The House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on its section of the US 2025 budget considerations, which involves a mixed bag for clean energy tax credits.

Canada’s new prime minister will need an even-hand to juggle the pro- and anti-climate agendas of its two largest trading partners in the coming energy transition, say scholars with New York’s Columbia University.

Nature-based and engineered removals, together with low-carbon fuels and electrification, will be key to achieving Wales's fourth carbon budget as recommended by the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC).

The UK's North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is now taking nominations for new carbon storage sites offshore, after recently granting the country's first three permits, it announced on Wednesday.

Linking the EU and UK emissions trading systems (ETSs) would boost market liquidity and price stability and make it cheaper to reduce emissions — for players in both markets — according to research published Wednesday by a group of European energy companies.

Food and transport choices by men in France generate 26% more carbon emissions than those of women, with the disparity largely driven by higher red meat consumption and car use, a new study has found.

Industrial companies and climate consortiums have called on the UK government to slash electricity prices by shifting the cost of policies to support renewables from power bills and to general taxation, freeing up business capital to access the clean industry market set to reach $2.6 trillion globally by 2030.

A Canadian carbon capture company launched its manufacturing facility on Tuesday, with the goal of scaling its production capacity to enable capture of 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

Iowa’s Senate passed a bill on Monday to restrict the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipeline projects, following years-long challenges against a proposed project led by a multi-state developer.

Thailand has released its second Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP) for the period 2023-27, aiming to mobilise $200 million for nature-positive initiatives.

Boulder v. Big Oil - The Colorado Supreme Court ruled 5-2 on Monday to allow Boulder’s climate lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy to proceed in state court, rejecting industry arguments that the case, which addresses the costs of climate change, should be governed by federal law. Plaintiffs had argued they have a better chance of success in state court. The decision, written by Justice Richard Gabriel, upheld a lower court's finding in favour of the city and county of Boulder. (E&E News)

It's a demo - Saudi Arabia-headquartered Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company (RVCMC), in collaboration with the Arab Federation of Capital Markets (AFCM), launched a trader-led demonstration auction in Tunisia on Tuesday. The demonstration will show how an interconnected order-book across local and global participants enhances liquidity, price discovery, and market depth, outcomes that no single exchange or nation can achieve alone, according to a statement. Since its inception in 2022, RVCMC has facilitated the trading of over 7 mln carbon credits across multiple auctions.

A former member of President Donald Trump's transition team is urging the US EPA to expedite elimination of the endangerment finding by arguing that the Supreme Court decision in West Virginia vs EPA undermines the fundamental climate rule.

Diesel for data - The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is seeking public comment on tech major Microsoft’s proposal to build a battery consisting of 128 diesel-fired electric generators that will power new data and computing facilities near Cheyenne. The diesel generators will be used for backup power, according to This Week in Energy, and will be built with storage tanks that would hold up to 1.8 mln gal of diesel fuel. Public comment will be accepted through May 21. No public hearing on the permit application will be held unless an aggrieved party requests one.

Companies in hard-to-abate sectors still aren't buying into durable carbon removals, yet the 368 of them with science-based targets could require over 400 million tonnes of removals by 2050 to cover their residual emissions, industry analysis has found.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Tuesday new members to his cabinet, selecting a Toronto parliamentarian to lead the environment ministry.

A Louisiana House committee recently advanced a bill addressing the distribution of revenue generated from CO2 sequestration on state lands and water bottoms.

Canadian standards regulators are rolling out a new framework for classifying the carbon intensity of hydrogen on both sides of its southern border.

Almost half of China’s foreign investments over 2010-24 were in the renewable energy sector, and African economies received a fifth of those in the previous decade alone, according to a recent report.

European carbon prices posted a small loss on Tuesday despite reaching a new seven-week high in Tuesday trading, as the market swung in a nearly €2 range with sellers taking profits from the market's 19% rally since its year-to-date lows in early April, while UKAs extended their rally to a new 22-month high before they too fell back.

Dollars to clean goals - Sustainable infrastructure investor Actis has completed fundraising for its second Actis Long Life Infrastructure Fund (ALLIF2), with $1.7 bln committed to its strategy investing in growth markets operating infrastructure. Core sectors of investment will include renewables, electricity transmission and distribution networks, and district cooling, across growth markets in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The focus is on operational enhancements rather than heavy capital expenditure. Almost half of the fund is already deployed, including on a portfolio of solar assets in India and in Brazilian transmission.

A European Commission executive was forced to defend the plan for clean industrial development to European Parliament members on Tuesday, as they expressed concerns about the risks of decarbonisation for industrial competitiveness. 

Uranium urgency - The US Department of the Interior announced it will expedite the permitting review for the Velvet-Wood uranium mine in San Juan County, Utah, under new emergency procedures established following President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration in January. The Bureau of Land Management is expected to complete the environmental review within 14 days. If approved, the project would produce uranium and vanadium with minimal new surface disturbance. Officials stated the mine would support national energy security by reducing reliance on foreign uranium and vanadium imports.

Brazil and China’s public and private sectors are coming together on decarbonisation initiatives, meeting and signing agreements this week that officials and observers alike have characterised as Global South leadership during a climate policy power vacuum.

The UK Aluminium Federation (ALFED) has called for the UK government to produce an aluminium-specific assessment of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)'s impact on sector competitiveness.  

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday urged the UK and EU to link their emissions trading systems (ETSs) in order to avoid having two separate carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) applying in parallel, as leaders on both sides of the Channel prepare for a crunch EU-UK summit next week.

The US DOE announced a proposal to eliminate or reduce 47 regulations from the Federal Register related to appliance standards, energy production, and reporting requirements for grant recipients.

