Carbon Pulse

EU institutions, stakeholders and experts agree that the EU’s carbon market should serve as the centrepiece of Europe’s decarbonisation efforts. To reach enhanced climate ambition for 2030, the EU needs a well-functioning carbon market fostering cost-efficient emission reductions. However, this role has just been cast into doubt.

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

Lawmakers from the EU’s major political groups have proposed amendments to limit investor access to the bloc’s carbon market and to implement stricter price control measures ahead of a major European Parliament vote on the ETS reforms next week.

The US EPA on Friday finalised long-delayed biofuel quotas for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that were largely similar to preliminary volumes this winter, while the agency also rejected dozens of outstanding programme waivers filed by small refiners.

Compliance entities reduced their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net length after last week’s record Q2 WCI auction settlement and as the May contract expired, while speculators added to their holdings by the largest level since this winter, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

The European Parliament is set to vote on several key climate policy bills next Wednesday, against the backdrop of a heavily-altered geopolitical landscape that is upping political pressure to ensure energy supplies.

RGGI auctions continued their run of record settlement prices during the June sale, though fell short of releasing more carbon permits by just one cent, according to results published Friday.

Switzerland has agreed a bilateral agreement with Thailand that will allow it to import international carbon units from the Southeast Asian nation under the Paris Agreement, while Sweden said it had made similar outline deals with two countries.

Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservatives have won a second majority government in Ontario, in an expected result to Thursday's election that comes after weeks of polls indicating incumbent Premier Doug Ford would stay on.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator and its largest soil carbon developer have rejected the findings of a research study questioning the viability of soil carbon practices, describing the science behind the methodology as cutting edge and world leading.

Indonesia is set to launch its pilot cap-trade and carbon tax system for coal-fired power stations next month, but the government has yet to reveal many of the finer details of how it will work.

US-based offset developer C-Quest Capital (CQC) has reached an agreement with BP whereby the oil major will make a sizable investment in CQC’s operations in India, it has been announced.

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

Questions regarding offset integrity and double counting featured prominently on Thursday as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) solicited expert feedback on its role in governing the voluntary carbon market.

Verra is looking for a Senior Program Officer or Program Officer to help ensure the growth and maturation of our standards, with a particular focus on project developers as a key stakeholder group.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) values rushed to highs not seen since January this week on the heels of a bullish May auction result and heightened speculative activity, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices ticked up as the power sector programme held its own Q2 sale. 

A Dutch carbon offset firm has launched a €2-million capital raise via green bonds.

The CEO of a major US-based agricultural carbon offset firm has stepped down.

The US-based marketing arm of a REDD+ project developer on Thursday released a forest conservation plan to develop a global portfolio of community-based forest conservation projects, expected to generate 800 million voluntary carbon credits by the end of this decade.

The European Parliament is likely to back the entry of all shipping emissions into the EU ETS from 2024 in a vote next week, stakeholders said, with lawmakers replicating much of a preliminary Committee position but also crafting exemptions that would substantially weaken the carbon price signal for some.