Results were released today for the third auction of the year in the California-Quebec cap-and-trade market. This auction delivered slightly stronger results over the May auction, with all current allowances sold and settlement prices rising above the price floor. This bump in market demand potentially suggests renewed market confidence, though this confidence could be temporary if the Legislature doesn’t act urgently to reauthorize the program.
The North Carolina General Assembly’s vote to override Governor Stein’s veto of Senate Bill 266 is a major setback for North Carolina households, clean energy progress and climate leadership. Despite warnings from economists, energy experts and everyday residents, the General Assembly chose to make law a bill that will raise customer energy costs and shift billions in risk and cost from utilities and larger commercial and industrial users onto families and small businesses — at a time when energy bills are already straining household budgets.
And there’s no mistaking where the blame for this new law and its damaging effects lies: squarely on the shoulders of the powerful utility, Duke Energy, that pushed it and the legislators who caved to Duke’s demands. As quoted in a WRAL story when the veto override vote passed both chambers, I summed it up by saying, “When your power bill goes up next year, remember this vote and the legislators who shifted risk and cost onto households.”
There’s no way around it. Senate Bill 266, which will now become law, has been a flawed approach from the start. It’s bad for customers and bad for the environment.
Aerial view of a Costa Rican rainforest. Flickr/ Francisco Guerrero 2020
By Mark Moroge and Zach Cohen
At this November’s UN Climate Conference in Belém, progress on climate finance will be measured not just in pledges, but in delivery – including for forests, which are critical to regulating the climate, sustaining biodiversity, and supporting millions of people. The driving question: how do we get more money to the people conserving critical ecosystems at the speed and scale needed to make a difference?
Last year’s climate conference in Baku set an ambitious goal to mobilize $1.3 trillion by 2035 for developing countries. Over the coming months, countries will provide inputs on a ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap’, guiding public and private sectors to deliver on this target. While scaling climate finance is essential, so is ensuring its quality. Strengthening the affordability, accessibility, and effectiveness of climate funding must be priorities to catalyze transformative action.
As the Baku to Belém Roadmap takes shape, these principles of quality cannot just be abstractions – they need to be translated within specific sectors and contexts. This is especially true for the forest sector, where stakeholders face underlying barriers to securing the financing they need, and where there are ripe opportunities to unlock new resources, from leveraging public money to catalyze private investment, to deploying innovative models like the Tropical Forests Forever Facility. Read More
On July 1, the ten states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) concluded their Third Program Review and announced updates that strengthen the regional cap on climate pollution, beginning in 2027. These changes also introduce new measures to protect energy affordability and reaffirm the program’s commitment to cutting pollution, promoting clean energy and supporting local communities.
As Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) analysis shows, the case for program improvements is well supported — delivering clean electricity and critical climate and health benefits while ensuring consumer affordability. And there’s still room to do even more.
Clouds partially cover a forest in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Photo by Edgar Godoy.
This post was authored by Edgar Godoy, Associate Vice President for Jurisdictional Alliances, and Paola Bauche, Secretary of Environment and Territorial Development, State of Jalisco, Mexico.
As the urgency of the climate crisis intensifies, jurisdictional REDD+ approaches have emerged as a scalable, equitable, and results-based solution for tackling deforestation and forest degradation. In Mexico, the State of Jalisco stands out as a subnational leader, having developed and begun implementing a jurisdictional REDD+ model rooted in long-term vision, institutional strength, and a strong commitment to forest communities’ rights. In its role as strategic partner to the Government of Jalisco, Environmental Defense Fund has been providing targeted technical assistance, supporting the development of emissions baselines and safeguard frameworks, and bolstering Jalisco’s alignment with international best practices in high-integrity carbon markets.
With over 4 million hectares of forest cover, representing more than 50% of its territory, Jalisco’s forests are critical for biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, and the livelihoods of hundreds of communal land communities, called ejidos, and Indigenous communities. The state’s REDD+ Strategy, developed through inclusive, participatory processes, links forest conservation, restoration, land-use planning, and sustainable rural development. It aligns with Mexico’s national REDD+ framework and the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Results were released today for Washington’s second cap-and-invest auction of the year, administered last Wednesday by the Department of Ecology (Ecology). During the auction, participating entities submitted their bids for allowances. Under the Climate Commitment Act — Washington’s landmark climate law that sets a binding, declining limit on pollution — major emitters in Washington are required to hold one allowance for every ton of greenhouse gas they emit, with the total number of allowances decreasing each year. This system requires Washington’s polluters to reduce their emissions in line with the state’s climate targets, as fewer allowances become available annually.
