Carbon Pulse

Voluntary emissions reduction (VER) prices slid lower Thursday, extending a sell off this week, as a combination of the increasingly gloomy macro-economic picture combined with wider concerns over the integrity of the market.

The preliminary result of a public call issued by the Brazilian state of Tocantins will see a major commodities trading firm progress to negotiate with the government over the sale of 200 million tonnes of jurisdictional forest carbon credits, according to a Thursday release.

EUAs extended their rangebound trading in light trading early on Thursday as traders eyed technical signals that suggest the market is likely to break out of its month-long range, while energy prices rose for the first time in seven sessions amid signs of lower temperatures approaching the region.

A leading carbon project developer has partnered with three technology specialists to provide analysis into its forestry projects at a time of increased scrutiny into the quality of REDD+ and ARR credits.

EU regulatory efforts to spur the decarbonisation of shipping need to be strengthened to avoid the use of LNG as a transitional lower emissions fuel for vessels, a shift which would not only undermine efforts to realise climate goals for the sector but also mitigate the region’s energy security objectives, a non-profit think-tank has warned.

Europe’s largest coal-fired power plant could replace most of its lignite generation with renewables paired with batteries or lower-carbon thermal capacity, according to a report from a clean energy research group, outlining a strategy that would lower the overall power system costs in the Polish region where it is located while maintaining energy security.

Governments and companies across the Asia-Pacific plan to rely heavily on CCS to reach net zero, with annual storage expected in the several hundred million tonnes of CO2 by the early 2030s, most of it via cross-border projects, but so far regulators have been quiet about who would be earning the potential carbon credits for the activities.

Global investment manager New Forests has partnered with three European development finance agencies to invest $200 million in a sustainable forestry fund for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sydney-based company announced on Thursday.

Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has signed an agreement with the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) to cooperate on carbon trading.

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

The governor's race in New York state may seem like a done deal for the pro-environment incumbent, Kathy Hochul (D), against the pro-fracking Representative Lee Zeldin (R), but there's more to the midterm showdown than meets the eye.

Four US improved forest management projects credited by the American Carbon Registry (ACR) have been downgraded to a low chance of avoiding or reducing CO2 by a ratings agency following a review.

Flawed or misleading reporting is masking the considerable gap in international climate finance flows, according to a report by a development charity published on Wednesday, pointing to inflated numbers behind claims that are already falling short of financial promises.

While publicly-listed companies are committing to net zero, privately-held firms are largely not, a study published Wednesday found, with the largest 100 private companies accounting for 5% of the global economy.

National-scale forest protection credits sold on the REDD.plus platform are “not rigorous enough to offset or compensate for emissions”, analysts said in a note on Wednesday, noting that the market does not seem to trust the marketplace.

Global CO2 emissions from energy production are set to rise by a little less than 1% this year, slowing last year’s jump as more renewables and electric vehicle capacity outweighed a post-pandemic tilt to coal, the IEA said on Wednesday.

Switzerland has scheduled its first auction for carbon units from compliance year 2022 in its ETS.

European carbon continued to trade in a lacklustre fashion on Wednesday, with prices climbing early on as the market lacked its usual daily EUA auction supply while energy markets halted a five-day losing streak to post modest gains.

Climate change is largely a first world priority, while many poor and less developed countries, some facing the highest level of ecological threat from food insecurity, water shortages and natural disasters, rank many other issues higher, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Countries have submitted 139 new or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) as of September this year, but global policy commitments still fall well short of getting on the pathway needed to limit global warming to 1.5C, according to research from a non-profit think tank released on Wednesday.