Carbon Pulse

The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) needs to stay agile to recognise the evolving global geopolitical context and asymmetries of climate policies, with the US Inflation Reduction Act a prevalent example, a research group emphasised on Thursday.

The past year has been "wasted" as nations' updated climate plans accounting for a 1% reduction in emissions, according to a UN report published on Thursday, meaning the world will need to see dramatic societal and sectoral change this decade to avoid climate disaster.

Four member states are expected to exceed their non-ETS emissions obligations for 2021, according to EU data published this week that shows governments are struggling to meet their goals despite some already facing hefty costs from buying intergovernmental EU carbon units for the previous year. 

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) does not have the legal authority to rescind the state’s RGGI-linked cap-and-trade regulation next December, while an orderly exit needs to be ensured should the state follow through with leaving the power sector market, according to public comments published this week.

The risk of significant heavy industry capacity reduction in Europe is increasing, as major metal and chemical producers warned this week that output cuts due to extreme energy prices may soon become permanent, with experts suggesting that this may not be fully priced into the carbon market.

A group of companies announced on Thursday a multi-year trial of carbon capture technology in the steel sector, with an eye to support full scale deployment through a design and feasibility study.

EU carbon resumed its upward march on Thursday morning, erasing Wednesday's losses and setting yet another seven-week high as short covering resumed, while energy markets stabilised as traders kept a watching brief for news of the EU's plans to cap energy costs.

Utility Vattenfall reported a slight cut in its ETS-covered generation over the first three quarters of 2022 on Thursday, while nuclear powerhouse EDF forecast a €32 billion hit to profits due to multi-year lows for its reactor availability that has driven demand for coal and gas even higher across Europe.

A group of four organisations have collaborated to set up a first of its kind agri-tech startup that aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of rice growing in Southeast Asia and the broader Asian region, they announced on Thursday.

Indonesia’s requirement for each sector of the economy to draw up and meet NDC targets before they can resume selling carbon credits could interrupt project funding and create structural challenges for issuances in one of the voluntary carbon market's biggest host nations, according to market experts.

China’s environment ministry on Thursday said it will soon release for public consultation the plan for post-2020 emissions allowance allocation, a long-awaited regulatory document for market participants.

One of the world’s biggest car manufacturers has teamed up with a leading carbon solutions provider to join the voluntary carbon market, opening a major call for submissions to develop offset projects and to buy credits from existing ones. 

Issuance of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) has crept up this week, while airline Qantas announced it would invest in GreenCollar reef credits and an energy company was fined A$53,000 ($34,000) by the market authority over greenwashing statements.

The current global energy crisis can prove to be a historic turning point towards a cleaner energy future, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated, as the Paris-based energy watchdog projected for the first time that global demand for each of the fossil fuels will either peak or plateau across all the scenarios in its latest annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) released on Thursday.

Japan plans to gradually increase domestic carbon prices over the next decade to help drive deeper emissions reductions and raise funds for decarbonisation, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said, according to local media reports.

An Australian-based financial company has raised A$55 million ($35 mln) to go towards nature-based carbon credit projects and the roll-out of its data and analytics platforms.

Two Korean environmental and consumer rights groups have filed legal complaints over claims made by a major industrial conglomerate that the use of offsets from a controversial South American forestry project makes its engine oil product ‘carbon neutral’.

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

British Airways has partnered with a climate tech firm to create a new platform for passengers to manage and offset their flight emissions.

A carbon credit ratings platform has hired a senior executive from data and research firm Fitch to steer and expand commercial opportunities.