Trial time - South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Roger Young will hear a motion Thursday and Friday from the fossil fuel industry to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the city of Charleston, South Carolina seeking compensation from companies for alleged climate deception and environmental negligence. The hearing follows Young's April ruling requesting both sides to outline their thoughts on how President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting such climate lawsuits may affect the case. (E&E News) 

Ocean carbon exports - Researchers have deployed 212 autonomous, floating instruments known as Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats to estimate carbon export across the Southern Ocean basin, to address a gap in research. These floats roam the upper 2,000 metres of the ocean, can travel beneath sea ice, and are equipped with sensors that measure physical and biogeochemical properties of seawater. Carbon export is a process through which phytoplankton distribute organic carbon as they become food for other organisms, with much of this carbon eventually returning to the atmosphere, but some ending up sequestered in the deep ocean. In an April study, researchers estimated about 2.69 bln tonnes of carbon sink to the deep sea each year in the Southern Ocean, although carbon export varies across different parts of the ocean. The researchers said more investigation is needed to clarify the role of the highly active ecosystems in the sea ice zone, especially as climate change drives shifts in sea ice dynamics. (Eos) 

Drive to decarbonise - As part of its 2024 Sustainability Report, McLaren Racing announced that its team invested in Sustainable Aviation Fuel certificates (SAFc), funding 1 mln gallons (3.8 mln litres) to cover 100% of its business air travel emissions. The team also reported an 8.6% reduction in GHG emissions from 2023, and a 23% decrease in emissions per race across all series when combined with SAFc investments. Other achievements highlighted in the report included a 48% cut in Formula 1 (F1) road freight emissions through biofuel use, and 37% material circularity in F1 Constructor activities.

The shipping sector's newly agreed mid-term policy measures create a strong basis for long-term decarbonisation, yet the industry is still in "wait and see" mode when it comes to investing in emission-reducing technologies, according to a report by a clean shipping coalition.

A company producing acid and other products from industrial CO2 emissions has partnered with a chemicals corporation to access the CO2 emitted from a facility in Texas.

Plans for a new hydrogen-powered portable cooker that promises zero CO2 emissions, while also raising finance via carbon credit sales, are still on the boil more than a year after the official launch, the company told Carbon Pulse.

Benchmark European carbon prices fell on Tuesday, moving as much as 3% lower in a late sell-off, as sources noted a likely correction lower following Monday gains linked to a delay of US tariffs on the EU, with participants also hesitant to take on too much risk ahead of Wednesday's publication of funds' positioning data and the European Commission's release of the 2024 Total Number of Allowances in Circulation (TNAC).

Achieving the EU’s goal of having 50 million tonnes of CO2 storage capacity available annually by 2030 will be challenging, but postponing the target is not an option at this stage, a Dutch official said on Tuesday.

Coffee farms in Brazil’s Amazon region are removing more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit, according to a new government study, potentially strengthening the sector’s sustainability case amid tightening international deforestation rules.

An Almaty-headquartered nature-based solutions (NbS) startup has partnered with a Colorado-based soil carbon verification firm to restore grasslands and generate high-integrity carbon removal credits in Kazakhstan.

Nothing lasts forever - Since the mid-2010s, governments have pledged to reduce fossil fuel subsidies, but actual implementation remains uncertain, finds a new report published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. An analysis of the 21 countries with the highest gasoline subsidies from 2003–15 found that while subsidy reforms became more frequent and ambitious from 2016 to 2023, their durability declined - only 30% lasted one year, and just 9% lasted three years. Subsidies increased in 12 countries and stayed the same in nine, raising concerns about the effectiveness of current reform strategies, the researchers said.

Bloomin' great! - Social Carbon has announced a public consultation for version 2.0 of its SCM0007 methodology, focusing on the treatment of harmful algae blooms. The updated methodology now includes inorganic carbon, methane emissions quantification, and guidance on storage permanence. The consultation period is open to June 27.

