China Eyes Domestic CO2 Trading Scheme

China's central bank has drawn up a tentative outline for a domestic emissions trading scheme that could cover everything from greenhouse gases to water pollutants, and speed the country's push for greener growth.
It is the first sign that Beijing is seriously considering a comprehensive national strategy to force its companies to either control their pollution or pay for their excess, as it struggles to meet its own tough environmental goals.
A quota scheme would also help the country keep track of greenhouse gasses at a time when it is coming under international pressure over its rising carbon dioxide output, and could pave the way for eventually joining an international system.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Pointcarbon: EUAs surge to new two-year highs

European carbon prices surged to fresh two year highs Friday morning after oil prices jumped in overnight trade to lead the energy complex higher. By 13.00 CET, the 2008 EUA contract was trading at €27.35, up €0.85 on yesterday’s close.
The most actively traded contract opened at €17.20 and then dipped to a low of €27.00 in the morning before climbing back to a high of €27.45 just before midday.
Crude oil prices surprised the carbon market in the morning after rallying around $8/bbl in overnight trade.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU CO2 prices remain high but are tempering

EU CO2 Prices are tempering a bit last week and this week from € 26,5 to € 26 because of the downwards pressure on crude oil, gas and coal, traders say. In the mean time Deutsche Bank is warning for a short term peak of € 100, when power companies seek supply for compliance, while liquidity is low in the Summer. We believe that power companies still can make that switch from gas to coal in Summer, when gas prices are at its lowest. Though demand and supply sets the price, we want to underline that compliance seekers use more the long term market perspective to avoid such price spikes; also to avoid power price peak.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

US Sentate: Endorsements & amendments piling up for US ETS system

Corporations, environmental groups, labor unions and state and local officials are lining up to offer endorsements for the Senate global warming bill scheduled for floor June 2.
General Electric Co., the Natural Resources Defense Council and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers urged senators today to pass the Leiberman-Warner Bill (S. 3036), a bill that seeks to curb U.S. heat-trapping emissions by midcentury by 71% compared to 2005 levels (Source E&E News PM)

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU toughens up ETS for aviation

Following a vote of the Committee of Environment, MEPs decided that airline companies should not be allowed to continue emitting the same levels of greenhouse gases. The MEPs reintroduced most of the Parliament's first-reading amendments, previously rejected by the Council, to a proposal to include airline traffic in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme. (Source: GLOBE)

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Registries: Tracking the Trades

By Katherine Hamilton and Thomas Marcello
In the classic comedy The Producers, an unscrupulous businessman sells one product to scores of investors, each of whom believes they are the sole owner. In ecosystem markets, we call that "double counting" – and it's what registries have been set up to prevent. The Ecosystem Marketplace takes stock of carbon credit registries in the voluntary markets; see here.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

After Greece now Canada violating UN CO2 Registry rules

Canada will be investigated on suspicion of violating rules for registering greenhouse gases that are the mainstay of a UN-led fight against global warming, official documents show.
Canada played down the news, saying it was taking quick steps to ensure it complied by the rules.
Ottawa could be suspended from rights to trade carbon dioxide if found to be in breach of the rules by the enforcement branch of the UN's Kyoto Protocol. Greece was suspended last month, the first state to face such a sanction.
"On 5 May 2008 Canada was given an official notification of the decision of the enforcement branch to proceed" with a formal question over compliance with rules on registering emissions, the enforcement branch said in a statement (see here)

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

CER Spot trading requires Letter of Approval

In January 2008 the first CER spot trade was executed and cleared on Climex. Because the ITL and CITL are not yet connected, the only possibility to clear the CERs was by using the Swiss Registry. Read more on how to trade CERs on Climex by using the Swiss Registry by clicking here.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Slow start for Spot Trading due to missing allocation and ITL connection

Participants in the EU ETS still did not receive any clarity or deadline on when allocation of their 2nd phase EUAs is going to take place. So far, national governments, except Austria, Denmark and Finland, hesitate to allocate because of the missing link between the ITL and the CITL. The consequence of the missing link could be that allocations and transactions undertaken on the CITL will be displayed incorrectly on the ITL, when the connection is in place. This would then require a lot of manual corrections. To avoid this risk, national governments are postponing allocation of 2nd phase EUAs.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

