Carbon Pulse

Category 3 offsets in China’s carbon market double their value overnight after Tuesday’s government announcement that all CCERs will be eligible for ETS compliance use, with analysts saying the decision will likely soon start weighing on allowance prices.

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

The New Zealand environment ministry is looking to hire two climate change analysts in permanent, full time roles.

Glasgow is likely to produce a decision on the implementation modalities for market mechanisms under the Paris Agreement. However, those expecting that such a decision would lead to a flurry of investments into Article 6 transactions may see their hopes frustrated by governments’ and corporates’ lack of appetite for such transactions. But closing the Paris Rulebook will still be important, if only to put voluntary carbon markets on stable ground.

The Canadian Liberal government’s climate plan could allow the country to meet its enhanced Paris Agreement target, but this depends on the speed of the regulatory trail and other administrative processes, according to independent modelling released Thursday.

Former US Vice President Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management has launched a new subsidiary aimed at helping limit the global temperature rise to 1.5C by catalysing and scaling capital towards the most impactful climate solutions.

US biofuel credit (RINs) prices fell to a one-month low on Thursday as market participants said refiners were absent from the market as stakeholders wait for the EPA to publish two years’ worth of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) and RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices both registered new all-time highs this week, though the records proved short lived as the bull run cooled off in the WCI programme and Pennsylvania’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate signalled hesitancy about participating in the Northeast US power sector scheme.

Germany-based utility RWE, the EU’s top corporate emitter, reported a 23.5% jump in its ETS-covered thermal power output for the first nine months of the year, it said late Thursday.

Large British companies will be forced to report their climate-related risks from next year, according to government plans unveiled on Thursday that would make the UK the world’s first nation to impose detailed mandatory disclosures.

The White House released its compromise deal for its deadlocked spending package on Thursday, with President Joe Biden confident that substantial cuts to key climate and social provisions mean the measure can pass Congress after months of testing negotiations.

US climate envoy John Kerry stressed his country's pledge to drastically hike adaptation aid to poor nations on Thursday, but experts questioned the undertaking that still lacks lawmaker approval just days before UN climate talks.

Companies must halve their emissions by 2030 and cut them 90-95% under 2015 levels before 2050 to meet net zero emissions targets endorsed by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), with only the remaining output neutralised through carbon removals.

ESG commodities marketplace Xpansiv’s CBL platform on Thursday said it will introduce a new standardised voluntary emissions reduction (VER) contract based on initial principles recommended by the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM).

China released its updated climate plan under the Paris Agreement on Thursday, but without raising its emissions reduction ambition levels.

A British company has launched what it claims is the world’s smallest industrial carbon capture solution, a technology aiming to overcome a key barrier to widespread CCUS adoption and industrial decarbonisation, the company said on Thursday.

EUAs rallied steadily on Thursday morning after a sharp drop at the open, as energy markets reacted to reports that Russia may boost natural gas supplies to Europe from early next month.

Oil major Shell will target a 50% absolute cut in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, the company said in Q3 results on Thursday, adding that part of the goal would be met by a "limited amount" of offsets.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is recruiting a Climate Change Specialist/Senior Climate Change Specialist to support operationalization of Paris Alignment commitment through road testing and distilling lessons from project level work.

Australian carbon credits jumped another 4.4% to a new record high in Thursday trade, as a lack of available spot supply continued to underpin the recent bull run.