As the Australian Federal government approaches the launch date for its carbon price, conservative state governments in Australia are rolling back their climate change mitigation programs. While parts of this policy recalibration makes sense under a national cap-and-trade scheme, other changes are a missed opportunity to take advantage of the opportunities of a low carbon [...]
Compared to earlier trading periods, Phase III of the EU ETS will see a marked reduction in the free allocation of emissions allowances to industrial installations, with a corresponding increase in auctioning levels. It is hoped that this shift will help redress the imbalance between the importance of the EU ETS in reducing emissions and [...]
Australia’s transition from a fixed-price carbon scheme to a full emissions trading scheme in 2015 will also mark the introduction of international carbon permits into the Australian market. This will allow Australian companies to use certified emission reductions such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to meet their carbon liabilities. In an attempt to balance [...]
Trading in the latest type of carbon credit, EU aviation allowances (EUAAs), has begun despite remaining doubts as to the viability of the new market, which have been exacerbated by diplomatic turmoil. The requirement that all airlines, including non-EU operators, comply with the EU ETS has provoked resistance from a number of key countries. It [...]
Recent news of German rare earths agreements with Kazakhstan and Mongolia, as well as slow progress on an Australian rare earths refinery in Malaysia, indicate that the West may finally be starting to break China’s hold on the industry. Since the early 1990s, China has been the world leader in rare earth metals mining. With [...]
After an extremely bumpy ride, 2012 will finally see Australia implement a carbon price. The Clean Energy Future legislation, which passed in October 2011, will put a price of $23 AUD per tonne on emissions from July 1 and will apply to approximately 500 companies. It is hoped the initiative will cut emissions by 159 [...]
In the aftermath of the Durban conference analysts have been turning their attention to the continued role of Kyoto Protocol emissions credits in the EU ETS. To date this trading mechanism has provided the biggest market for Kyoto credits, but the position is set to change drastically from 2013 onwards due to significant restrictions on [...]
The last COP in Durban ended in a success for the UNFCCC process, but has more nebulous implications for the climate itself, with Kyoto put on artificial respirator and a more comprehensive agreement being pushed back to a later date. [...]
The outcome of the UN conference in Durban has been more positive than initially indicated by the complexity of the negotiations. It is particularly laudable that a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol has been secured. This result translates into a continued existence of the international emissions trading mechanism. [...]
Durban finished with the now commonplace but contradictory sense of achievement and disappointment. Achievement that something has been agreed, disappointment that because expectations are so low, any agreement seems like an achievement. REDD+, however, has finished COP17 with a less pessimistic sentiment [...]
