The Carbon Market 16.12.2014

The ICE exchange from London opened up its operations:

• EUA spot opened at € 6.91
• EUA Dec 15 futures opened at € 6.96
• CER futures contract Dec 15 opened at € 0.53
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 60.65
• German Power Front Month trade at € 36.50

The Carbon Market 10.12.2014

The ICE exchange from London closed down its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 6.53
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 6.55
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.02
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 63.85
• German Power Front Month trade at € 37.00

The International Carbon Market

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2 – 12 December 2014) takes place in Lima, Peru. The Convention is attended by heads of state and government, and representatives from all fields: economic, social (foundations and various associations), media etc.

The main topics on the agenda of the Conference are the followings: making a draft text for the UN Conference of the next year, in Paris, so that all governments can establish specific targets for emission reductions, which are comparable between countries, and obtaining funding sources for poor countries in the developing world, in order to reduce CO2 emissions and adapt to climate change.

Developing countries have achieved a great victory these days in terms of financing: the Green Climate Fund reached $10 billion, as a result of last contributions announced by ministers from Belgium and Australia.

Carbon Expert will keep you posted on with the latest news on climate change from Lima.

The Carbon Market 02.12.2014

The ICE exchange from London opened up its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 7.04
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 7.09
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.04
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 72.51
• German Power Front Month trade at € 37.50

The Carbon Market 18.11.2014

The ICE exchange from London closed up its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 7.01
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 7.01
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.08
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 78.58
• German Power Front Month trade at € 34.85

The International Carbon Market

Together, the U.S. and China account for over one third of global greenhouse gas emissions.  Last week joint announcement was the culmination of months of bilateral dialogue, highlights the critical role the two countries must play in addressing climate change.

The United States announced a new target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. At the same time, China announced targets to peak CO2 emissions around 2030, with the intention to try to peak early, and to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 percent by 2030.

The actions they announced are part of the longer range effort to achieve the deep de-carbonization of the global economy over time. These actions will also inject momentum into the global climate negotiations on the road to reaching a successful new climate agreement next year in Paris at the UNFCCC Conference on climate change.

For more information, please click here.

The Carbon Market 10.11.2014

The ICE exchange from London closed down its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 6.69
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 6.71
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.09
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 82.79
• German Power Front Month trade at € 34.25

EU ETS Market

News that the French government would support both the early implementation of the Market Stability Reserve and the cancellation of backloaded allowances (added to the reserve) saw the EUA push on to a higher price. The EUA remains well bid despite fears of over extension to the upside.

The Carbon Market 23.10.2014

The ICE exchange from London opened up its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 6.21
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 6.23
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.07
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 85.96
• German Power Front Month trade at € 35.60

The Carbon Market 15.10.2014

The ICE exchange from London opened down its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 6.05
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 6.04
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.09
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 85.54
• German Power Front Month trade at € 34.85

The International Carbon Market

The International Energy Agency (IEA) today welcomed the launch of the world’s first large-scale power station equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, calling it a historic milestone along the road to a low-carbon energy future.

The 110MW retrofit of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam coal-fired power plant in Saskatchewan, Canada will trap around 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. The captured CO2 will be injected into nearby oilfields to enhance oil recovery. The plant began capturing CO2 in September and was due to be inaugurated this week.

For more information, please click here.

2014 UN Climate Summit

The purpose of the 2014 Climate Summit was to raise political momentum for a meaningful universal climate agreement in Paris in 2015 and to galvanize transformative action in all countries to reduce emissions and build resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Leaders from government, business, finance and civil society crystallized a global vision for low-carbon economic growth and advanced climate action on five fronts: cutting emissions; mobilizing money and markets; pricing carbon; strengthening resilience; and mobilizing new coalitions.

An unprecedented number of world leaders attended the Summit, including 100 Heads of State and Government. They were joined by more than 800 leaders from business, finance and civil society. This Summary details their most significant announcements.

Convergence on a Long-Term Vision

A comprehensive global vision on climate change emerged from the statements of leaders at the Summit:

• World leaders agreed that climate change is a defining issue of our time and that bold action is needed today to reduce emissions and build resilience and that they would lead this effort.
• Leaders acknowledged that climate action should be undertaken within the context of efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and promote sustainable development.
• Leaders committed to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
• Many leaders called for all countries to take national actions consistent with a less than 2 degree pathway and a number of countries committed to doing so.
• Leaders committed to finalise a meaningful, universal new agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at COP-21, in Paris in 2015, and to arrive at the first draft of such an agreement at COP-20 in Lima, in December 2014.
• Leaders concurred that the new agreement should be effective, durable and comprehensive and that it should balance support for mitigation and adaptation.
• Many underlined the importance of addressing loss and damage.
• Many leaders affirmed their commitment to submit their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) for the new agreement in the first quarter of 2015.
• Many leaders reaffirmed the objectives and principles of the UNFCCC, including the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities. In addition, others highlighted that the global effort to meet the climate challenge should reflect evolving realities and circumstances.