'Cost of Cutting Carbon: Pennies a Day'

Reducing the pollution that causes global warming is both affordable and critical. The cost of capping global warming pollution over the next two decades is almost too small to measure. That's the conclusion of a new report by Environmental Defense Fund (US): "What Will It Cost to Protect Ourselves From Global Warming?". The first-of-its-kind report synthesizes the predictions of a range of peer-reviewed economic models, and finds that:
* We can afford an aggressive cap-and-trade policy to tackle global warming. The cost to the economy will be minimal -- less than one percent of U.S. gross domestic product in 2030.
* We cannot afford to wait. Further delay will greatly increase the costs of making necessary emissions cuts and will risk locking in irreversible climate change.
* Strict limits on global warming pollution can harness the power and creativity of capital markets. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is best done through the powerful engine that drives our economy.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Fuels drive CO2 at speculative levels

After a Month of cosy waving carbon prices, up and down within a margin between € 20 and € 22, April brings clearly appetite to the carbon market. Today's 2008 contract reached the € 25 per ton of CO2, where € 24 was even a challenging level to test for a year. True, oils ad gas are up, coal is down again; so we will probably see some extra shortage for a while. But that will be followed by an early Summer fuel switch from coal to gas for power, given the high carbon price. This will make up for the temporary extra shortage.
Hence, you are used to this analysts' saying that supply and demand are the key carbon price drivers and that the threat of an overheating carbon market is always nearby.
That is why we will probably see today high volumes again, and lowering prices, because of profit takers, selling against this attractive price.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

UN Effort to Curtail Emissions in Turmoil (CDM)

A multibillion-dollar experiment designed to curb global warming is stumbling as regulators question whether the program is doing enough environmental good. The United Nations is the main global policeman in an effort by wealthy nations to reduce the impact of their own pollution by paying for cleanups in the developing world. The program, known as the Clean Development Mechanism, is one of the most important coordinated efforts to attack global warming. In recent months, however, U.N. regulators who administer the program have objected to dozens of these developing-world projects, ranging from hydroelectric plants to wind farms, questioning whether the projects would produce a real environmental payoff.
U.N. regulators are also concerned that some independent auditors of these projects, who are responsible for vetting their environmental legitimacy, have been letting project developers push through ventures of questionable environmental value. (Source WSJ).

>> entire posting / read comments (4)

India: NCDEX launches CER futures

)Souce: Commodity Online ) In a significant development, India's National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited on Thursday launched its futures contract for Certified Emission Reduction.
Forward Markets Commission, chairman, B. C. Khatua inaugurated the launch at NCDEX Exchange Platform. The CER contract of NCDEX will be traded in multiples of one lot of 500 CERs each.
India is the first developing country to offer a hedging tool for CERs, a Kyoto protocol compliant emissions instrument under the Clean Development Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU industry emissions fell in 2007

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - European Union industry emissions were roughly flat in 2007, preliminary EU executive Commission data showed on Wednesday, with low gas prices and a mild winter slowing growth.
As expected, emissions were less than industry's quotas of permits to emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) under an EU climate change scheme meant to drive emissions cuts through permit shortages.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

CDM: World Bank launches new carbon guarantee produc

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Monday launched a new carbon credit trading guarantee that will allow private-sector firms in developing countries to tap the growing 40 billion euro ($63.11 billion) global carbon market, a senior official said.
The International Finance Corp, the World Bank's private-sector lender, said it signed its first carbon delivery guarantee agreements with fertilizer producers Omnia of South Africa IMNJ.J and Rain CII Carbon in India.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Bullish, slowly, but bullish

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Carbon Market Lagging In Climate Fight

