Carbon Pulse

Rising speculative demand helped push the California-Quebec Q3 auction settlement to a new all-time high while regulated entities took home their smallest share ever, as the quarterly sale bucked past trends to settle at a premium to the secondary market price, according to results published Wednesday.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced the first transaction of verified emissions reductions (VERs) from a forest project on US state-owned lands on Wednesday, with an energy company agreeing to purchase all of the voluntary carbon offsets generated over the initial decade.

The developer behind a California-registered offset project in Idaho is following in the footsteps of numerous other dairy digesters in seeking to transition the project to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), according to documents published by state regulator ARB.

Trading house Hartree Partners and offset project developer ecosecurities announced a multi-decade initiative on Wednesday that will yield more than 300 million forestry and agriculture-based carbon credits in the cone of South America.

Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Environment (MoE) ministries have signed off on separate interim plans for a carbon pricing mechanism, with the former’s proposal based around a voluntary baseline-and-crediting scheme as well as access to offsets generated home and abroad appearing to be the frontrunner.

Sweden has teamed up with carbon project certifier Gold Standard to support its work procuring international credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has agreed to pay $10 million to be supplied with carbon removals units over ten years from Swiss-based direct air capture (DAC) specialists Climeworks, the companies said on Wednesday.

German exchange EEX will begin selling allowances on Oct. 5 under the country’s domestic emissions trading system for transport and buildings (nEHS), according to the Leipzig-based bourse.

Carbon prices slipped back from early gains above €57 on Wednesday, following a key court decision on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The municipal government in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang expects to launch trading in its local emissions trading scheme next month, but with compliance obligations from the beginning of 2020, it said Wednesday.

Approvals for new coal power facilities in China fell 78.8% year-on-year in H1, an NGO report published on Wednesday found, but provincial governments continue to seek funding for new plants.

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

The Oregon Clean Fuels Program (OCFP) posted its largest ever quarterly deficit during the first three months of 2021 due to a spike in fossil-based fuels and a decline in renewable alternatives, according to state data published Tuesday.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices could see some volatility should voters recall Governor Gavin Newsom (D) next month, but the programme itself is likely to persist, traders and regulatory sources said.

Myanmar has submitted a revised NDC to the UN featuring its first mitigation goals and specifically referencing a South Korean programme it intends to develop under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 international trading provision.

Large RGGI emitters took different approaches to the power sector cap-and-trade programme over the second quarter, with some regulated entities adding length as allowance prices rose and others trimming holdings, according to quarterly reports.

Carbon prices extended their gains for a third day amid quiet trading early on Tuesday, supported by higher gas prices amid production outages at a North Sea field.

Zhangjiakou, the northern Chinese city that will co-host next year’s Winter Olympics, is busy putting in place the nation’s largest green hydrogen capacity, though experts predict China's push to develop the fuel will take years to make an impact.

The spot price for New Zealand carbon allowances has risen above NZ$50 ($34.54) after the government announced changes to the ETS settings from next year, firming expectations that next week's NZU auction will tap into the 7-million cost containment reserve.

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