Cutting Emissions

Without significant cuts in emissions by all countries, and in key sectors, the window of opportunity to stay within less than 2 degrees will soon close forever:

• Many leaders, from all regions and all levels of economic development advocated for a peak in greenhouse gas emissions before 2020, dramatically reduced emissions thereafter, and climate neutrality in the second half of the century.
• European Union countries committed to a target of reducing emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.
• Leaders from more than 40 countries, 30 cities and dozens of corporations launched large-scale commitment to double the rate of global energy efficiency by 2030 through vehicle fuel efficiency, lighting, appliances, buildings and district energy.
• The New York Declaration on Forests, launched and supported by more than 150 partners, including 28 government, 8 subnational governments, 35 companies, 16 indigenous peoples groups, and 45 NGO and civil society groups, aims to halve the loss of natural forests globally by 2030.
• Twenty-four leading global producers of palm oil as well as commodities traders committed to contribute to the goal of zero net deforestation by 2020 and to work with Governments, private sector partners and indigenous peoples to ensure a sustainable supply chain.
• The transport sector brought substantial emissions reduction commitments linked to trains, public transportation, freight, aviation and electric cars.
• Some of the world’s largest retailers of meat and agricultural products committed to adapt their supply chains to reduce emissions and build resilience to climate change. They will assist 500 million farmers in the process.

Moving markets and mobilizing money

Moving markets across a wide range of sectors is essential for transforming economies at scale. Mobilizing sufficient public and private funds for low carbon, climate resilient growth is essential to keep within a less than 2 degree Celsius pathway:

• A new coalition of governments, business, finance, multilateral development banks and civil society leaders announced their intent to mobilise over $200 billion for financing low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
• Countries strongly reaffirmed their support for mobilising public and private finance to meet the $100 billion dollar goal per annum by 2020.
• Leaders expressed strong support for the Green Climate Fund and many called for the Fund’s initial capitalization at an amount no less than $10 billion. There was a total of $2.3 billion in pledges to the Fund’s initial capitalization from six countries. Six others committed to allocate contributions by November 2014.
• The European Union committed $3 billion for mitigation efforts in developing countries between 2014 and 2020.
• The International Development Finance Club (IDFC) announced that it is on track to increase direct green/climate financing to $100 billion a year for new climate finance activities by the end of 2015.
• Significant new announcements were made on support for South-South cooperation on climate change.

Private Financing

Leaders from private finance called for the creation of an enabling environment to undertake the required investments in low-carbon climate resilient growth. They announced the following commitments:

• Leading commercial banks announced their plans to issue $30 billion of Green Bonds by 2015, and announced their intention to increase the amount placed in climate-smart development to 10 times the current amount by 2020.
• A coalition of institutional investors, committed to decarbonizing $100 billion by December 2015 and to measure and disclose the carbon footprint of at least $500 billion in investments.
• The insurance industry committed to double its green investments to $84 billion by the end of 2015.
• Three major pension funds from North America and Europe announced plans to accelerate their investments in low-carbon investments across asset classes up to more than $31 billion by 2020.

Source: UN Climate Summit 2014

The Carbon Market 15.09.2014

The ICE exchange from London closed down its operations:

• EUA spot closed at € 5.92
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 5.93
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.14
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 94.11
• German Power Front Month trade at € 34.35

EU ETS –  European Carbon Market

EUA prices headed lower over the course of the week, closing down -3.6% at €6.06. The Dec 14 EUA briefly dipped below the €6.00 mark on Friday afternoon. Sentiment has been weak.

The Carbon Market 10.09.2014

The ICE exchange from London closed down its operations on September 10:

• EUA spot closed at € 6.1
• EUA DEC14 futures closed at € 6.11
• CER futures contract Dec14 closed at € 0.15
• Brent Crude Front Month trade at $ 98.1
• German Power Front Month trade at € 34.1

International Carbon Market

Carbon surge drives greenhouse gas levels to record- WMO

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013 driven by a surge in the level of carbon dioxide, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday, urging international action to combat climate change.

The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin showed that between 1990 and 2013 there was a 34% increase in radiative forcing – the warming effect on our climate – because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide.

For more information, please see WMO’s press release.

Source: World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 9 September 2014