Carbon Pulse

The European Commission on Wednesday kicked off the reform of the EU’s carbon market by proposing an increase of the EU ETS’ linear reduction factor (LRF) and a one-off cut of the emissions cap that could tighten supply from 2023.

Carbon continued its see-sawing motions on Wednesday, giving up Tuesday’s gains as traders prepared for the European Commission to publish its long-awaited EU ETS reform proposals.

The European Commission is today publishing its long-awaited 'Fit for 55' climate legislative package, seeking to recalibrate the bloc’s climate policies towards a tougher 2030 emissions target. Here's a rolling timeline of today's major developments and expert and stakeholder insight to complement Carbon Pulse's other coverage.

More than 80% of companies in New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme paid the NZ$35 fixed price option (FPO) instead of surrendering allowances for 2020 compliance, according to EPA data, saddling the government with another 30 million surplus NZUs to digest.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have released guidelines for so-called carbon neutral corporate bonds in an attempt to root out abuse by companies seeking to profit from the new and trendy product.

South Korea’s first monthly auction for the 2021 compliance cycle failed to sell out Wednesday, as a handful of successful bidders only picked up around 70% of the 2.15 million units on offer.

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

Oil major Shell announced a proposed project at its Alberta refinery on Tuesday that could capture more than 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year, adding to the spate of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen initiatives planned for Canada’s fossil fuel-heavy province in recent months.

Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved the final RGGI-modelled cap-and-trade regulation on Tuesday morning as Republican members and industry groups claimed the state agency violated the law by promulgating the rule.

The European Commission is due to publish its long-awaited 'Fit for 55' climate legislative package on Wednesday, seeking to recalibrate the bloc’s climate policies towards a tougher 2030 emissions target.

The Northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme will offer nearly 23 million allowances for the second consecutive auction, but unlike the previous quarterly sales all of the permits will come from the current auction budget, according to an auction notice posted Tuesday.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) on Tuesday agreed to commence a rulemaking for implementing a RGGI-aligned cap-and-trade programme, though some observers believe the process could face headwinds from the Republican-controlled legislature.

California’s WCI-linked cap-and-trade floor price expectations for 2022 edged out further this month as June inflation rose year-on-year, but allowance prices remain significantly above these levels amid a wave of speculative interest in recent months. 

The UK confirmed the country’s sixth carbon budget (2033-37) on Tuesday, agreeing with its independent advisors on the front-loading of its effort towards hitting net zero.

EU carbon rallied in early Tuesday trading amid a generally flat energy complex, as traders eyed Wednesday's scheduled unveiling of the Fit for 55 reform package.

The municipal government of Beijing released instructions for corporates, institutions and event organisers to qualify for carbon naturality, including listing rules of eligible offset projects, which set up examples for other Chinese cities to follow.

China’s national emissions trading scheme is said to launch on Friday, according to sources with knowledge of the issue.

The first draft of a post-2020 UN-led global biodiversity framework targets annual carbon reductions from natural ecosystems of 10 billion tonnes of CO2e by 2030, though observers doubted the number would survive upcoming negotiations.

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

California should further evaluate the contribution of its WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme to reach the state’s long-term GHG reduction goals, while state regulator ARB should also implement further climate policies to decarbonise the building and transportation sectors, stakeholders wrote in public comments.