Risk and reward - A new feasibility study, supported by the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and funded by the NDC Partnership, has presented a plan for accounting for climate-related risk in Malawi’s finance sector. The Reserve Bank of Malawi has now laid the foundation for a green financial sector that enables the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy while hedging against climate risks, UNEP said. The roadmap outlines various different actions both in the short and long term, which range from issuing climate risk disclosure guidelines and joining international climate finance networks, to launching green bonds and cleaning up pension funds. The feasibility study is accompanied by a capacity gap assessment guiding the Reserve Bank in the implementation of recommended actions.

Making its mark - Colombian agroindustrial firm Riopaila Castilla has certified over 11,500 offsets through its conservation efforts in Vichada as part of the Orinoco2 project, marking its entry into the voluntary carbon market. The company achieved a 300% increase in carbon capture across 1,083 hectares of protected land between 2018 and 2022, El Pais reports. This initiative contributes to its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and supports broader ESG commitments. Riopaila Castilla conserves over 7,000 hectares of forests and has implemented regenerative agriculture practices, including biological pest control and precision fertilisation, significantly reducing its environmental impact. In 2024 alone, it planted over 19,000 native trees and reduced chemical insecticide use by 85%. The firm has adopted a circular economy model, achieving energy self-sufficiency through sugarcane bagasse, recycling 97% of its water, and using organic fertilisers. Carbon credit revenues will fund local social and environmental projects, including sustainable farming and forest conservation in Vichada. This comprehensive sustainability strategy has also led to a 34% drop in GHG emissions by 2024 and demonstrates how agroindustry can align profitability with climate action and community development.

Moving on mangroves - Field activities are now underway at the mangrove restoration programme in Djibouti, wrote project partners Africa Carbon Solutions and the Sovereign Carbon Agency on LinkedIn. The project aims to strengthen coastal ecosystem resilience while contributing to sustainable socioeconomic development. On May 7-8, a stakeholder consultation was held in Godoria, bringing together local associations with territorial actors and national partners committed to preserving the country's coastal ecosystems. They reviewed the past year's achievements and shared field experience as well as planning forthcoming activities.

No special treatment for EU steel - The steel sector will not be excluded from the EU ETS because of its importance in building defence equipment, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, said.  Polish member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jadwiga Wisniewska, of the right-wing ECR party had suggested the steel industry should be exempt from paying EU carbon allowances for its emissions because of its importance in supplying the defence industry. But Hoekstra firmly rejected the idea, saying a revision of the EU ETS will take place by July 31, 2026. (eunews)

Invasive species impose an annual cost of up to $35 billion on society, approximately 17 times more than previously estimated, according to a paper released this week.

One of the largest UK energy firms has cut its spending plans for renewable energy, blaming the changing macro-economic environment as well as delays to policy and planning for impacting projected growth rates.

The EU's 27 member states on Tuesday agreed their joint position on proposals to simplify the bloc's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), paving the way for talks to finalise the adoption of the legislation before summer.

Model behaviour - A new study, published in the journal Energy, modelled a profit-maximising producer’s behavior under different carbon pricing schemes to examine the likelihood of a producer relocating operations offshore to avoid emission costs. The analysis revealed that under deterministic carbon pricing, the producer chooses either to invest in domestic sustainable infrastructure or to build offshore capacity, based on carbon price levels, but not both. In contrast, under price uncertainty, the producer may invest in both, ensuring carbon leakage. The study also found that a well-designed import duty can mitigate leakage effectively, regardless of carbon price uncertainty. This suggested that combining import duties with either a carbon tax or ETS would enhance the effectiveness of environmental policy, according to the authors.

US-headquartered non-profit SeaTrees has introduced a class of “premium” marine biodiversity credits, alongside another category that combines them with carbon, with more new categories of units yet to come.

