The Bezos Earth Fund on Tuesday unveiled the recipients of 24 inaugural Phase I grants under its AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature, awarding a total of $1.2 million to support the development of artificial intelligence solutions targeting some of the world’s most urgent environmental challenges.

Cuts and delays - Climeworks Co-CEO Jan Wurzbacher told Bloomberg Wednesday that the DAC removal company will cut 106 jobs or 22% of staff. The Swiss firm, which operates the “Mammoth” carbon removal facility in Iceland, said last week that it may delay its Louisiana plant, citing US President Donald Trump’s rollback of climate incentives. A $50-mln US grant for the project remains active, but future phases now face uncertainty.

Benchmarks on board - General Index (GX), a UK-based commodities benchmark provider, and ATOBA Energy, a global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) aggregator, announced a partnership to develop technology-specific SAF price benchmarks. The collaboration aims to address the aviation sector’s need for tailored pricing tools to support investment and long-term offtake agreements, the partners said.

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has released its first report from the Continuous Improvement Work Programme (CIWP) focused on permanence, which welcomed the strong foundation of approaches to have been implemented across the market to date, but recognised that many of these have not been standardised.

The impact of US tariffs on EUA prices has been minimal, according to an analyst on a webinar on Wednesday, who sees benchmark European carbon permit price rises in 2026 driven by decreases in free allocations and tighter auction volumes. 

The European Commission is prepared to delay the full rollout of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for Ukraine until Feb. 1, 2027, according to Ukraine’s environment ministry, though Kyiv has yet to submit a formal request, local media reported this month.

CCS for waste – The UK has issued a draft permit for the Viridor Runcorn CCS project, reported ENDS Waste & Bioenergy on Tuesday. It said the UK Environment Agency is consulting on its draft decision to issue a permit for CCS at the Runcorn Energy Recovery Facility, an incinerator in northwest England. The decision comes as development is due to enter planning this summer, the report added. Viridor agreed a statement of principles with the UK Government’s DESNZ last month. It plans to invest £500 bln to capture 900,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, or enough to offset the emissions from treating a million tonnes of waste. The project could serve as a blueprint for other CCS projects at the UK’s 50 waste-to-energy facilities and deliver up to 10% of the UK’s 2030 negative emissions target, Viridor said.

News this week that the EU and UK had struck an initial agreement to link their emissions trading systems (ETSs) with exemptions from upcoming carbon border fees sparked a flurry of British market activity, pushing benchmark prices above £55 for the first time since 2023, but traders and analysts alike questioned the scale of the gains given officials are yet to provide a timeline or any firm details on implementation of a link-up.

The design of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) could accelerate an exodus of operations – known as carbon leakage – in the aluminium sector, a new study warned, on the eve of a key European Parliament vote on proposals to simplify the scheme.

Direct air capture (DAC) is “a necessary tool in the climate toolbox”, an Amsterdam-based developer said in a statement this week, reaffirming its focus on solid sorbent systems, integration with industrial waste heat, and curtailed renewables.

The EU’s Green Claims Directive is key to shaping demand for EU-certified carbon farming credits, experts said repeatedly during a public workshop organised by the European Commission on Tuesday.

Over 20,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling took place within the UK’s marine protected areas (MPAs) last year, despite government pledges to strengthen conservation efforts, according to a report released this week.

Taking the lead - Stockholm has set out a climate action plan for 2030, aiming to reduce emissions from energy use and transport by 80%, halve consumption-based emissions, and become fully fossil fuel free by 2040. The targets are structured around five core areas: a just and inclusive transition, fossil-free and climate-positive energy, sustainable and fossil-free transport, circular and sustainable urban development, and reduced climate impact from consumption. As well, Stockholm is implementing a carbon emissions budget, limiting its emissions to 9 mln tonnes of CO₂-equivalent between 2024 and 2040.

Verra’s new methodology for crediting avoided deforestation REDD+ projects will slash issuance levels and create a minimum floor price of $15/tonne, but the current value of units is still too low to incentivise many project developers to take the risk, according to new analysis.

Green public procurement – Europe must “Buy Better to Build Better”, announced a new coalition on green public procurement launched at the European Parliament on Wednesday. The BBBB brings together 35 stakeholders from industry, business associations, public authorities and civil society to push for green public procurement to drive sustainable construction. Public purchasing power represents 15% of EU GDP, but more than half of EU public contracts are awarded based solely on the lowest price. Public procurement is responsible for at least 11% of the EU’s total GHG emissions.

The EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) is facing a period of uncertainty, as pressure mounts ahead of a revision next year to align with the bloc's upcoming 2040 climate goal, and calls grow lounder for integrating international credits into the scheme, according to a report published Wednesday.

A popular Kenyan mobile money system is being applied to the voluntary carbon market (VCM), lowering costs for micro-scale projects and funnelling revenues to local communities, as per a presentation at the Kenya Carbon Markets Conference in Nairobi on Tuesday.

A research initiative between academics, and companies in the chemicals and oil & gas business has started measuring emissions from hydrogen infrastructure in North America and Europe, in an effort to fill a gap in empirical data in a growing international market, the group announced on Wednesday.

Renewable cash for communities - The UK government is proposing new requirements for energy developers to provide cash to coastal and rural communities that neighbour their onshore and offshore wind and solar farms, to be spent on local priorities and services such as community centres, better transport links, and apprentice and employment programmes, it announced on Wednesday. The proposals would enable communities to take a stake in renewable energy infrastructure through shared ownership, resulting in profits being reinvested into the local areas. The sums could range from tens of thousands of pounds a year for small developments, to millions per year for large-scale projects.  

European carbon allowance prices struggled for direction on Wednesday as traders noted a gradual return to gas market correlation, with the TTF market climbing higher over the morning then easing back across the afternoon, a move mirrored by EUAs, while investment funds increased their collective net long position for a third consecutive week, driven by a sharp cut in total shorts.

An electric bicycles mitigation activity, forming part of a wider Article 6 carbon trade agreement, has been fully authorised by Switzerland and Ghana, confirming Carbon Pulse reporting from earlier in May.

Uncovered - An investigation by Mongabay has revealed that the Republic of Congo has granted nearly 80 gold mining and exploration permits in areas covered by projects under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) framework, driving deforestation and negatively impacting local communities. Mongabay Africa staff writer Elodie Toto interviewed a local resident who reported now having to walk 20 km to find food and water due to the devastation caused. Toto said that a REDD+ project developer seemed aware of the situation and appeared to justify the mining, saying "we can’t just save our forest and expect some [money] from it; we are a developing country, and to develop a country, one needs money". The country has been protecting about half of its lush rainforests via the REDD+ framework.

The European Commission is looking at EU hydrogen infrastructure rules adopted last year as a potential template for its upcoming CO2 transport and storage regulatory package expected in 2026, an official has said.

The Australia-Pacific bid to host COP31 next year is looking more and more likely to win out over rival Turkiye, according to observers, thanks to a stronger reputational standing and the chance to shift the annual UN summit out of the Northern Hemisphere for the first time in a decade, but Turkiye is not ceding ground just yet.

Fuel tax - Cyprus will implement a reduced carbon tax on fuel starting from June after the European Commission rejected demands that it be postponed. The tax will increase fuel prices by 3-4 cents per liter, rather than the 6-8 cents initially set out, following negotiations with EU officials. The Commission responded positively to the country's request to halve the tax, even though previously it was reported that suspending the tax's implementation would result in the loss of €50-60 mln from the Recovery Fund. Cyprus's Ministry of Finance is now preparing legislation to impose the reduced carbon tax for 18 months, with the bill to be submitted to Parliament in June. When EU ETS2 is implemented in 2027, Cyprus will be able to deduct the green tax paid during 2025-26, resulting in a net price increase of about 10-12 cents per liter in 2027, in-cyprus reported. Compensatory measures will be made available for vulnerable groups and vehicle replacement schemes by the government.

The European Commission rebuffed Russia’s challenge against the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), filed on Tuesday at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

BlueGrace Bolivia - The Bluegrace Amazon Carbon Token (BGACT) backs 1 tonne of carbon captured across 20.5 mln acres of protected Amazon rainforest and offers an institutional-grade financial instrument in line with the UK vision for trusted voluntary carbon markets, Fox59 reports. The BGACT is the world's first ISIN-certified, blockchain-tokenized voluntary carbon credit, and aligns with standards including MiCA (EU), CFTC (US), and VARA (Dubai) compliance. BlueGrace Energy Bolivia developed BGACT, offering a blueprint for the trustworthy and compliance-backed carbon market the UK envisions. BGACT's structure claims to deliver auditable carbon sequestration, ESG-compliant asset credentials, and compatibility with ESG-linked loans and sustainable portfolios.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday released an updated critical minerals report, saying there are potential supply crunches for the majority of minerals needed for a clean energy transition.

Last year saw a record surge in global forest loss, with fires overtaking agriculture as the main driver of tropical primary forest destruction, being responsible for nearly 50% of the total loss, according to a study published Wednesday.