- A US-based financial services firm is advocating for separation between standards agencies and registries in the voluntary carbon market, as it partners with a UK-based forestry crediting programme to settle transactions on the firm's platform.
- Tue 00:38Gaps and inconsistencies across global property law regimes regarding voluntary carbon credits (VCCs), typically construed as post-issuance problems, can be addressed using the pre-issuance risk management tools of ratings and insurance, according to a report published Monday.
Egyptian insurance - Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) is currently collaborating with the Egyptian Insurance Federation to study ways to launch a carbon credit insurance policy for agricultural projects. This was revealed by FRA Chair Mohamed Farid speaking at a forum organised by the SEKEM Group agricultural conglomerate, which developed the Economy of Love standard used by several projects listed on Egypt’s national AfricarbonX registry. Farid noted that the FRA is also working to support regulations governing teams that inspect carbon farmlands and establish emissions baselines, in cooperation with market stakeholders. Work is further underway to create a clear, regularly updated database and map of temperature and humidity. All this data could support the development of insurance products across the agricultural sector, he said – not just for land use-based carbon projects. (Amwal al-Ghad)
- Tue 00:01None of Europe’s 20 largest banks has a credible plan to align with a 1.5C climate pathway, new research has found.
- Tue 00:01Only 16 out of 500 companies driving deforestation took meaningful action to curb impacts in their supply chains in 2024, with pledges often overlooking commodities most linked to forest loss, a UK-based non-profit said on Tuesday.
- Mon 23:24An action-packed week for LATAM saw government-backed carbon pricing programmes take slow steps forward, while the voluntary market (VCM) experienced a mixed bag of bold announcements and dramatic setbacks.
- Mon 22:27A recently published study has proposed that the scientific basis for holding fossil fuel producers legally responsible for climate-related damages is now firmly established.
- Mon 21:01Germany’s main energy association concluded that a European recommendation to split the country’s bidding zone for electricity would lead to “massive uncertainty” for industry and “significantly dampen” the investment climate for renewables, contrary to an NGO report.
- Mon 17:23Green hydrogen unit launch – Haffner Energy, a French manufacturer of renewable energy solutions, has launched Hynoca Flex 500 IG, a modular hydrogen production unit capable of producing up to 12 tonnes of green hydrogen per day at under €3/kg without subsidies. The system also generates electricity to help manage fluctuating hydrogen demand. The company expects the technology to contribute to its 2025 financial results, with the first units scheduled for commissioning in early 2027.
- Biochar funding - Aston University has secured an additional £700k in government funding to extend its Biochar CleanTech Accelerator project, which converts organic waste into low-carbon products. Using pyrolysis technology, the initiative transforms materials such as sawdust and agricultural residue into oils, gases, and biochar, supporting the development of commercial applications for UK businesses. The accelerator, part of the West Midlands Innovation Accelerator programme, aims to drive economic and environmental benefits. The new funding comes from a £30 mln national extension of the Innovation Accelerator scheme.
- Mon 17:18European carbon prices slid in quiet trading on Monday as participants described a lacklustre market that was still reflecting a holiday mood, while a number of sources highlighted that though short-term price movements are likely to be dominated by macroeconomic events, sentiment is gradually turning more positive for EUAs in the longer term.
- A Munich-based forest carbon firm grew its portfolio of forest adaptation projects to 12 sites by the end of 2024, up from four a year earlier, and aims to further scale its activities this year, according to its latest impact report.
- Mon 16:43Voluntary carbon credit indices edged higher last week as market participants returned to desks following a holiday break, while France threw its weight behind corporate use of integrity-backed carbon credits, following similar moves by Germany and the UK in April.
- Mon 16:33Brazil’s upcoming COP30 summit will usher a new era of Chinese climate leadership, as the country pushes ahead with the transition to renewables and overachieves on its commitments — filling a void left by the US, according to Brazilian experts.
- An approach for the EU that maximises benefits for species conservation, climate mitigation, and agricultural land use has been proposed in an academic paper published on Monday.
- Mon 15:24No talk of it - There was no mention of carbon market linking in a recent FT piece covering the UK's push to once again access the EU's single market as part of a reset of relations post Brexit. In talks ahead of a key summit in London next month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been calling for a mutual recognition agreement with the EU on certifying product standards that would have simplified paperwork for UK companies sending goods into the bloc's single market, but France rejected the request straightaway and there was a general response it would be unworkable. A security and defence pact is expected to be agreed at the May 19 summit, paving way for Britain to access a new EU €150 bln defence fund, but the article made no mention of a potential EU ETS - UK ETS linking.
