Carbon Pulse

EU governments should not to intervene in the EU ETS, the European Commission said on Wednesday, publishing a ‘toolbox’ of measures to tackle surging energy prices that ruled out speculation as a major driver of higher carbon prices but still tasked officials to investigate further.

Carbon was little changed in early Wednesday trade, with participants describing a "range-bound" market even as energy prices advanced.

South Korea’s monthly carbon auction Wednesday followed the secondary market north and cleared 1% below spot prices, while selling over 90% of the allowances on offer.

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, has released a new hydrogen plan to attract tens of billions of dollars of investment and boost the state’s role in Australia’s emerging renewable hydrogen sector, the government announced on Wednesday.

Australian carbon credits traded at a record A$31 ($22.74) on Wednesday, while some landfill gas developers are close to fulfilling large ERF contracts, potentially freeing up more supply for the secondary market.

Clean energy progress is not going fast enough to put global emissions into a sustained decline towards net zero by mid-century, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Wednesday.

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

Two US firms on Tuesday announced a new voluntary emissions reduction (VER) platform to allow organisations to browse through available offset projects and make commission-free purchases, cutting out brokers and large corporates.

Oil-rich Gulf state Kuwait has pledged to cut its emissions 7.4% under BAU levels by 2035 in its revised NDC submitted on Tuesday, far off the 45% global GHG cut thought needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C warming goal.

The New Zealand ETS needs to be encouraged to make gross carbon reductions, potentially relying less on forestry offsets in the future, the government said Wednesday as it launched a public consultation process for its first long-term emissions reduction plan.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit values reached a one-month high on Tuesday, as market participants reported importers were on the bid and helping drive prices up.

Costa Rica will work with Gold Standard on principles for corresponding adjustments (CAs) under the Paris Agreement, as the offset project certifier gears up for what it dubs ‘Article-6 authorised units' for global carbon trade.

Two investment management firms from the US and Australia opened RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) accounts in recent days, while a Pennsylvania-based facility also registered a general account ahead of the state’s possible entrance to the scheme next year.

Bulgaria will target a coal phaseout by 2038 or 2040, caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev told business this week.

EU lawmakers on Tuesday urged the EU to form an "international climate club” with other big emitting nations that would be shielded from the effects of the bloc's proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).

A number of CDM developers are planning a rush of CER issuances to benefit from slightly higher prices and to get them off their books before potential UN decisions leave the units worthless.

The global CCS pipeline has expanded rapidly in 2021, adding dozens of new projects since the end of last year, according to the Global CCS Institute in its 2021 status report released on Tuesday.

EUAs weakened on Tuesday morning as participants eyed the steadily increasing pace of issuance of free allowances for 2021, while energy markets all fluctuated within a comparatively narrow range.

North American environmental firm Bluesource has partnered with investment firm Oak Hill Advisers to form a $500 million joint venture and develop forestry-based carbon credits for both the compliance and voluntary markets, the companies announced Tuesday.

China on Tuesday announced several key reforms to its coal-fired electricity market, which analysts say could allow generators to pass on the cost of carbon.