COPENHAGEN - Evidence is slim that the European Union's four-year old carbon market is sufficiently penalising emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, in the fight against climate change, analysts said on Tuesday. The tighter the supply of permits, the higher the carbon price, and the more economic it is to improve energy efficiency or switch to low carbon-emitting sources of energy.
But the construction of coal-fired power plants, the biggest emitters within the carbon-intensive power sector, is continuing despite an EU carbon price, in part because some countries such as Germany are planning to phase out nuclear. For example, half of investment by Denmark's DONG Energy is now in renewable sources such as wind, but the company is also planning "a very big" new coal plant in northern Germany, Chief Executive Anders Eldrup said on Tuesday. "It's difficult to see the world surviving without coal for many, many years to come," Eldrup told a carbon market conference in Copenhagen. Asked whether the carbon price was influencing DONG Energy's investment decisions, Eldrup said the price was too low to make it economic to bury coal plant's carbon emissions underground, considered a vital technology.
"We really need a higher price, clearly this is not good enough," said Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, the UN climate panel. Pachauri was referring to prices of $20-50 per tonne of avoided carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2030, adding that a price of up to $100 by 2030 was a better target. EU carbon emissions permits were trading at around 22 euros ($34.04) on Tuesday (Source: Reuters).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

First 2nd phase EUAs traded on Climex

On Friday 29 February 2008, the first European Allowances (EUAs) for the second Phase were traded in a cleared spot transaction on Climex. A total of 1,000 tonnes were traded against a price of 21.10 Euros per tonne. The trade was cleared by APX BV, the central counterparty of Climex.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

UN climate official: EU border tax proposal 'acting in bad faith'

Any European Union requirement for imports to meet the same greenhouse-gas emission standards as goods made in the 27-nation bloc would be seen as "acting in bad faith," the top UN climate official said Monday. The EU on Jan. 23 proposed cuts in carbon-dioxide allowances for the most-polluting industries. The bloc also plans to move to a full auction of tradable permits to pollute in the EU's emissions-trading system, instead of allowing some grants by governments. The European Commission estimates that the plan would reduce economic output in the European Union by 0.5 percent. Because of that, some European governments argue that European competitiveness needs to be protected, and have suggested a carbon tax on imports from countries with less-stringent targets (source: Bloomberg).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

US ready for 'binding' reductions of greenhouse gases'

AFP, 25 February 2008 - The United States is ready to accept "binding international obligations" to reduce greenhouse gases, which could be announced as soon as July, a senior White House official said here Monday. Daniel Price, assistant to President George W. Bush for International Economic Affairs, said the undertaking would have to be made as part of a "global agreement" in which all major economies would make the same commitment. The agreement could be announced "in conjunction" with the G8 summit of the world's most industrialised nations in Japan in July, Price told journalists, without fixing a date. "We would like to reach an agreement on a long term global reduction goal -- this is a collective goal," Price said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Tokyo Eyes Pioneer CO2 Trade Scheme For 2010

BEIJING - Tokyo could set up a pioneering emissions trading scheme by the end of the decade, a city official said, potentially adding to pressure for a nationwide exchange but also providing a model for the country.The ambitious city government hopes, by 2020, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to three-quarters of 2000 levels through Japan's first major venture into the cap-and-trade system now supported by most rich nations (Reuters).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

CO2 EUA price find bullish path again

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU urged to clarify emissions trading reforms (auction or for free)

Heavy industries in the European Union must be told as soon as possible whether they will continue to receive pollution permits for free, France and Germany have warned [RED: or to buy them on an auction].
Paris and Berlin are among seven capitals to have written to Brussels urging clarity on the overhaul of the union’s emissions trading scheme. The move marks the latest controversy in the EU’s efforts to fight climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions. The letter, sent on Friday to both the European Commission and the Slovenian EU presidency, is signed by Christine Lagarde, France’s economy minister, and Michael Glos, minister for economic affairs in Germany, among others. Other supporters include Austria, Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.In it, the countries stress that industries – especially those that are energy-intensive – need more clarity on what their contribution to climate change measures is going to be. Source: Financial Times.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Norway Mall Offers CO2 Credits

OSLO - Half a kg of salmon; two kg of potatoes; a tonne of greenhouse gas reductions -- shoppers at one Norwegian mall can now buy cuts in their carbon footprint as they pick up their weekly groceries.
The Stroemmen Storsenter shopping centre outside Oslo began selling the certificates on Saturday, at 165 Norwegian crowns ($30.58) per tonne, to people who feel bad about contributing to climate change.
By midday on Monday, its second day of offering the UN-approved Certified Emissions Reductions, it had sold more than a third of the 1,000 CERs on offer and would consider buying more if they sell out, the mall's managers said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Climex Alliance partners merge

Pointcarbon: Partners of the Climex Alliance, an agreement between several carbon exchanges, are to merge to create one pan-European carbon exchange with operations in both eastern and western Europe, the partners announced today.Owner of euets.com, Vertis Environmental Finance, a self-titled emissions trading finance house, will become a shareholder in the new company and retains exclusive rights to be the distribution partner of the exchange in central and eastern Europe (www.climex.com ).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

UK firms missed 2006 emission cap by 33.8 million tonnes

UK firms covered by the EU emissions trading scheme emitted 33.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide more than their allocation, according to a final report released by the UK department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

World's Big Polluters Note Change in US Climate Stance

HONOLULU - The world's biggest greenhouse polluters applauded the United States at climate change talks on Thursday, but some urged Washington to take the next step by setting goals to reduce its emissions of climate-warming carbon. The United States, alone among major industrialized countries in rejecting the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol, noted that the two-day Hawaii meeting addressed the toughest areas of disagreement among the countries that use 80 percent of the planet's energy.
Brice Lalonde, the French ambassador for climate change, noted a shift in the US position, which he said had previously been "a bit lagging" in failing to set goals to reduce its overall emissions of greenhouse gases.
"And now we are seeing that the United States is discussing the matter," Lalonde said at a news briefing. "We welcome this move. Of course we are waiting for the next step, which would be that the United States will also have a goal in reducing its greenhouse gases, joining in that way all developed countries."

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: EUAs close slide almost €1.00

The price of allowances in Europe’s emissions trading on Thursday slid almost €1.00, as high coal prices dampened the appetite to buy, while further big sell-offs in UN-approved carbon credits clouded sentiment, traders said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Climate Change Package makes CO2 Market bullish

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Fortis predicts EU carbon price at €48 if no post-Kyoto agreement

(Pointcarbon,Oslo)If there is no international agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions after 2012, EU carbon prices would rise to €48 per tonne, according to an analysis by Belgo-Dutch bank Fortis, publisahed today.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

UPDATE New Values reports first CER spot trade

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Amsterdam-based carbon spot exchange New Values today announced the first cleared spot trade in certified emissions reductions (CERs), executed on the Climex platform on Thursday.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Euroclear Bank launches settlement service for carbon credits

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Euroclear Bank on Wednesday said it will launch settlement and safekeeping services for carbon credits, enabling post-trade processing for EU allowance units (EUAs) and certified emission reductions (CERs) in the same way as bonds and equities.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Japanese exchanges agree to jointly study carbon trading

(pointcarbon, Oslo)The Tokyo Stock Exchange Group (TSE) and the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) have agreed to jointly study the possibility of creating a domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading market.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Business Blasts Planned CO2 Emissions Auction

BRUSSELS - Europe's top business lobby attacked on Tuesday European Commission plans for implementing deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, saying that auctioning pollution permits could hurt industry in global competition. In a letter to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, BusinessEurope urged the European Union executive to avoid forcing firms to buy carbon dioxide emissions permits, rather than receiving them for free as they do now.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Most US presidential candidates favour cap-and-trade

(Pointcarbon, Oslo)Five of the eight leading US presidential candidates have voiced support for a federal cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Considers Carbon Tariff as Part of Climate Push

LONDON - The European Commission is debating whether to push for a carbon tariff on imports from countries that do not tackle their greenhouse gas emissions, as part of climate change proposals due out this month. Supporters of the measure say it would level the playing field for European companies facing tougher domestic emissions penalties. The new rules would be part of a raft of post-2012 proposals covering issues including national emissions targets and clean energy subsidies.
Unlike the European Union, neither China, India nor the United States have yet agreed to binding emissions reductions.The idea of imposing some kind of tariff on goods imported from countries with less strict controls on greenhouse gases was first put forward by former French President Jacques Chirac. But the plan has run into opposition from European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson who has said it would be hard to implement and could lead to trade disputes. A preliminary draft, seen by Reuters, says companies importing goods into the 27-nation European Union from countries that do not similarly restrict greenhouse gas emissions would have to buy EU emissions permits.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Seller of Germany's CO2 allowances joins ECX

(pointcarbon, Oslo)German public bank Kfw, which will sell up to 80 million CO2 allowances on behalf of Germany’s government, has become a member of the European Climate Exchange (ECX), the exchange announced on Wednesday.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Phase one EUA trading halted by likely software error

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Transfers of EU carbon dioxide (CO2) emission allowances for the 2005-2007 trading period have been halted because of a likely error with a registry software, market participants told Point Carbon on Wednesday.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Entering the ETS second phase: € 22-23

The market will leave the ETS pilot phase '05-'07 on Dec 31 with ambivalent feelings. Glad, that the real market will have to prove it is right; and the 2008 price is firm at € 22-23 per ton. Sad, because the learning phase showed us mistakes and flaws in the carbon market. And not all of them have been solved to date. But even in a thin illiquid market of today, the price remains at € 22-23; it has been at that level for some time, and the projections for the second and third phase still show a reasonable shortage growing from 200 Mt/a to maybe 400 Mt/a, with a futures price margin of € 25-35 for 2020. Not high enough for most CO2 storage projects, but low enough to keep climate cost down and to create some incentives for companies to keep emissions low and to benefit from carbon sales. Moreover, only limited price levels will bring the US on board to a global market. The Warner-Lieberman Bill prepares the US economy for such global link-up. Secundary CERs prices of around € 17 still lag the ETS price with around € 5; but there is no reason why we would not see a smaller spread between EUAs and CERs and have only one global carbon price, within a few months.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Banco Sabadell buys 10% of Mediterranean CO2 trading platform

Spanish banking group Banco Sabadell announced it has acquired 10 per cent of Sendeco2, a carbon credit trading platform operating in Italy, Portugal and Spain.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Bali Outcome: all about numbers and market signals

The press may have been to much focussed on the actual Bali Action Plan or the Bali Roadmap; doing that we miss the point the Kyoto party countries have indeed succeeded in what was wanted, namely to corner the US administration and give a placeholder for the next, more ambitious administration. Here is how it works.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

OMX Nordic Exchange buys Nord Pool CO2 market

(pointcarbon, Oslo)OMX Nordic Exchange on Friday announced it will purchase several of Oslo-based Nord Pool’s activities, including its carbon credit market, and is now looking to establish a broad CO2 market on its platforms.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Polish trading platform to link to EEX CO2 market

(pointcarbon,Oslo)Polish internet-based power and carbon dioxide trading platform Poee and Germany’s European Energy Exchange (EEX) will link up spot markets for European CO2 allowances next year.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Germany picks Kfw to sell EU allowances

(pointcarbon, Oslo)German government-owned bank Kfw has been picked to sell up to 80 million EU allowances on behalf of the German government in 2008 and 2009, according to the environment ministry.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Carbon makes modest gains

(Pointcarbon, Oslo)The price of carbon on Thursday continued to make small gains in response to a move higher across the energy complex, particularly in the price of natural gas.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EC to propose auctioning two-thirds of allowances, EU-wide cap in third phase ETS

(pointcarbon, Oslo)The European commission will propose auctioning two-thirds of all EU allowances in the third phase of Europe's cap-and-trade scheme for carbon dioxide emissions and an EU-wide emissions cap starting in 2013, according to Jos Delbeke, a senior official with the commission.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Breaking News - Climate Bill Passes US Senate Committee

Moments ago, the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Climate Security Act, a bipartisan bill, prepared by senatores Liberman and Warner, that would set a hard, economy-wide cap on America's global warming pollution. With the Senate having taken the first historic step of passing a climate bill out of committee, now the House will discuss their related proosal (see press release Environmental Defense).

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon up on bullish energy complex

(pointcarbon)European carbon for next-year delivery firmed Tuesday morning on the back of stronger German power and oil, with a higher fuel-switch level lending support, traders said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

A Fifth of UN Carbon Credits May be Bogus - WWF

LONDON - One in five carbon credits issued by the United Nations are going to support clean energy projects that may in fact have helped to increase greenhouse gas emissions, environmental group WWF said on Thursday. The United Nations runs a scheme under the Kyoto Protocol that allows rich nations to invest in clean energy projects in developing countries and in return receive certified emissions reduction credits (CERs) to offset their own emissions.But WWF said in a report that the credits are being delivered to projects that would have gone ahead anyway, even without the extra incentive provided by UN approval under the scheme, called the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The report, prepared by Germany's Oeko Institute for Applied Ecology, said projects lacking this so-called 'additionality' help increase gases blamed for global warming by giving firms a spurious justification for continuing to pollute.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Timing of phase two auctions could push up carbon price – analysts

(Pointcarbon, Oslo)The price for European carbon dioxide allowances could rise next year if member states delay auctioning their permits to pollute in the face of a supply shortage, analysts say.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon edges slightly higher

(Pointcarbon, Oslo)Carbon prices edged slightly higher this morning, brushing aside bearish signals from other commodities, according to traders.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Spot Trading Volumes, Prices and Trading Fees

Climex Exchange is supporting the market by currently offering trading fees of only 0.5 cent per traded tonne first Phase EUA and 0.25 cents per tonne traded for OTC transactions of 50.000 tonnes and above

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Test the Climex Intermediary Functionality

Climex Exchange has developed Intermediary Functionality to make traders' lifes easier.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Climex Exchange ready for trading spot CERs

In December 2007 Climex will start to sign up members who want to use spot trading for the trade of multiple products simultaneously. Current spot-members of Climex will automatically have access to the spot trading of first and second phase EUAs and CERs combined on one screen. They will be contacted to inform them about all the extra possibilities.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Germany’s Ex-post Corrections and its Influence on Prices

On 7 November 2007, the European Court decided that Germany’s ex-post corrections (retroactive adjustments) are legal. The German Government decided to impose ex-post corrections, because the allocation of CO2 permits to companies for the 2005-2007 trading period was based on projected emissions.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Up to 600 companies to take part in Swiss ETS

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Switzerland's carbon emissions trading scheme will cover 3-3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from around 500-600 installations when it starts in just under six weeks, according to an official with the Swiss environment ministry

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon up on CITL-ITL concerns

(pointcarbon, Oslo)The price of European carbon for delivery next year hit a five-and-a-half month high during trade on Wednesday, as concerns over whether the EU and UN carbon market would be linked in time to allow imports of cheap offset credits in 2008.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Carbon Price Hits Five-Month High on Snag

European carbon credits hit a 5-month high on Tuesday (€ 23,68) as the market rallied on higher natural gas and weaker coal prices, and as a trading snag raised fears of a bottleneck in supply of cheap carbon offsets. The European Union's emissions trading scheme (ETS) will now not link with a UN-run Kyoto Protocol scheme until 2008, the UN said on Tuesday, raising fears of an EU shortage of carbon offsets imported from developing nations, under Kyoto.
The link had been expected to complete in 2007, and a shortage of offsets would raise the demand for and price of EU emission permits, called EU allowances (EUAs). "The EU ETS will be linked to trading under the Kyoto Protocol next year," the UN's climate change body said in a statement.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Singapore Exchange eyes carbon trading

(pointcarbon,Oslo)Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) could become the latest in a long line of trading platforms to offer carbon contracts after announcing it is conducting research into creating a range of financial derivatives, including property derivatives, Asian credit derivatives and carbon trading.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

15.11.07 Midday market update: Carbon slips on softer fuels

(pointcarbon, Oslo)European CO2 allowances for next-year delivery lost around 1.75 per cent of their value in early Thursday trade on the back of softening German power and UK gas prices, traders said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon climbs on cold weather forecast

Pointcarbon, OsloThe price of European carbon for next year delivery firmed marginally during trade on Friday, as higher continental power and UK gas prices underpinned demand.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Twelve countries initially cleared for Kyoto trade

Pointcarbon, OsloUN expert groups have so far said that 12 countries are set to achieve eligibility under the Kyoto protocol and be cleared to participate in international emissions trading next year.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

US Exchanges Explore Carbon Trading Market

NEW YORK - Some of the biggest US exchanges are eyeing a piece of the global carbon trading market, which is expected to double in size by 2012 from current levels as governments and industry step up efforts to reduce pollution. The market for trading carbon emissions reached 22 billion euros (US$32 billion) in 2006 and will cross 40 billion euros (US$58 billion) by 2012, according to a report by Boston-based research firm Celent. "The opportunity is that it's a new product area that's not traded very heavily on exchanges right now," said Niamh Alexander, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. "Lots of exchanges are likely to come up with different structured products to participate in that market," she said. Analysts said carbon trading is likely to be among the slew of lucrative new products that exchanges are racing to offer customers. Exchanges the world over are buying stakes in each other to take advantage of new technologies that allow customers to swiftly trade a variety of products, from currency options to weather futures, across national boundaries.
New York Stock Exchange operator NYSE Euronext recently said it has partnered with French bank Caisse des Depots (CDC) to launch a carbon trading market in early 2008.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU Court Says States May Adjust '05-'07 CO2 Plans

European Union states may make changes to their carbon emissions plans for 2005-2007, an EU court ruled on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the key regulator of the bloc's emissions trading system. The EU's Court of First Instance ruled Germany may take away excess carbon permits handed out to companies during the first trading phase of the scheme and put them in a separate reserve. The ruling came as a setback to the European Commission, the regulator of the climate change scheme, which said attempts by Germany and other EU states to change their emissions allocation plans with "ex-post adjustments" after approval from Brussels were incompatible with EU law.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EEX, Eurex to launch options contracts for CERs, EUAs

(pointcarbon,Oslo)European Energy Exchange (EEX) and financial derivatives exchange Eurex will launch option contracts for EU allowances and Kyoto project credits over the next two years, the companies told reporters in London today.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

06.11.07 Midday market update: Carbon slides to seven-week low

(pointcarbon,Oslo)The price of European carbon for delivery next year fell to a seven-week low in early trading on Tuesday, depressed by a combination of flagging European coal and power prices and technically-related selling, traders said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Vertis sees lower EU carbon prices after German credit limit decision

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Budapest-based consultants Vertis Environmental Finance has changed its market outlook to "perplexed" after the European commission ruled that German companies will be allowed to surrender Kyoto project credits up to 22 per cent of their EU carbon permit allocation, it said today.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon falls 2% on thin volume

(Oslo, pointcarbon)European carbon allowances fell around 2 per cent during morning trade on Thursday, on the back of poor liqudity and softer German power.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon falls almost 4% on sliding energy prices

Europe’s carbon price for delivery next year shed 3.8 per cent in early trading on Wednesday, with profit-taking amid weak prices in the energy complex dragging the carbon market down for the second consecutive session, traders said.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU wil emissiehandelsmarkt integreren met Amerika, Canada en Australië

29 oktober 2007

LISSABON (Energeia/ANP) - De Europese Unie wil samen met zestien Amerikaanse staten, zeven Canadese provincies, Australië en Nieuw-Zeeland komen tot een gemeenschappelijke markt voor de handel in CO2-rechten. Maandag sloten vertegenwoordigers van de deelnemende landen, staten en provincies in Lissabon een partnerschap dat gaat onderzoeken hoe de emissiehandelssystemen gekoppeld kunnen worden.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

CO2 Market Expections grow

For the first time since 4 Months the CO2 price for 2008 EUA futures is at the € 23 level. Speculators and funds are waking up again. After some profit selling last 2 weeks and a small price drop, the CO2 price remains at that level. The daily transaction volume has been now and than between 5 and 7 Mton again. The high oil price itself ($ 100/barrel) seems to have less impact on the CO2 Price, as it did in 2005 and 2006 when CO2 prices were peaking at € 30. Of course did the bullish energy market play some role in the current increase of gas and coal price. German utitilies already announced upcoming power price increases. Main trigger for this price level is the expected long term shortage of EUAs, instigated by the EU press release">European NAP decisions, causing a 9,4 % cut compared to proposed NAP-2 and a 10% cut compared to NAP-1 (see entire posting)

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

International forum to link CO2 markets

On Oct 29 leaders of nations and states with national and regional CO2 cap-and-trade systems will convene in Portugal to launch the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP). The aim of this high level gathering is to establish an expert forum to discuss relevant questions on the design, compatibility and potential linkage of regional carbon markets. See the declaration. Important is that is says it will support te UN process in developing a gobal market. So, it will suport and not disturb the Climate Convention (UNFCCC) and Post Kyoto process. Speakers at the event include: Sócrates, President of European Union, Barroso, President of European Commission, Governor Schwarzenegger (CA), Governor Spitzer (NY), Governor Jon Corzine (NJ), Premier Campbell (British Columbia, Canada,, Gabriel, Federal Minister for the Environment, Germany, Timmermans, Minister of EU Affairs, Netherlands, John Hutton, Secretary of State UK.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EU cuts industrial carbon emissions quota

(Reuters) European industry will have to emit 10% less CO2 than governments had wanted from 2008-12, after the European Commission tried to put the bloc back on track to meet its Kyoto targets on Friday. Industry got too many emissions permits in the first trading period of Europe's carbon trading scheme from 2005-07, harming the credibility of Europe's flagship weapon against climate change and heaping pressure on the EC. Many EU states are well behind their binding, 2012 greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, notably Spain, Portugal and Italy.
The Commission only accepted proposed emissions quotas for the next phase of the scheme, from 2008-12, for Britain, France, Slovenia and Denmark, in an approval process which started last year and ended on Friday with the last two decisions, to cut emissions for Bulgaria and Romania.
"We have assured a robust market with real emission reductions which will constitute an important contribution to meeting our Kyoto target," EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement.
National governments had tabled requests for 2.3 billion tons, 12 percent more than the final quota of 2.1 billion. The EU scheme is meant to give industry a shortage of permits to emit the planet-warming CO2, and is being closely watched in the United States where senators have tabled proposals to introduce a carbon market. This time the EC has got it about right, analysts say, estimating a shortage of permits equivalent to about 250 Mton of CO2 emissions per year from 2008-12.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

European ETS commentary: Utility demand pushes up carbon

(Pointcarbon, Oslo) The price of European CO2 allowances for next-year delivery closed €0.15 higher today, pushed up by demand from German utilities, according to traders.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

22.10.07 Caisse des Depots and NYSE Euronext announce global CO2 exchange

(pointcarbon, Oslo)French state bank Caisse des Depots and NYSE Euronext, an international stock exchange, today announced they would open a global CO2 exchange in early 2008.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

22.10.07 Powernext, EEX close in on merger

(Pointcarbon, Oslo)The boards of the main French and German power exchanges are set to make a decision on a possible merger, but the exchanges have no plans for a joint carbon trading platform.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Sideways movement during morning trade

(pointcarbon,Oslo)The price of European carbon moved sideways during morning trade, despite softer coal and firmer European power prices swelling the profits of coal-fired power plants

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Analysts see deep cuts to Romanian, Bulgarian NAPs

(pointcarbon,Oslo)Romania could see the number of EU carbon allowances it can issue to its industry slashed by 23 per cent, while Bulgaria will see its allocation reduced by 21 per cent, according to research published today by Deutsche Bank.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

EUA price over € 22 at 3 Month high

EU emissions Allowance prices broke out of a three-week slumber Wednesday and hit levels not seen in over three months, as utility buyers won the day over financials. December 2008 delivery EUA prices reached an intra-day high of €22.30 ($31.33) on the European Climate Exchange in mid-afternoon, as utilities were reported to be busy selling forward power for 2008 delivery and hedging their fuel and carbon exposure at the same time. Early in the session financial players were reported to be the main sellers, keeping a lid on prices at €22.00 and below with sustained selling into the utility demand. (Source:Platts)

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Midday market update: Carbon contract hits 14 week high

(point, carbon, Oslo)The price of carbon rose to a 14 week high of €22.10 on Wednesday, after a morning of struggling to break through the €22.00 level after one large European utility was said by traders to be stifling any move higher in the benchmark 2008 contract.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)

Denmark's CO2 emissions up 16.1% in 2006 on coal consumption

(pointcarbon, Oslo)Denmark's CO2 emissions up 16.1% in 2006 on coal consumption

Denmark's CO2 emissions rose 16.1 per cent in 2006 compared to the previous year on the back of strong economic growth and electricity exports from coal-fired power plants, according to statistics released today.

>> entire posting / read comments (0)