Clean cooking up a storm - Saudi Arabia-based the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the Trade Development Fund (TDFD), Oil Sustainability Program (OSP), and Burn Manufacturing have signed a financing and implementation agreement to support the Forward7 initiative in Nigeria. The initiative seeks to expand clean cooking solutions across the country by manufacturing and distributing 20,000 LPG cooking kits to low-income households. Each kit will include a gas cylinder, stove, and accessories, alongside training to ensure safe and sustainable use. The project will directly support LPG refills for a period of eight years, which will be funded by the revenue generated from carbon credits. On Monday, Burn Manufacturing also partnered with Dubai-based AIM Carbon to distribute 1.2 mln digitally monitored biomass and electric cookstoves across Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

The world has already surpassed 1.5C of sustained warming and is on track to exceed 2C around 2032 if emissions continue unchecked, according to recent analysis by a Berlin-based think tank.

Flemish CO2 network - A joint venture to build and operate a CO2 pipeline network in the Antwerp port area of Belgium has been launched by Fluxys Belgium, Pipelink, and Air Liquide to connect industrial emitters with underground CO2 storage. Construction on the first phase has recently started and it's expected to be complete by end-2026. The initiative is supported by the European Commission's financing program ‘Connecting Europe Facility for Energy’ (CEF-E) and VLAIO, and further expansion will follow market demand in coming years.

Struggling to keep up - Only a quarter of small businesses in the UK expect to reach net zero by 2050, despite more than half viewing environmental sustainability as high priority, according to a new survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Cost barriers are seen as a particularly big hurdle, as are a shortage of the right skills and knowledge. Small companies make up 43-53% of UK business emissions so achieving the country's net zero goal by mid century relies on getting them onboard. (BusinessGreen)

CO2 and concrete - Finnish concrete producer Lakka -konserni has adopted Carbonaide's carbon-curing technology in its Joensuu plant, starting with an estimated annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes of permanent CO2 storage. The technology partially replaces cement with CO2, which is added during the concrete's curing phase, and reduces the need to use cement by 20-50%. Carbonation also speeds up the hardening of concrete by up to 50%, accelerating the entire production process, and enables the use of entirely new binder types. The aim is that within the next couple of years, half of the production of the Joensuu plant will use CO2 treatment, stated the press release Tuesday. The concrete industry accounts for 8% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

Trade backing - The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) has pledged support for the government's plan to request the EU delay the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for Ukraine. The organisation warned that applying the regulation without transition measures would be economically harmful to the country, with Ukrainian industries faced with damaged infrastructure and market losses amid full-scale war. Estimates are that CBAM's enforcement could cost Ukrainian producers over €1 bln. Trade Representative Taras Kachka confirmed the Cabinet of Ministers will formally appeal to the European Commission to begin negotiations. The Commission is prepared to delay CBAM's full rollout for Ukraine until Feb. 1, 2027, the country's environment ministry has said, though Kyiv is yet to submit a formal request.

Some more J-Credits - Japanese developer ByWill on Tuesday announced that it will support the creation of J-Credits in Fukushima through the introduction of LED lighting fixtures as a measure to combat rising prices for small and medium-sized enterprises and support their decarbonisation. ByWill has also signed an agreement with Sanjusan Bank and Odai Town in Mie prefecture for the generation and distribution of J-Credits.

More work needed - An Asia Clean Energy Coalition (ACEC) report has found that improving renewable energy policies across Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, could unlock about $27 bln in regional GDP, generate 435,000 new jobs, and increase total wages by around $15 bln. About 85% of Asia Pacific’s energy is still sourced from non-renewable sources and without significant reforms, the region will fall short of its renewable energy capacity targets by 30% by 2030. While some countries have started implementing power purchase agreements (PPA), utility green tariffs, and energy attribute certificate (EAC) frameworks, further policy support is needed to unlock private sector investment. As companies across the region expand their clean energy procurement, the lack of accessible and scalable procurement mechanisms also remains a key barrier, according to the report.

Assessing impacts - Australia's Net Zero Economic Authority (NZEA) on Tuesday launched a consultation to consider if an Energy Industry Jobs Plan framework should be applied to businesses impacted by the upcoming closure of the 2.8 GW Eraring Power Station in New South Wales in 2027. The authority said the consultation would help determine how workers and businesses will be impacted by the coal-fired power station's closure and what support is being provided for workers in the region to prepare for new employment. NZEA CEO David Shankey said the closure will directly impact 216 workers, along with workers from dependent businesses. The consultation closes on July 18.

