Carbon Pulse

EUAs endured a boisterous day on Thursday, first reaching a new record of €40.12 and then plunging more than 3% in the last 20 minutes on news the European Commission was considering limiting speculative positions. It’s not the first time the Commission or member states have reacted to price volatility in the market, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. But something doesn’t quite add up here.

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Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has released a second batch of carbon credits this week with Shell and Terra Carbon projects among the beneficiaries, while the nation’s lead oil and gas industry lobby group on Friday embraced a 2050 net zero emissions target with broad access to offsets.

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California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices retraced towards a recent six-month low this week as a surprising credit build during Q3 2020 continued to exert bearish pressure on the market.

RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices climbed to a nearly three-week high this week on thin secondary market activity, as California Carbon Allowance (CCA) values edged further away from the annual WCI floor price ahead of next week’s quarterly sale.

Oil major Shell set out plans on Thursday to significantly scale up its demand for nature-based carbon credits and CCS as part of its rising climate ambition over the next 15 years.

Canadian financial software company Abaxx Technologies has agreed to invest in blockchain-based venture AirCarbon, with the potential to scale up the partnership further when the Singapore-based emissions platform develops a regulated futures market, the companies announced Thursday.

The UK government has increased the reserve price in its upcoming carbon allowance auctions by almost 50% and has updated the rules governing the market's cost containment mechanism, it announced late Thursday.

EU carbon prices climbed above €40 for the first time ever early on Thursday amid bullish technical signals and growth in investor interest.

New Zealand on Thursday released for public consultation draft legislation that will put in place a confidential reserve price on NZU auctions meant to stop government sales of carbon allowances from clearing too far below secondary market prices.

Changing South Australian state legislation on lease periods for pastoral rangelands could help drive the generation of millions of carbon credits across the state every year, according to a report released Thursday.

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The US should adopt a lower discount rate for its social cost of carbon (SCC) schedule and reincorporate global climate change damages into the calculation, experts said on Wednesday.

Carbon removal project developers are striking deals to help channel their offset sales and build scale as demand rockets even with sky-high prices.

California doled out more than 930,000 compliance offsets across nine projects over the past two weeks, with the majority of the new issuances going to projects that do not provide direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs), according to data published by state regulator ARB on Wednesday.

European carbon prices rebounded back towards €40 on Wednesday amid a stronger auction result and a mixed energy picture, with data showing investor interest surging to fresh record levels.

Putting a price on emissions from vehicle transport and buildings at EU level will not weaken national policies to decarbonise these sectors, a senior European Commission official said on Wednesday, attempting to allay concerns that the move could replace domestic emissions targets.

A California Senate committee will hold a cap-and-trade oversight hearing next week to examine ways to improve the WCI-linked programme and its role in achieving the state’s long-term climate plan, a legislative source told Carbon Pulse.

Australian exporters risk huge additional costs and shrinking markets as the country’s main trading partners bring climate policy into trade negotiations, but it would be relatively pain free for the government to steer clear of such sanctions, according to two reports out this week.