Carbon Pulse

EU carbon prices broke new ground above €15 after Thursday’s auction attracted sturdy interest and cleared at the highest level since 2011.

New Zealand’s coalition government on Thursday announced its 2018 budget, which included plans for a NZ$100-million ($69 mln) Green Investment Fund as well as additional funding to establish the Climate Change Commission advisory, carry out ETS amendments and prepare for internationally-linked carbon markets.

South Korean CO2 allowances have closed up three days in a row as demand remains strong with the June 30 compliance deadline for 2017 emissions approaching.

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

Utah’s state-sponsored lawsuit challenging California’s carbon market and coal power restrictions will advance until the new fiscal year, the lawmaker spearheading the initiative told Carbon Pulse.

Carbon-cutting activities in Peru’s waste sector could be developed using international emissions trade in a way that resolves many concerns over how carbon markets can contribute to the Paris Agreement, according to an initial draft of study commissioned by Nordic countries.

A Washington DC lawmaker will introduce a carbon fee and rebate bill in early June that would see the US capital implement the highest carbon price of all sub-national proposals put forth throughout the country this year.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) published new draft rules on Tuesday that would set CO2 standards for the few remaining coal plants in the state’s fleet, helping the state phase out the fossil fuel entirely by 2020.

EU carbon allowances rocketed above €15 on Wednesday for the first time since 2011 after a failed auction appeared to light a fuse under prices.

The UK's fortnightly EU carbon auction was cancelled on Wednesday due to insufficient interest, sale host ICE said.

New Zealand’s industry association for sheep and beef farmers, a major source of GHG emissions, has pledged to go carbon neutral by mid-century but wants recognition for more carbon sinks if the sector is brought into the emissions trading scheme.

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

Market participants should expect an under-subscribed WCI auction this quarter along with more modest price increases in the medium-to-long term, according to analysts.

The EU’s efforts to decarbonise heavy industry are being undermined by ETS benchmarking rules that systematically block cleaner industrial alternatives from getting a foothold, according to environmental campaigner group Sandbag.

EU carbon prices slumped on Tuesday after extending a recent seven-year high in early trade and following another weak auction.

European utilities were relatively quiet in the rallying EUA market over Q1, company results suggest, representing potentially bullish news for prices as generators may now need to accelerate their EUA buying.

Almost 265 million EU carbon allowances will be withdrawn from the over-supplied EU ETS in the first eight months of 2019 and inserted into the MSR when it launches early next year, the European Commission announced late on Tuesday.

IBM and Veridium Labs have teamed up to launch a blockchain-based platform to transform carbon offsets into digital tokens for trade on a decentralised exchange, the companies announced on Tuesday.

A former Deutsche Bank sales manager has been jailed by Germany’s federal supreme court for three years for his role in facilitating tax fraud through the EU carbon market.

South Korea has pledged to meet a third of its Paris target through buying international carbon credits, and is now considering pushing that responsibility over to companies in its emissions trading scheme rather than spending taxpayer funds.