- The UK government has launched a consultation on proposed changes to revenue support regulations for engineered greenhouse gas removals (GGRs) and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) projects.
- A real estate company from Sweden will buy 10,000 carbon removals from an energy firm over 10 years, the companies announced earlier this month.
- Mon 14:09Better together - Renewable energy management systems provider BaxEnergy announced in a release Monday it will partner with Uniper to support the scale-up of the German utility's renewables division. Uniper plans to reach a 10GW renewable energy assets portfolio across Europe by 2030, including wind, solar, and battery energy storage, and it's hoped BaxEnergy’s cross-technology asset management platform will help the company scale the portfolio more easily.
- Clean cooking - The Africa Go Green Fund, managed by Cygnum Capital, is planning to invest $8 mln to finance the deployment of 200,000 improved biomass cookstoves in Rwanda by DelAgua, it has announced. The investment from AGG will result in avoiding up to 4.38 MtCO2e being emitted over the project’s lifetime. According to DelAgua, its cookstoves, manufactured by Burn in Kenya, reduce wood consumption by 71% compared to traditional cooking methods and produces 81% less emissions than an open fire. To date, it has distributed around 1.6 mln stoves across Rwanda, Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
- Mon 13:45Emissions from airlines in Europe have bounced back to pre-Covid levels, while the bloc's Emissions Trading System (ETS) appears unable to address the costs of soaring pollution, according to green campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E).
- Mon 13:41The European biogas industry association has called on the European Commission to include a separate target for biogenic carbon capture in the EU’s 2040 climate plan, emphasising the role biomethane can play in removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
- The potential integration of the EU’s carbon removal certification framework into the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) would be a “major catalysing step” for industrial decarbonisation, according to a CO2 mineralisation company.
- Mon 12:52Iberian blackout - Spain and Portugal saw a massive power blackout on Monday, spanning large parts of the Iberian Peninsula from Madrid to London, Politico Europe reported. The Spanish transmission system operator Red Electrica, said in a statement on X that it was taking steps to restore electricity supply, working with companies in the sector. It also said the causes of the blackout were still being investigated, and that all resources were being put into solving the issue. The power cut off around 12:30pm local time, causing traffic lights to go dark and metro systems to ground to a halt around both countries. While hospitals in both countries have generators, authorities indicated that staff had been asked to turn off their computers and conserve power, as it was not clear how long the outage would last.
- Mon 12:50A former centre-right politician who has spent the last five years heading up Germany’s largest regional energy company is set to succeed the Greens' Robert Habeck as head of the government’s energy portfolio — but without the climate file, which is moving to the environment ministry.
- Mon 11:52The Nature Tech Collective on Monday launched a five-part taxonomy to help navigate the emerging sector of nature-related financial technology.
- The government of Tunisia, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), has launched a $24 million initiative to restore degraded forests and boost climate resilience in the rural areas of the nation.
- Mon 09:48Nuclear ambitions - A new Danish fund named 92 Capital seeks to raise €350 mln to back the nuclear industry and its supply chain, aiming to approach large Danish institutional investors to contribute. With a hard limit of €450 mln, the fund is expected to build a portfolio of 10-30 companies over 10 years, with most capital going towards firms based in Europe. 92 Capital is backed by Joachim Ante, co-founder and former CTO of software company Unity Technologies, who has contributed about €50 mln so far. Returns of two to five times the invested amount are expected from investing in carbon-free baseload nuclear power, for which interest is growing as energy security rises up the political agenda. (Bloomberg)
- Mon 09:21The European Energy Exchange (EEX), in cooperation with IncubEx, will introduce new futures contracts related to the EU Emissions Trading System 2 (EU ETS2) in July, subject to regulatory approval.
- Mon 09:10The European Commission has been urged to pause the implementation of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for the aluminium sector, as the industry continues to flag circumvention risks linked to the scheme's implementation as of next year.
- Mon 09:02Battery loan - BW ESS has arranged a SEK 628 mln (€57 mln) green loan with Nordea Bank for a 211 MWh portfolio of 14 operational battery storage projects in Sweden, which it owns together with Ingrid Capacity. The deal marks the energy storage owner-operator's first external financing and is the largest battery energy storage system financing in the Nordics to date, the company stated in a release Monday. BW ESS is part of global energy and maritime infrastructure company BW Group.
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