A major India-headquartered offset project developer has sold off its wholly-owned accreditation services firm even before operationalising it, as market participants labelled the endeavour a conflict of interest, Carbon Pulse has learned.

A new international carbon offsetting code from the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), as well as eventual obligations under the UN aviation sector offsetting scheme, are reshaping voluntary carbon market (VCM) demand, panellists said during a Thursday webinar.

The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a best-practices-sharing group comprising 144 central banks, published on Wednesday its first report on the effects of short-term (2025-2030) climate policy scenarios over GDP, trade, unemployment, inflation, and other financial and economic outcomes.

New governance - The Brazilian presidency of COP30, this year's UN climate summit, has called for new global climate governance mechanisms to help nations implement their commitments to curb global warming, according to a letter released Thursday. Countries have so far committed to plans that would limit warming to around 2.6C, but are struggling to adopt plans to limit emissions enough to prevent catastrophic heating levels. The proposal was first introduced by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last November, when he proposed creating a "United Nations climate change council" to help countries implement commitments they made. It has now been adopted by Brazilian ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, who will preside over COP30, and is calling for ways to institutionally strengthen implementation capacity. The COP Presidency letter proposes that the United Nations General Assembly, not COP30 itself, should be the forum for this discussion. (Reuters)

Indonesia could fetch higher prices and driver bigger emissions reductions by developing a more sophisticated carbon market framework, according to industry group IETA.

Challenge accepted - A growing group of influential voluntary carbon market participants have urged the greater use of the sector to address Scope 3 emissions. A joint statement issued by VCMI, now has backing from the International Chamber of Commerce, We Mean Business Coalition, The Nature Conservancy, Emergent, Verra, Carbon Market Institute (CMI), Anthesis Group, Patch, CNaught, Climate Impact Partners, GenZero, and Puro.earth. The collective want more organisations to sign up to the Scope 3 'challenge' to push for greater carbon credit use and pressure governments and corporate leaders to adopt more supportive policies for the market.

The carbon removals market will not scale without clear regulatory frameworks, targeted public support, and a mix of engineered and nature-based approaches, speakers told the Carbon Forward Turkiye conference in Izmir.

A Web3 carbon startup has announced it will open source its digital infrastructure, also unveiling a new venture to help sustainability teams meet reporting and regulatory requirements.

Uganda will decarbonise while increasing oil and gas (O&G) production by leveraging international carbon markets, according to officials and panellists speaking in Kampala at the East Africa Carbon Markets Forum on Thursday.

Turkiye is drawing up a strategy for trading international carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, keeping open the possibility of both hosting projects and buying units to meet its own goals, government officials told the Carbon Forward Turkiye conference on Thursday.

A Ghana-based e-mobility project taking place under the country’s bilateral Article 6.2 accord with Switzerland has achieved authorisation, Carbon Pulse heard on the sidelines of the East Africa Carbon Markets Forum in Kampala on Thursday.

A lack of capacity and the small-scale of potential emissions reductions are holding Pacific Island nations back from fully participating in Article 6 mechanisms, according to market participants.

Multiple carbon market participants have responded to a call for input on the standards that underpin the new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), welcoming the progress made already this year, but citing concerns with some of the draft documents published ahead of a crunch meeting of UNFCCC officials next week.