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Tuesday 22 January
UN: Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said tackling climate change and ending the violence in Syria are his two top priorities for 2013. “I will do my best to mobilize the political will and resources so that the member states can agree to a new legally binding global agreement on climate change,” Ban said. (Washington Post)
France: The French government is preparing for a renewed offshore wind tender process to add to the two rounds of bidding already completed. France has a renewable energy target of 23% by 2020, with 6GW of this slated to come from offshore wind. (Reuters)
EU: Carbon credits in the EU trading scheme are effectively worthless until the rules are changed, an analyst with UBS has said. Plans to withhold new permits from the market and an increase in the EU target for greenhouse gas reductions would tackle the glut of allowances and what UN climate chief Christiana Figueres calls the “under demand” problem. EU carbon prices fell to a record low of €4.79 on yesterday. (Bloomberg)
China: Chinese mining firms have pledged to invest $2bn in shale gas exploration after the government awarded drilling rights in 19 areas. Beijing sought to allay fears on the fracking process by promising to monitor the local environmental impact of the wells itself. (BBC)
EU: There are conflicting reports this morning on the impact of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on business. Industry leaders are claiming that sectors such as steel are being rendered uncompetitive due to additional costs associated with the system. A separate report by the Transport & Environment campaign group found that airlines had benefited from a €1.36bn windfall via the ETS by passing its “imaginary costs” onto consumers. (EurActiv)