EUA prices are more likely to hit €80 than €60 again this year because too many buyers are eager to buy on the dip, a conference heard Tuesday.

Representatives from major European oil and gas producers strongly backed linking the UK and EU carbon markets, speaking at an industry event on Tuesday, but underlined they remain in the dark ahead of the crunch summit next Monday between the two governments.

Sponge-like pellets made from magnetic framework composites could improve the durability and energy efficiency of carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems at industrial sites, a new analysis has found.

A steep rise in fossil burn from the power sector has driven emissions covered by the EU ETS almost 10% higher over the first four months of the year, compared to 2024, new analysis has shown.

Taiwan's agriculture ministry has incorporated the development of carbon sinks from nature-based solutions into its climate strategy, but experts have expressed concerns over the potential impact on biodiversity, a public hearing heard Tuesday.

Natural capital accounting (NCA) can be used to help assess the effectiveness of biodiversity offset policies, while providing a pathway towards an international standard of reporting, a study of an Australian region has said.

A regional carbon market framework across East Africa could help to leverage the opportunities afforded by each individual jurisdiction, according to speakers at the East African Carbon Markets Forum in Kampala last week.

A US-headquartered investment firm has launched a $50-million fund to scale nature-based solutions in Latin America, with a goal of raising an additional $100 mln over the next months.

Way off track - Andrew Bowie, the UK Conservative party's energy spokesperson told the Guardian that the target of net zero by 2050 was "arbitrary" and "not based on science", also suggesting that the UK's participation in the Paris Agreement was up for reconsideration in the party's ongoing review of key policies. He said that net zero by 2050 was "concocted simply because it was a good end point as a date" and there is no scientific rationale to it, directly contradicting the IPCC's assessment that global emissions must reach net zero by mid-century to be in with a chance of limiting global temperatures to a 1.5C rise. Theresa May, a previous Conservative prime minister, set 2050 as a date, along with other developed countries, precisely for that reason. And in 2021, the last Conservative government led a global effort to encourage other countries to sign up to the same goal. The Conservative party are conducting a policy review, encompassing energy policy and net zero. Bowie said that developing an energy strategy that supports economic wellbeing and energy security is paramount, and that Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has been sceptical about net zero by 2050 for some time. Bowie is the acting shadow energy secretary while Claire Coutinho, previously energy security and net zero secretary under previous Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is on maternity leave.

Faster connections - UK grid operator Ofgem has made it easier for small-scale energy projects to connect to the grid in England and Wales. It's raised the threshold for requiring an Evaluation of Transmission Impact Assessment (TIA) from 1 MW to 5 MW, (where fault level issues aren’t present), making it easier and faster for smaller energy projects to connect to the grid. The process of obtaining TIA has until now often delayed smaller projects with minimal grid impact. The change should lead to lower costs and faster connections, and will be particularly beneficial for community energy projects. The modification is part of a set of reforms designed to accelerate the process of connecting clean energy to the grid in Britain. In Scotland, a TIA is required for projects above 200 kW for mainland Scotland, while Scotland Islands are still at 50 kW.

As Europe moves closer to net zero emissions, the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) needs to adapt and be governed increasingly as a dynamic system, or risks becoming vulnerable to political attacks, a climate researcher has warned.

A French developer of nature-based carbon and biodiversity projects on Tuesday announced it has raised €10 million in funding to expand its global reforestation activities.

Storage sought – The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Services has opened a tender for long-duration storage projects in New South Wales, with an indicative size of 1GW-worth of projects, or at least 8 GWh. It is open to all projects which can be operational by 2034, including those connecting to planned Renewable Energy Zones. AEMO Services has a target to add 2 GW and 16 GWh of long duration storage by 2030, and 28 GWh by 2034; it has already supported projects expected to provide 18 GWh of long duration storage and almost 3 GWh of firming capacity to the NSW grid, it said in a press release. Project bids are due by June 10, with a final decision in Dec. 2025 or Jan. 2026.

A New Zealand government-backed investment firm has committed cash to an Australian startup tackling methane emissions from cattle, its first trans-Tasman spend.

Tokens - Non-profit Global Digital Finance, in an industry report on tokenisation of carbon credits, called for the establishment of a working group to create a framework for tokenised carbon credits. The initiative hopes to harmonise accreditation and reporting standards across voluntary carbon markets, drawing on best practices from the International Organization of Securities Commissions. The report said such a framework is essential to build trust as carbon credit tokenisation gains traction. In March, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission approved guidelines to permit digital asset exchanges, brokers, and traders to provide tokenised versions of carbon credits, renewable energy certificates, and emissions allowances.

The NZU price has inched up in recent days as buyers come out of the woodwork and cash-strapped foresters selling into the emissions trading scheme subsides.

One of Asia’s largest carriers has signed an agreement to take 1,000 tonnes of CORSIA-eligible sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and another to take SAF certificates to reduce emissions by just under 10,000t.

Amped up – Electricity retailer Meridian has reached a NZ$70 mln ($41 mln) agreement with Ampol-owned Z Energy to take over its Flick Electric customer contracts and related hedging book. In a stock exchange announcement, the firms said that Ampol’s divestment of Flick is to enable Z Energy to focus its strategy on expanding EV charging capabilities. Flick’s annual sales volume is around 384GWh to 41,000 customers, while Meridian’s FY2024 sales to its 399,000 customers exceeded 9,500 GWh.

An Anglo-Swiss coal miner could face hundreds of millions of dollars in carbon liability costs if it does not cut methane emissions from its Australian coal mines, analysis on Monday outlined.

Billions of dollars in funding for emissions reductions are up for repeal in the US as a Congressional committee works to finalise federal spending levels for the next decade.