Indonesia this week released its long-awaited power supply plan for 2025-34, laying out a pivot toward renewable energy and storage, but analysts warn the country must overcome persistent deployment bottlenecks to meet its targets.

After the failed attempt to ban fossil fuel boilers in Germany, researchers have identified a new strategy to better target clean heating policies at private households, with bans reserved only for certain categories of the population.

Wired - Energy players from Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam have agreed to explore renewable electricity exports from Vietnam via a new subsea cable. Malaysia’s TNB and Petronas, Vietnam’s PTSC, and Singapore’s Sembcorp aim to harness Vietnam’s offshore wind resources to supply clean power across borders. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, supports regional grid integration under the ASEAN Power Grid initiative. It comes as Singapore targets 6 GW of low-carbon electricity imports by 2035.

Something fishy – A group of 14 Pacific Island nations is set to receive the $100 mln granted to it by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) earlier this year to study climate change impacts on tuna stocks. The countries will use the cash to study tuna migration patterns, as current models suggest the fish will be driven further east, out of the Pacific exclusive economic zone, by warmer seas. It will also be used to shore up the communities depending on tuna-related income by addressing the food insecurity and economic risks caused by climate change. In an interview with the ABC, Tuvalu's Director of Fisheries Samasoni Finikaso said that the access fees for tuna fishing paid by commercial vessels accounted for 40% of the government’s budget and more than 60% of locally-collected revenue, and called on the world to move quicker to reduce GHG emissions.

As the US government retreats from climate action and undermines emissions policies, the rest of the world is advancing a global carbon economy that increasingly values nature-based carbon sinks, but mistrust in carbon accounting has devalued credits. Now, atmospheric monitoring technology offers a path to restoring market integrity, investment, and climate impact through more accurate, transparent verification.

Sparking a change – Think-tank Rewiring Aotearoa has released its 2025 policy manifesto, calling on New Zealand politicians from all parties to support a drive for greater electrification to cut emissions and reduce household bills. It laid out a raft of initiatives which decision-makers could implement, including supporting the phase out of natural gas for commercial and residential use, relaxing capital rules for banks offering low-interest electrification loans, subsidise solar panels and batteries for homes, and to support export-focused agritech electrification R&D. In an accompanying open letter to ministers, Members of Parliament, regulators, and officials, CEO Mike Casey said the group’s vision uses technology that is currently available, and would save NZ$29 mln ($17.4 mln) per day if fully implemented.

Hydrogen regulation – The New Zealand government has opened a consultation on regulatory options for naturally occurring and orange hydrogen, saying it could drive economic growth and improve energy resilience. Orange hydrogen is generated by pumping water and CO2 into particular minerals below ground to stimulate hydrogen gas creation. The consultation document proposes two options, either regulating it as a mineral under the Crown Minerals Act, or as a non-mineral and manage it under the Resource Management Act or a new regime. In a press release, Resources Minister Shane Jones said natural and orange hydrogen could be a game-changer for the country’s energy sector, especially hard-to-electrify industries. The deadline for submissions is July 4, 2025.

The federal government has committed A$4.4 million ($2.8 mln) in grant funding to a Safeguard-covered alumina refinery in Western Australia to investigate electrification options, it announced Tuesday.

A Peruvian bill that would establish a state-mediated ‘carbon bank’ has finally broken out of committee and can be debated in the national congress – but it might struggle to score a slot on the legislative agenda, according to local sources.

Colombia’s Ministry of Environment has doubled funding for local environmental authorities and the restoration of an additional 100,000 hectares of degraded land by next year in response to increased deforestation in key protected areas.

A surge in data centres across Southeast Asia, which are notorious for driving up electricity demand, could lead to a ballooning of power sector emissions by 2030, unless governments fast-track solar and wind deployment and enforce energy efficiency measures, think tank Ember has warned.