Carbon Pulse

Insurance mechanisms are emerging as a way to guard against policy reversal in carbon markets, where some say these products could mitigate the risk of government U-turns or other political risks associated with Paris-aligned emissions trade.

EU carbon prices made moderate gains in thin trade on Thursday morning, as the market again approached technical resistance while the lack of auction supply was seen as supportive.

A new flexible methodology in Australia’s carbon market expected to attract more landholders to start projects and with the potential to scale up offset supply significantly is likely ready for implementation around February next year, according to its developer.

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

*PREMIUM LISTING - Given significant developments in the global climate policy context, governmental entities are increasingly engaging in a variety of carbon policies and activities that provide opportunities for carbon markets and Verra's standards. For these reasons, Verra is looking for a Manager, Government Engagement, to develop and administer activities of an educational and capacity-building nature for a wide range of governments.

The European Commission’s plan to bring roughly 200-250 million EUAs out of the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) and auction them to raise €20 billion to fund the bloc’s shift away from Russian energy has jolted the EU ETS, igniting “trust” concerns by market participants who liken the move to Brussels raising the EU's climate cookie jar.

The first use of Asparigopsis – a type of seaweed endemic to Australia – to reduce methane emissions in livestock could occur in a matter of months, however it may be some time before farmers can begin generating Australian Carbon Credits Units (ACCUs) for it.

Carbon offset project originator and portfolio management firm Viridios Capital has filled three senior positions for the Asia-Pacific region.

*PREMIUM LISTING – Calyx Global is looking for a person to lead, manage and grow its GHG ratings for technologies. With a large volume of credits already being traded, and new technologies on the horizon particularly to capture and store carbon, Calyx expects this to be a growing portfolio of ratings.

*PREMIUM LISTING – Calyx Global is looking for a person to lead and manage its SDG ratings. This is an important role for the company, as it speaks to half of its mission—improving the impact of markets for people living in and around project areas.

*PREMIUM LISTING – Gold Standard is seeking a Government Relations Manager, to lead Gold Standard’s work and relationships with governments across the world.

The UK government has levied more than £27 million in new environmental fines, with the bulk related to compliance breaches under the EU ETS.

California regulator ARB distributed the smallest number of compliance offsets this week since spring 2020, while traders reported credits tagged with in-state benefits were seeing increasingly higher values than out-of-state units.  

Tokenisation and the use of blockchain is a double-edged sword that needs high water marks to provide integrity in carbon markets, a conference heard Wednesday following earlier news that Verra stopped crypto companies from tokenising credits that have already been retired.

The difference between the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and compliance carbon markets will continue to blur, speakers told a conference on Wednesday, ahead of hotly-anticipated standards to be published later this year.

The pathway for decarbonising the aviation sector will be a political decision because of the lack of available biofuels, while public investment in infrastructure for alternative energies will require concrete evidence of emission reductions rather than "dreams", an Italian minister told a conference Wednesday.

EUA prices consolidated their gains from Tuesday amid thin trading as participants eyed public holidays across much of Europe in the coming few days.

Gradually introducing permit auctioning and transitioning to a cap-and-trade system from the current intensity-based approach are some of the measures China can put in place to achieve deeper carbon cuts from its ETS at a lower cost, according to a study released Wednesday.

The four nations known as the Quad countries – Australia, India, Japan, and the US – will launch a mission to help the Indo-Pacific region implement Article 6 of the Paris Agreement while backing high-quality carbon markets.

Voluntary carbon standard manager Verra will with immediate effect stop companies like Toucan Protocol from tokenising carbon credits that have been retired, and instead explore an alternative, it said Wednesday.