Carbon Pulse

The West on Friday pledged to keep its climate efforts in place while attempting to ditch Russian fossil fuels, with EU leaders securing more US LNG supply but then only reaching a limited agreement to help curb rising energy costs after extended talks.

WCI compliance entities came closer towards eliminating their net short California Carbon Allowance (CCA) position this week, as speculators parted with some permits, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

Canada will increase the ambition of its GHG targets for the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) over the majority of this decade in response to the country’s enhanced climate commitments and stakeholder worries about low-carbon fuel investments, officials said Friday.

Japanese trading house Mitsui signed an MOU with UK technology firm Storegga on Friday, seeking to advance the deployment of direct air capture (DAC) in Scotland via the sale of carbon removals credits.

UN aviation body ICAO is seeking public feedback on a new round of applications under its global offset system, CORSIA, to help determine which additional programmes should be eligible under the 2021-23 pilot phase.

California may kick off workshops this summer to increase the ambition of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) emissions intensity reduction targets, as modelling shows more clean fuels need to come online at a faster rate, an official for regulator ARB said Thursday.

EUAs were modestly firmer on Friday morning, as traders complained about declining liquidity and worsening price discovery caused by increased transaction costs, while energy prices were mixed after the US and Europe agreed a deal to replace some Russian gas supplies with American LNG cargoes.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator on Friday defended itself against the claims that the national offset market lacks integrity, but the leading opposition party vowed to review the scheme if it wins the upcoming election.

The UK has launched a consultation on possible changes to its emissions trading system, outlining long-flagged plans to steepen the rate of emissions cuts in line with the country’s 2050 net zero target as well as adding shipping.

Chinese carbon allowances barely budged over the past week, with traders awaiting confirmation of talk that the government is considering making less significant reductions in allocation numbers than previously signalled.

Australia and New Zealand are well-placed to take advantage of their access to the natural capital of the ocean to become key players in immature but rapidly emerging ocean-based carbon markets, a report has claimed.

A large-scale REDD project in Papua New Guinea currently applying for Verra registration is a scam and the contract it has signed with landowners is illegal, according to the governor of the province where it is located.

A UK-based company that provides low-carbon commodity services will invest in providing 100,000 clean cookstoves for Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, in a project that will generate 200,000 carbon credits annually.

US-based offset developer C-Quest Capital (CQC) has secured investment from an oil major and a global bank to scale up a cookstove project in Sub-Saharan Africa that it expects to generate 200 million carbon credits over the next decade.

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

Verified emissions under the EU ETS likely rose by a record 8.3% last year, according to a poll of analysts, with output rebounding from the pandemic-induced drop in 2020 as utilities burned more coal and the European economy recovered.

Singapore-based exchange Climate Impact X (CIX) and settlement platform Carbonplace have teamed up to develop a voluntary carbon credit trading pilot that will establish the technical, legal, and operational framework for executing carbon credit transactions, the companies said in a release on Friday.

The unravelling of California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit values extended into this week, as traders continued to point to a lack of bid-side support from obligated parties amid a flood of renewable diesel (RD) coming into the state.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices meandered this week as spread rates widened and traders repriced volatility in the options market, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values regained nearly all of their losses suffered during an early-week plunge.

French oil major TotalEnergies intends to source 100 million nature-based carbon credits by 2030 as part of its plans to offset its Scope 1 and 2 residual emissions, the company said Thursday.