Uncertainty as EU carbon market vote cancelled

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EU: There was further confusion in Brussels regarding plans to reform the carbon market with a planned committee vote cancelled and no certainty on when the European Parliament will vote as a whole. It is proposed that a tranche of carbon credits be held back from the market to drive up the price.

Committee chairman Mathias Groote confirmed on twitter that so called backloading was off the agenda for today’s meeting.

EurActiv said the Brussels rumour mill was in full swing after the vote was cancelled. (EurActiv)

Bloomberg reports that the committee had decided to send the proposals to a full European Parliament without further tweaking the plans itself. (Bloomberg)

Reuters reported that the news added further uncertainty to Europe’s carbon market with prices falling at least 12% on the news of the cancelled vote. (Reuters)

Confusion reigned in Brussels after carbon market reform was bumped from the Environment committee’s agenda (Source: Wikimedia/Azla)

Ecuador: Ecuador will present plans for a small tax on oil imports by rich nations, to its fellow OPEC members. It says the tax could contribute 80% of the Green Climate Fund’s targeted revenues of $100bn a year by 2020. (RTCC)

China: China has said it will no longer give approval to new small coal mines on safety grounds. Managers have also been told that they will be held responsible for the lives of their workers. (Xinhua)

Science: New research linking climate change and extreme weather events has been released by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describe a heat trapping effect in Northern hemisphere air currents that coincide with a number of extreme weather events. (AFP)

New Zealand: Pacific Islands have been given a $4.5m boost from the government of New Zealand to address environmental challenges. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) will use the grant to develop better solid waste management, biodiversity protection and climate response. (SPREP)

Aviation: Talks to find a global agreement to tackle emissions from the aviation sector could be watered down under US plans to exclude emissions over international waters. A US State Department official told Reuters the talks had “not yielded extremely rapid and concrete progress”. (Reuters)

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