCC this week, with the revised commitment also stating that the Southeast Asian country’s aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero emissions by 2065.

A group of oil and gas industry veterans on Thursday launched a company that will issue carbon credits for closing economically viable oil and gas wells.

An Australian pension fund with $44 billion under management has adopted EU and Paris aligned reporting standards, as it released a roadmap on Thursday outlining ways it will cut emissions from its portfolio.