Carbon Pulse

EUAs slipped back towards €19 early on Friday in trade thinned by a UK public holiday, with carbon on course to notch a slight weekly gain as EU nations plot their post-pandemic recoveries.

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

South Korea on Friday released a draft energy plan for the next 14 years, proposing to shut down half its coal power plants and nearly triple renewables' share of electricity generation.

In this latest episode of our Carbon Pulse Conversations podcast, we speak to Catherine Leining, policy fellow at the Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Institute and a member of New Zealand’s independent Climate Change Commission, about the ongoing NZ ETS reform work and the prospects of the country accessing the international carbon market.

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

California and US Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are working to finalise a schedule for the remaining summary judgement challenge over the WCI linkage with Quebec, with the state and intervenors in the case focused on responding to the federal government’s latest argument.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices flirted with the WCI auction reserve value this week amid higher compliance buying on the secondary market, while RGGI Allowances (RGAs) dipped after approaching the Emissions Containment Reserve (ECR) trigger price.

A Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) committee split on Thursday regarding whether to recommend the RGGI-modelled ETS proposal for a vote this summer, while a bipartisan group of nearly 60 legislators called on Governor Tom Wolf (D) to suspend the cap-and-trade rulemaking in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Canadian environment ministry delayed the publication of regulations for a national offset programme due to the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, as it announced it will seek further input on which project types should be prioritised in the first phase of protocol development.

In the latest instalment of the Carbon Pulse Conversations podcast, we chat with Kelley Hamrick, policy advisor at US-based environmental organisation The Nature Conservancy (TNC), about coronavirus-related impacts on the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 negotiations and ICAO’s global aviation offset mechanism CORSIA.

Major EU airlines have reported shrinking revenues for Q1 2020 as coronavirus containment efforts ground flights and passengers, with results expected to worsen for the next two quarters as bosses predict the carriers will take several years to recover.

EUAs lifted slightly above €19 early on Thursday as auction demand stabilised and Chinese economic data brightened wider market gloom stemming from coronavirus impacts.

German utility Uniper eased its forward power hedging over Q1 following a ramp-up in the prior quarter, though its power sales revenue dropped considerably, it said in its financial results.

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

The Operations Analyst will support critical services to identify, assess, account and report climate related components and impacts of IFC's investment, advisory and green bond issuance activities. The Operations Analyst will also support the development of novel methodologies and products to scale up IFC climate investments and green finance activity in emerging markets.

Prices for EU Aviation Allowances (EUAA) have collapsed in the past few days as experts see zero demand in the coming months from the sector, which has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 impacts will weigh on EU ETS carbon prices into next year but not on EU lawmakers’ resolve to reform the market or wider climate policies, a survey published on Wednesday found.

Italian utility Enel advanced its EU power hedging during Q1, resulting in a more heavily hedged position as its coal exit accelerated and it sidestepped major financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Oregon Clean Fuels Program (OCFP) saw its credit surplus nearly halve in Q4 compared to the previous three-month period, though the addition of residential electric vehicle credits for the 2019 calendar year helped build the bank further, data showed Wednesday.

The physical link between Switzerland’s carbon market and the EU ETS has been delayed further due to the coronavirus crisis, the European Commission announced late Wednesday.