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Qatar presents 2040 climate target to UN
Qatar presents 2040 climate target to UN
Edinburgh, 4 December (Argus) — Qatar has pledged to reduce its emissions by 42mn t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2040 from a 2019 baseline, with the oil and gas sector "at the forefront of national mitigation efforts". Qatar does not provide its total greenhouse emissions for 2019, but said its climate plan encompasses CO2, methane and nitrous oxide gases. It covers the energy sector — oil and gas, power and water — construction and industry, transport, waste and agriculture, forestry and other land use. Parties to the Paris Agreement were required to submit climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), for 2035 to the UN climate body UNFCCC this year. Qatar had previously targeted emission reductions of 25pc, or 37mn CO2e, by 2030, compared with a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. BAU scenarios typically assume emissions based on current policies, leaving room for potential increases. The country's emission cuts in its oil and gas sector will rely on "deploying cleaner fossil fuel technologies, developing engineered sinks to store emissions, diversifying the energy mix, and driving operational excellence across existing facilities and infrastructure", according to its climate plan. Qatar is the world's largest LNG producer, with a production capacity of 77mn t/yr, according to QatarEnergy, and its economy is heavily reliant on hydrocarbon revenues. The country's climate plan highlights the country's vulnerability to response measures to mitigate climate change, resulting from its economy's reliance on hydrocarbons. "Qatar is actively working to reduce the socio-economic effects of global climate action," the plan said, adding that it seeks to balance climate goals with national sustainable development. "Despite many efforts and considering its role as a leading producer and exporter of natural gas, Qatar remains significantly vulnerable to climate response measures," it said. Qatar is part of the Arab Group, a negotiating group in UNFCCC climate talks, which is seeking to focus on cutting emissions from fossil fuels, rather than hydrocarbon production and consumption, through increased adoption of carbon capture technologies. The country said it plays "a pivotal role" in supporting other countries' targets by "reliably supplying them with a cleaner alternative to coal and oil and providing a critical backup for intermittent renewables". Qatar's climate plan sees the secure and affordable supply of lower-carbon energy as well as the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the management of emissions of energy production as the focus to pursue sustainable development and climate action. The country considers itself to be among the leaders in CCS with its Ras Laffan project, and aims to capture 11mn t/yr of CO2 by 2035. Engineering firm Samsung C&T was recently awarded a contract to build a 4.1mn t/yr CO2 facility to process and store emissions from Qatar's LNG liquefaction plants. Qatar, in its climate plan, highlighted the country's water supply vulnerability to temperature increases and heat. The power and water sector accounts for a large share of the country's emissions. Water scarcity is also responsible for increasing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Bahrain through desalination, although its energy sector remains the main source of emissions, according to the country's new climate plan. The country is heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its energy and revenues, while "limited land availability and competing land-use demands constrain large-scale deployment" for the development of solar energy. Rising demand over the peak summer months this year meant that Bahrain had to import LNG for the first time since commissioning its 800mn ft³/d onshore LNG receiving and regasification terminal in 2020. But it is looking at renewables options and is in talks with Saudi Arabia for a link to a large-scale solar facility. Bahrain said that response measures to climate change "may lead to economic losses that, in turn, hinder Bahrain's ability to pursue effective climate action and achieve broader sustainable development objectives." By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia proposes native forest management ACCU method
Australia proposes native forest management ACCU method
Mumbai, 4 December (Argus) — Australia's carbon market statutory body the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee (Erac) has today released a proposal for a new carbon crediting method to enhance native forest management. The proposed Improved Native Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Native Forests (INFM) method aims to abate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by mitigating or reducing harvesting in multiple-use native public forests. Projects registered under the proposed method can generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), if approved. The government proposes at least a 20pc reduction in harvesting relative to baseline levels for INFM projects to receive ACCUs. Projects may have to cover a minimum of one entire forest region to reduce the risk of "carbon leakage" caused by harvesting from another area. Projects under the proposed methodology would have a reduced crediting period of 15 years, compared to the typical 25-year period for other land-based approaches. INFM projects would be required to ensure a 100-year permanence period to ensure long-term carbon sequestration. Stakeholder consultation on the proposed method will open from 2 January 2026 and will conclude on 30 January 2026. The INFM method is one the four new carbon crediting project methodologies proposed outside of government and prioritised for the ACCU scheme in October 2024 under a proponent-led model . The Australian carbon credit industry has been focusing on boosting future issuances to address an expected shift in the supply-demand balance within a few years. This has prompted the authorities to prioritise method approvals. By Shribalaji Shenbagaraj Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG to fill the gap as Seoul pledges faster coal exit
LNG to fill the gap as Seoul pledges faster coal exit
