Carbon Pulse

An Alberta compliance offset verifier will soon have its next day in court for allegedly providing false or misleading environmental information and acting as a third-party assurance body without proper qualifications, a first for the Canadian judicial system.

A summary of legislative, regulatory, and policy action on carbon, clean fuel, and clean energy markets at the US federal and subnational levels this week, including the continued progression of climate disclosure and anti-greenwashing bills in California, and the introduction of bipartisan federal legislation to limit Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) costs.

The CEO of one of the biggest European carbon trading firms is stepping aside.

Almost 20 nations including EU members and vulnerable island nations warned on Friday that abatement technologies, such as carbon capture and storage or removal, must not be an excuse to perpetuate the use of fossil fuels.

Privately-held European power generator EPH has flagged plans to transfer its big-emitting lignite operations into a new sister company to enable its core business to wipe coal off its balance sheet by 2030 while the jettisoned facilities are expected to carry on longer.

EU fertiliser companies lost their appeal in the bloc's highest court this week against their exclusion from a list of sectors able to claim compensation for their indirect ETS costs. 

Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and state-owned bank KfW on Friday announced they will support businesses in their efforts to integrate natural climate protection measures within their premises.

European carbon prices traded moderately higher on Friday as thin volume led to some volatility in the market after the daily auction cleared at one of the largest premia this year, while energy prices also extended Thursday's gains to reduce their week-on-week loss.

Allowance prices in China's carbon market edged up over the past week amid a sharp decrease in trading volume, while liquidity worsened in the offset market despite the latest government consultation lifting spirits.

Participants in China's carbon markets are expecting to see the inclusion of the cement and steel sectors in the national emissions trading scheme (ETS) next year, a survey released on Friday showed.

Some 20 financial institutions have launched a group that will work towards supporting the British government's target of delivering finance for nature recovery in the UK as well as developing high-integrity domestic nature markets.

An industry-led Australian study trialling the use of asparagopsis to reduce enteric methane emissions from livestock has achieved much lower GHG reductions than had been previously been recorded.

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

South Korea this week signed a number of bilateral deals with Laos on the development of large-scale solar and landfill projects, as Seoul is seeking to leverage the Article 6 mechanism of the Paris Agreement.

The New Zealand government has agreed to reconsider the current price settings and controls of its ETS, after it admitted in the High Court that it made a mistake leaving them largely unchanged at the end of last year.

Strategic deployment of direct air capture and storage (DACS) technology can help bring costs down from current levels, though they are unlikely to drop below $100/tonne of CO2 without strong policy support like integrating removals into carbon markets, according to a journal article published Thursday.

A flurry of activity after the close of the secondary market on Wednesday and into Thursday trade, in light of the ARB announcing the next cap-and-trade public workshop date, lifted California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices to year-to-date highs, while Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) rose slightly in light transaction activity through the week.

A Virginia regulatory agency granted the reinstatement of utility Dominion Energy’s request to recoup the costs of tens of millions of RGGI allowances on Wednesday via an extra charge on customers’ bills before the state's planned exit from the power sector carbon market this year.

California regulator ARB during the forthcoming cap-and-trade rulemaking should implement an Emissions Containment Reserve (ECR) to help address allowance oversupply in a predictable manner, a collection of environmental organisations, business groups, and utilities said in public comments.

Carbon credit certifier Verra released a new methodology on Thursday to quantify emissions reductions from activities that avoid food loss and waste (FLW) by keeping food in the human supply chain.