Around The Web

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

The British Columbia government on Tuesday began its consultation for its revised forest carbon offset protocol (FCOP), coming six years after the province repealed the methodology.

Investors networks are increasingly adding interim targets and flexibility into frameworks to evaluate the validity of corporate net zero commitments, building on a decade of trial and error from the no deforestation movement, experts said.

Six general market participants opened Compliance Instrument Tracking Service System (CITSS) accounts over Q1 2021, while more than a dozen accounts tied to offset projects shuttered in the WCI-linked cap-and-trade scheme, data released by California regulator ARB on Tuesday showed.

California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) are expected to be undersupplied in the latter half of this decade, with premiums slated to rise as market participants anticipate forthcoming shortages, analysts said during a webinar on Tuesday.

The ICAO Council this month upgraded the Qatar-based Global Carbon Council (GCC) to supply units for the international aviation offsetting scheme CORSIA, while the UN body also extended the eligibility dates for one already-approved programme.

This is not an imaginary future dystopia. It's a scientific projection of Australia under 3℃ of global warming – a future we must both strenuously try to avoid, but also prepare for. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Professor, University of Queensland, The University of Queensland Lesley Hughes, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New research shows nature started its long road to recovery in 2020 – especially in NSW and Victoria. But overall conditions across large swathes of the country remain poor. Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Marta Yebra, Associate Professor in Environment and Engineering, Australian National University Shoshana Rapley, Research assistant, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Standard economic theory suggests solar exports shouldn't be taxed at all. Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Governments have made some progress on pricing carbon from energy use, but the values are still well below estimates of the real cost to the planet, according to OECD analysis published on Tuesday.

EUAs rose for a third straight day on Tuesday as another strong auction continued to stoke bullish sentiment, while an analyst readout of early EU ETS data suggested emissions dropped by less than expected last year.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits continued to fade this week to levels not seen since last spring, while market participants noted several reasons for a lack of trades further out on the curve in recent months.

Heatwaves to double and many properties will be uninsurable if global heating reaches 3C, Australian Academy of Science says

Global heating of 3C would more than double the number of annual heatwaves in some parts of Australia, leave properties uninsurable due to flood and fire risk, and make many of the country’s ecosystems “unrecognisable”, according to Australia’s leading scientists.

The Australian Academy of Science is calling on the Morrison government to accelerate the country’s transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in a report that examines what Australia could look like in a 3C world.

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Ship likely to be centre of protracted legal battle over what caused it to run aground in the Suez and who is to blame

After hauling its 220,000-ton bulk down the Suez canal a week after blocking the essential waterway, the Ever Given container ship is likely to become the centre of a protracted battle over who will pay for its rescue.

The 400-metre-long vessel was aground on the banks of the Suez canal for a week, causing an estimated £7bn loss each day in trade owing to ships stuck on either side, and up to £10.9m a day for the canal. “We managed to refloat the ship in record time. If such a crisis had occurred anywhere else in the world, it would have taken three months to be solved,” said Osama Rabie, the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

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The EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund could be spent better as many national plans have “missed opportunities” for low-carbon investments, a Brussels-based green group said on Tuesday.

Federal government should target net-zero emissions by 2050 as “absolute minimum,” new scientific report warns, to avoid potentially insurmountable challenges to Australia.

The post “Delay as dangerous as denial:” Australia faces devastating costs of climate inaction appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Calls for a moratorium on new coal mines, as a record number of new mine proposals lodged in 2020, despite a global decline in demand for coal.

The post Surge in new coal mine proposals in NSW triggers fresh calls for coal moratorium appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Africa's government has proposed to tighten its 2030 emissions target by almost a third as part of a revised Paris Agreement pledge that sets out intentions for the export of correspondingly-adjusted carbon credits.

More than 2,200 power companies covered by China’s national emissions trading scheme will have to surrender allowances for their 2019 and 2020 CO2 emissions by Dec. 31, the government said Tuesday.

Federal Labor promises to slash EV taxes and fund community battery roll-out, in some of its first energy policies announced since the 2019 election.

The post Federal Labor promises to slash taxes for electric vehicles, build community batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.