South Korea is scrambling for alternatives to coal-fired power to maintain sufficient base-load capacity, writes Evelyn Lee London, 3 December (Argus) — South Korea's pledge to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2040 has thrown its energy strategy into sharp focus, exposing a looming 40GW capacity gap. With nuclear expansion stalling and renewables facing infrastructure hurdles, LNG has become the most likely bridge to fill the potential shortfall. South Korea has formally confirmed its plan to retire 40 out of its 61 existing coal-fired units by 2040, following its declaration during the UN Cop 30 climate summit in Brazil last month to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) — a coalition of countries committed to ending coal use for power generation. The phase out timeline for the country's remaining 21 units — some of which were built relatively recently — will be determined through public consultation taking into account economic and environmental feasibility, and a detailed phase-out strategy is expected to be finalised next year, the PPCA says. This aligns with Seoul's intention to establish its 2026-40 long-term power plan by the end of next year. The firm phase-out pledge leaves South Korea scrambling for alternatives to maintain sufficient base-load power capacity. Its current long-term power plan covering 2024-39 was established in February under the previous administration of then-president Yoon Suk-Yeol. It earmarked 28 aging coal-fired units with a combined 14.1GW of capacity for conversion to LNG, and 12 units with 6.8GW of capacity to transition to carbon-free generation, such as pumped storage, hydrogen or ammonia co-firing, all by 2038. The current administration under President Lee Jae-Myung has indicated it does not intend to allow plants to switch to ammonia co-firing , signalling a decisive break from earlier strategies that sought to keep coal in the mix under a low-carbon guise. In line with this, Lee's administration in October cancelled the second round of a clean hydrogen power generation bidding market, which would have subsidised hydrogen and ammonia co-firing under 15-year contracts. Seoul searching An accelerated coal phase-out alongside a ban on approving new nuclear reactors has led to growing expectations that South Korea will lean more heavily on gas-fired plants to maintain its power system at least until renewables capacity catches up. The current electricity plan stipulates building two new 1.4GW reactors and continued use of expiring reactors, resulting in nuclear capacity rising to 35.2GW in 2038 from 26.1GW in 2025. But the Lee administration has ruled out building new reactors, although construction of reactors already under development can proceed as planned. The government has approved the restart of the 650MW Kori reactor 2, in line with the president's stance that expiring reactors may continue operating if safety standards are met. But even with these measures, Seoul must identify more than 40GW of replacement capacity by 2040, based on information currently available. This is roughly equivalent to the country's entire coal-fired fleet, which has accounted for around 28pc of total power output this year. The government aims to expand South Korea's renewable energy capacity to 100GW by 2030 from a previous target of 80.9GW and current capacity of 37.9GW, but its renewables rollout continues to be constrained by insufficient transmission capacity upgrades, mainly driven by local opposition. A law to accelerate grid projects came into force on 26 September, but progress is now being held up by local governments, which are reluctant to approve project permits in a bid to maintain positive public opinion ahead of municipal elections in June next year. Persistent grid bottlenecks have increased the country's reliance on gas-fired generation in recent years, as these plants are located close to the main demand centre around Seoul. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia to unlock ACCUs from government contracts
Australia to unlock ACCUs from government contracts
Sydney, 3 December (Argus) — Australia announced today a long-awaited decision to permanently unlock millions of carbon credit units (ACCUs) from multi-year government contracts, spurring secondary market trading. Companies with active carbon abatement contracts (CACs) with the government for a combined remaining volume of around 84mn ACCUs for fixed delivery will be able to exit their agreements if they meet certain requirements, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) announced on 3 December. Firms will need to deliver at least 25pc of the outstanding volume of ACCUs under their contracts as of 1 January to receive a 60pc discount on their exit payment — referred to as buyer's market damages. They would then be able to sell the remaining 75pc contracted volume in the secondary market. Interested companies will need to submit an expression of interest by 30 June 2026, with permanent exit arrangements starting on 1 July 2026. But they would be able to deliver the minimum 25pc volume and make the exit payment with respect to the outstanding contracted volume by 31 December 2030. "This timeframe for fulfilling obligations by 31 December 2030 considers that most fixed delivery carbon abatement contracts were entered into between 2015 and 2020 for initial durations of seven to 10 years," the CER said. Any ACCUs that have been delivered from 1 January 2025 will contribute towards the eligibility for the discounted exit payment, the CER noted. Uncertainties after four exit windows The decision follows four exit windows between March 2022 and December 2024 that released around 13mn ACCUs from the CACs. The government was for years the largest buyer of ACCUs through the CACs, which were awarded in auctions carried out by the CER in 2015-23. The government introduced the exit window scheme in response to concerns about surging ACCU prices in late 2021 and early 2022. Spot ACCU prices collapsed in March 2022 following the announcement of the CAC exit arrangements, with the Australian Financial Markets Association (Afma) saying the action had shaken confidence in the ACCU market . Although a decision for permanent exit arrangements for fixed delivery CACs had been widely expected, there were uncertainties about the timeframe and terms of the changes. Under the fourth exit window, for instance, sellers had to deliver at least 20pc of the volume scheduled between July 2023 and 31 December 2024 and pay an exit fee to be released of the remaining volume under that period. All ACCUs delivered to the CER under the CACs since January 2023 have been held in the cost containment reserve, which can only be accessed by facilities under the safeguard mechanism at fixed prices that rise each year, starting at A$75/t CO2e for the 2023-24 year and at A$82.68/t CO2e for 2025-26 — levels not expected to be recorded in the secondary market within the next few years. Market participants had mixed views on the effects of the permanent exit arrangement, with some seeing it as bearish for prices as it mitigates uncertainties and confirms expectations that millions of ACCUs could be released. Others, however, expressed doubts on whether some sellers will be able to deliver 25pc of their outstanding contracted volumes until 2030. Trading prices for spot generic ACCUs started the day at A$35.75/t CO2e and reached as low as A$35.50/t CO2e, before rising following the announcement. Generic no avoided deforestation (No AD) ACCUs traded as high as A$36.30/t CO2e early in the afternoon, but prices fell back again. Argus assessed generic ACCU prices at A$35.55/t CO2e on 3 December, down by A$0.35/t CO2e on the day, while generic (No AD) prices were assessed at A$35.65/t CO2e, with more than 230,000t CO2e across around 20 spot transactions having been verified by the end of the day. This compares with 31 spot deals for 340,000t CO2e the whole of last week. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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