Carbon Pulse

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.

South Korea plans to do its purchasing of international credits under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, according to government documents, potentially ruling out the option of incentivising private sector players to buy some of the volume under mechanisms such as the CDM.

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

Chevron on Monday said it will aspire to achieve net zero emissions from its equity upstream operations by 2050, though the US oil major declined to include GHG output from the fuel it sells in this endeavour.

Standardised, CORSIA-grade voluntary emissions reduction (VER) prices trended lower over the past week, though the losses in the exchange-traded products accelerated on Monday as traders pondered reasons for the sell-off.

Investors rejoiced as compliance-grade carbon funds had a stellar month in September, with allowance prices in several markets soaring to new all-time highs.

A handful of countries submitted revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement on Monday, just ahead of the cut-off for the UN to include the pledges in its final report ahead of the COP26 Glasgow summit.

Some 24 new countries on Monday joined the ranks of an EU-US-led initiative aimed at accelerating methane emission cuts, providing a boost to the fast-approaching COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow.