EU Carbon Permits Drop After Output Unexpectedly Falls

EU Carbon Permits Drop After Output Unexpectedly Falls - Bloomberg

Carbon permits plunged to a record after European Union data showed emissions from factories and power stations in the region fell more than expected last year amid milder-than-normal weather.  Emissions decreased to 1.7 billion metric tons in 2011 from 1.75 billion tons for the same installations in 2010, according to preliminary data published today on the EU website and compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The median estimate of seven analysts surveyed last month by Bloomberg was for a 0.7 percent advance. Today’s data covers about 88 percent of facilities in the market.

Carbon Prices Plunge as EU Emissions Drop

Carbon Prices Plunge as EU Emissions Drop - WSJ.com

LONDON—Prices for carbon allowances fell to a record low after European Union data showed a surprise drop in emissions within the region's trading system in 2011 compared with the previous year. The decline mostly was due to the power sector, with the falloff attributed to increased efficiency and warmer-than-usual weather.

Buffett Says Shortcuts on Environment Can Risk Profits

Buffett Says Shortcuts on Environment Can Risk Profits - Bloomberg

Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said companies won’t last if they fail to consider the impact of their businesses on the environment.  “Taking shortcuts is not the pathway to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, nor is it an avenue toward satisfying customers,” Buffett, 81, said in a report published today on the website of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s Johns Manville building products subsidiary. “A company must invest in the key ingredients of profitability: its people, communities and the environment.”

Fisker Surpasses $1 Billion in Funding With New Investment

Fisker Surpasses $1 Billion in Funding With New Investment - Bloomberg

Fisker Automotive Inc., a maker of plug-in hybrid sports cars, got financing that increases its funding to $1.025 billion.  The company disclosed the $129 million investment in a filing today that didn’t identify investors. It said in February it had received $263 million as part of the same financing round and at the time had $896 million in total private funding.  Fisker, based in Anaheim, California, is working to fix a defect in its Karma sedan as it seeks to resume work on a stalled plant in Delaware, where it is using $529 million in government loans to build a second model. The company is backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Palo Alto Investors LLC and the lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems Inc. (AONE)

Carbon crashes as 2011 emissions numbers surprise analysts

Environmental Finance | News | Carbon crashes as 2011 emissions numbers surprise analysts

The price of EU allowances fell to record lows on the news. Just after the data was released, at 11am BST, the EU allowance (EUA) benchmark futures contract dropped almost 5% to €6.77 ($9) from €7.05, but had bounced back up to €6.89 within the hour. Just after 3pm BST, however, the contract was down to €6.14, a new low.

CO2 trade jury is out

CO2 trade jury is out - Times LIVE

This is due to a serious imbalance in supply and demand in the market, which is likely to persist until 2015, and should correct by 2020.  While long-term prospects for carbon trading remain good, most market players cannot find a way around the short-term hiatus, and have laid off staff or are looking to exit the market.  Carbon markets leapt into prominence with the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol (2008 to 2012). The protocol generated demand by setting binding emission reduction targets for developed countries that had subscribed to the protocol (known as Annex 1 countries).

The great lessons of the great depression

21 Lessons in Sustainability from the Great Depression : TreeHugger

It was déjà vu all over again when I read Sami's recent post Sustainability Lessons from the Great Depression; four years ago, when this Great Recession started, we did a major series on sister site Planet Green and a few on TreeHugger about lessons from the depression, and on the idea of frugal green living. And while the economists say we are climbing out of the recession, the new austerity budgets coming out of Washington, Ottawa and London ensure that the recovery is spiky and uneven, leaving many behind. It sure doesn't feel like a recovery to me and it is perhaps time for a refresher course in Frugal Green Living. First, a bit of a roundup in TreeHugger:

10,000 people signed on to stop the spread of climate misinformation

General Motors to Stop Funding Climate Change-Denying Think Tank Heartland Institute : TreeHugger

When a leak exposing Heartland Institute's internal documents revealed that General Motors was directing funding to the organization, it was only a matter of weeks before a campaign was launched to stop it. Heartland is one of the most prominent purveyors of climate skepticism, and it advances an agenda to weaken science education and public understanding of global warming. So the climate advocacy group Forecast the Facts called on GM car owners to sign a petition asking the company to stop supporting the spread of climate misinformation. Before long, 10,000 owners had signed on, as well as more than 10,000 others. The effort was successful: Today, GM announced that it is withdrawing its support from Heartland.

Break on through to the other side!

Breakthrough near in dispute over planes’ emissions, officials say - The Washington Post

A dispute over whether U.S. airlines will have to offset the carbon they emit on flights to and from Europe may be inching closer to a diplomatic breakthrough, according to officials involved in the negotiations. In January, the European Union began implementing an Emissions Trading Scheme, which compels airlines to buy carbon allowances for flights landing in and taking off from Europe. The U.S. government — along with the governments of 79 other countries — objects to the program.

The big "missed opportunity" in sustainability

Tax, Sustainability Departments’ Disconnect is ‘A Missed Opportunity’

Many companies could be missing opportunities for financial savings as tax departments and sustainability programs lack integration, according to a survey from Ernst & Young. Only 16 percent of companies that either have or are developing an environmental sustainability strategy said their tax or finance departments are actively involved in it, according to Working Together: Linking sustainability and tax to reduce the cost of implementing sustainability initiatives.

EU Carbon Permits Drop After Output Unexpectedly Falls

EU Carbon Permits Drop After Output Unexpectedly Falls - Businessweek

Carbon permits plunged to a record after European Union data showed emissions from factories and power stations in the region fell more than expected last year amid milder-than-normal weather.

Latest Carbon News Headlines

News - Point Carbon - Providing critical insights into energy and environmental markets

Point Carbon's OTC price assessments

		Close	+/-
EUA	Dec 2012	7.03	0.10
sCER	Dec 2012	3.77	0.08

Policy

02 Apr 2012 12:02

EU ETS emissions down 2.4 pct in 2011: preliminary data

Emissions from installations covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme fell 2.4 percent in 2011,…

Markets

02 Apr 2012 15:26

UPDATE 1: Analysts lower CO2 forecasts on EU data

Carbon market analysts hastily rehashed their projections for total ETS emissions for 2011 on Monday…

Corporate

02 Apr 2012 17:40

EcoSecurities cuts staff by 25 pct due to market conditions: sources

Emission reduction project developer EcoSecurities has shed 25 percent of its workforce due to low c…

Markets

02 Apr 2012 17:37

EU carbon volumes rise 21 pct in Q1

European emissions trading volumes rose 21 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to a year e…

Policy

02 Apr 2012 16:39

First U.N. climate fund meeting could be delayed: U.N. official

The first meeting of the U.N.-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF), designed to help to raise up to $100…

Markets

02 Apr 2012 14:18

Europe’s biggest emitters buy 8 pct more EUAs in 2011

The EU’s top polluters pumped out 3.1 percent more CO2 last year compared to 2010, despite emissions…

EU ETS

02 Apr 2012 15:27

UPDATE 1: EUAs plunge to 3-month low after lower-than-expected emission data

EUAs hit their lowest level in almost three months on Monday after preliminary official data indicat…

Latest news

• 02 Apr 12 17:40  EcoSecurities cuts staff by 25 pct due to market conditions 
• 02 Apr 12 17:37  EU carbon volumes rise 21 pct in Q1 
• 02 Apr 12 16:39  First U.N. climate fund meeting could be delayed: U.N. official 
• 02 Apr 12 15:27  EUAs plunge to 3-month low on lower emission data 
• 02 Apr 12 15:26  UPDATE 1: Analysts lower CO2 forecasts on EU data 
• 02 Apr 12 14:18  Europe’s biggest emitters buy 8 pct more EUAs in 2011 
• 02 Apr 12 12:02  EU ETS emissions down 2.4 pct in 2011: preliminary data 
• 02 Apr 12 11:32  Germany's CO2 emissions for 2011 fell 1 pct-sources 
• 02 Apr 12 11:21  EU fails to resolve dispute over UN climate fund seats 
• 02 Apr 12 09:46  U.N. trims CER supply forecast 2.75 pct 
• 30 Mar 12 18:08  EU carbon up 2.3 pct, claws back some lost ground 
• 30 Mar 12 17:17  Weekly CER issuance set for 11-mth low next week 
• 30 Mar 12 15:48  POLL: EU ETS emissions rise 0.6 pct in 2011 
• 30 Mar 12 10:06  TEP takes huge asset writedown, tries to renegotiate CER deals 
• 30 Mar 12 09:40  New Zealand mulls ETS overhaul 
• 30 Mar 12 03:21  Australian coal generators snare bulk of $1 bln carbon grants 
• 30 Mar 12 02:33  NZ brokers launch online CO2 trading platform 
• 30 Mar 12 01:13  CCAs fall 6 pct as trading picks up 
• 29 Mar 12 17:44  Carbon markets a tall order for buildings: experts 
• 29 Mar 12 16:25  German CO2 broker, U.S.-based offset seller to merge 
• 29 Mar 12 14:29  Japan ministry solicits new bilateral offset projects 
• 29 Mar 12 12:09  UK greenhouse gas emissions fall 7 pct in 2011 
• 29 Mar 12 10:42  EU court sides with Poland, Estonia in CO2 cap dispute 
• 29 Mar 12 10:31  NZ industry climate lobby shuts down 
• 29 Mar 12 10:25  NZ carbon falls 1.3 pct amid flailing demand 

All news

It's not a tax. It's an emissions trading scheme

It's not a tax. It's an emissions trading scheme | Herald Sun

THE Government today is attempting to re-brand its carbon pricing scheme to start in three months by insisting it will not be a tax.  But the bid to calm households jittery about the carbon pollution penalty has hit an obstacle. Prime Minister Julia Gillard herself refers to the scheme as a tax.
Sixty per cent of voters oppose putting a price on carbon emissions, according to a Nielsen Poll published today in Fairfax newspapers.  The unpopularity of the scheme has helped pull the Government's primary vote down to just 27 per cent to 47 per cent for the Coalition and 13 per cent for the Greens.