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The British government committed to achieving net zero by the middle of the century but all that has followed is inaction

In 2019, the government passed legislation that committed the nation to achieving a goal of net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by the middle of the century. It was one of the most ambitious targets set by any country in the battle to halt the worst effects of climate change. This is a nation committed to limiting global temperature rises, claimed Conservative party leaders.

Sadly those proud battle cries and that Churchillian rhetoric have not been matched by action. For the past four years, government departments have failed to put in place any coherent policies that could help limit carbon emissions.

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More than a dozen counties declare state of emergency after heavy snowfalls, avalanches and freezing conditions

Back-to-back winter storms in California this week have brought strong winds and blizzard, and freeze warnings, causing a state of emergency to be declared across more than a dozen counties.

Palisades Tahoe ski resort in the Sierra Nevada mountain range received 3.6 metres (12 feet) of snow over the week, with 66 centimetres falling in a single day on Tuesday. This brings its cumulative total to 12.8 metres for this season, making it the snowiest since 1970.

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Henry Dimbleby says suppliers struggling with rising costs while locked into fixed-price contracts

The government’s food tsar has blamed Britain’s “weird supermarket culture” for recent food shortages, calling it a “market failure”.

Experts have criticised ministers for “leaving food policy to Tesco”, and meeting large food chains rather than suppliers, who have been struggling with rising costs while locked into contracts with supermarkets.

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An environmental group on Thursday highlighted findings of a new study that alleges California’s forest offset protocol overestimated the amount of carbon sequestered and made unsubstantiated additionality claims in one assessment area, resulting in the over-crediting of 100% of units issued at several sites.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday continued publishing delayed Commitments of Traders reports following a cyber attack on the agency’s third-party data provider several weeks ago, showing that compliance entities padded their net long California carbon positions and speculators picked up RGAs in early February. 

California electricity sector CO2 output ended 2022 just below year-earlier levels, while Jan. 2023 emissions were also slightly down year-on-year, according to data published Friday.

A summary of legislative, regulatory, and policy action on carbon, clean fuel standard, and clean energy markets at the US federal and subnational levels this week, including the Vermont Senate passing amended clean heat standard legislation, the referral of a voluntary carbon credit disclosure bill in California, and the announcement of a rulemaking process for Oregon’s cap-and-reduce system.

eAgronom is bringing additional benefits to sustainable farmers via several types of projects, the main one being the Carbon Program that generates Certified Carbon Credits at the farm level.

EU nations on Friday delayed a vote planned for next week to endorse a deal on CO2 car standards amid protests from Germany, complicating what had been seen as a mere formality in a busy month of work for legislators on the bloc's climate policy.

Offset registry Climate Action Reserve (CAR) on Friday announced it will commence development of a forest carbon protocol specific to Guatemala, continuing the US-based standard’s trend of country-specific endeavours.

EU member states will be forced to allocate a portion of their EU ETS auction revenues towards key climate projects under a new industrial strategy set to be proposed by the European Commission later this month, according to a leaked draft seen by Carbon Pulse on Friday. 

Germany questions support for rules that would effectively make it impossible to sell combustion engine cars from 2035

European Union countries have delayed a planned vote next week on the bloc’s landmark law to end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035 after Germany questioned its support for the rules.

No new date for the vote was given and a spokesperson for Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said EU countries’ ambassadors would return to the topic “in due time”.

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A rating agency has downgraded a REDD+ avoided deforestation projects in Papua New Guinea that has been in the media spotlight recently.

The government cited noise pollution and climate concerns in its decision to restrict flights.

In a knock-on effect of the European scramble to secure liquified natural gas, analysts expect key Asian economies will draw out their use of coal and oil for power generation as they prioritise security of supply, a move that could prop up global energy sector emissions for several years.

PM Rishi Sunak is warned not to go back on his pledge to re-join the EU's science research programme.

The Manager, Americas Conservation Finance, will provide technical support and leadership in financing, project management, and delivery of institutional priorities and strategies for the protection and long-term conservation of natural capital in ecosystems that are high in irrecoverable carbon and biodiversity, with a focus on the Amazonia region.

Companies prefer to use in-house due diligence before buying carbon credits and are hesitant to trust rating agencies' second hand analysis, according to a survey of market participants that identifies a potential obstacle to the scaling of the voluntary carbon market. 

Data also shows land sector will absorb more carbon than it emits from 2015 despite passage of laws that make land clearing easier

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Labor, the Greens and independent politicians have called on the New South Wales government to explain how emissions projections square with its 2050 net zero goal, after its own data showed pollution from coal and gas extending out to mid-century.

The figures, which are contained within the government’s emissions dashboard, also show the land sector growing as a sink for carbon emissions even after the government loosened land clearing laws allowing farmers to remove more vegetation.

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European carbon prices weakened for a fourth day on Friday, falling to their lowest in more than two weeks as selling activity picked up slightly amid a fifth successive day of falls in energy prices.