Unit economics, profit margins, and customer pain points have taken centre stage for climate tech investors as they assess prospective investees in an uncertain market, conference attendees heard Wednesday.

Greener cities - 112 cities, and 2 states and regions, were named on CDP's A list status for climate leadership, with most located in Europe and North America, the environmental non-profit wrote in a release Thursday. Last year, 15% of scored cities globally demonstrated progress in environmental transparency and climate action, with nearly 1,000 cities disclosing environmental data through CDP-ICLEI Track. The results show that "environmental transparency and action are engrained in many of the world’s urban areas and are driving sustainable decisions", CDP stated. 83% of cities are facing significant climate hazards, and two-thirds are reporting they expect these hazards to be become more frequent and intense, it said. The A list included Paris, Florence, Edinburgh City Council, Boulder, Miami, Buenos Aires, and Cape Town.

The Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) has unveiled a new open-access online platform aimed at accelerating the development of clean cooking carbon projects by improving access to household energy data.

The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo is in the final stages of allowing the private sector to access 38,000 hectares of public lands for restoration and the development of carbon and biodiversity credits in the Atlantic Forest, an official told Carbon Pulse.

Ghana – the frontrunner in the African carbon market landscape – will move towards the issuance of its first Article 6 credits in the next couple of weeks, an official from the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told a conference Wednesday.

Drill baby drill - US biofuels producer Conestoga Energy completed drilling operations of its first carbon storage well on Wednesday, the company announced. The Class VI well, located near Garden City, Kansas, is engineered to inject 100% of the CO2 generated from Coenstoga’s bioethanol production process, as well as offer the opportunity to store CO2 from third-party sources to generate carbon credits. Once operational, it is expected to store over 150,000 tCO2 annually. Conestoga plans to submit its full Class VI permit application to the US EPA this summer, as Kansas does not have primacy over CO2 storage wells.

Peru will include, by the end of this week, five additional methodologies from the voluntary carbon market (VCM) in its National GHG Emissions Reduction Registry (RENAMI), the country’s top climate official announced on Wednesday.

Plastics made from renewable carbon could achieve negative emissions thanks to durable sequestration, and be cost competitive with fossil-based alternatives were carbon costs factored in, a consultancy has found.

CCS partners - Heidelberg Materials is partnering with engineering consultancy Arup to decarbonise the built environment, in particular through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in cement production. The two companies will build on what's been learnt at the cement producer's carbon capture project in Brevik, Norway, stated the release this week. They will also advance R&D projects related to CCS-enabled decarbonisation in cement and concrete.

A blockchain-based carbon metadata project has released a new version of its model, which is now available for public consultation.

A Malaysian asset management company has partnered with developer South Pole to develop carbon credits across Southeast Asia.

Palm oil credits – Thai biochar producer Wongphai has expanded its operations to palm oil, hoping to generate carbon credits by converting residues from palm oil production into biochar, the company announced on LinkedIn. Biochar can eliminate open burning, restore soil fertility, store carbon, and support sustainable tourism and farming, the statement said. The company recently launched its first palm oil biochar pilot in Krabi. Thailand is the third largest palm oil producer in the world. WongPhai began its operations in Jan. 2023 and works with local bamboo marketplaces to stop the hazardous burning of bamboo offcuts, which is usually decomposed in a pile or is burned in open bonfires, creating pollution.

Australian researchers have found that livestock farms can transition to net zero emissions by 2050 while boosting profits, but only if mitigation measures are bundled and tailored to local conditions.

A clean cooking funding initiative in Africa plans to expand its reach and will select the first companies  through a second funding round by the end of June, with carbon finance also helping to fund its work.

A carbon removal crediting body has unveiled a draft method for carbon removal (CDR) via direct ocean capture and storage (DOCS), which is now open for public consultation.

Standards body and registry Verra announced a long-term partnership Wednesday in support of the organisation’s efforts to automate and digitise project development for the voluntary carbon market (VCM).

Shareholder push - 11 institutional investors worth a combined $1.8 trillion will ask Yara International to set upstream emission reduction targets that cover its purchase of fossil-based raw materials, during the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday morning. ShareAction will read a statement on behalf of these investors, the non-profit wrote in an emailed press release. The statement was signed by Edentree Investment Management, Ethos Engagement Pool International, Ethos Engagement Services Clients, Ethos Foundation, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, M&G Investments, MN, Pensionskasse Basel-Stadt, PGGM, PIRC, and Swiss Life Investment Management Holding AG. Major investors are increasingly focusing on the climate impact of the fertiliser industry. Since 2021, investors have been calling on the Norwegian fertiliser company to set science-based Scope 3 emissions reduction targets across the whole of its value chain. Fertiliser production and use accounts for 5% of global GHG emissions.

Revised methodologies under the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework still lack integrity, market experts said on Wednesday, arguing that those being developed under the Article 6 Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) look likely to be better.

Carbon markets seek to incentivise climate action by attaching financial value to emissions reductions, but a senior research scholar at Stanford has instead proposed shifting to a system where carbon emissions are treated like long-lived financial liabilities.

ICROA backing - The Social Carbon Foundation has announced that the Social Carbon standard is now officially endorsed by ICROA – the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance. The development signals that the standard meets the highest benchmarks for environmental and social co-benefits, and is committed to high integrity, transparency, and positive impact in carbon markets, the organisation stated on LinkedIn.

Dollars for marine CDR - Non-profit Carbon180 has opened up a funding opportunity for environmental organisations interested in exploring ocean-based carbon removal. Candidates are asked to apply here before the deadline of June 20. The award amount is a capacity-building grant of $100,000 and US-based organisations focused on marine, ocean, and water issues who want to learn more, or are already working on, carbon removal are particularly welcome.

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has become the first in Japan's shipping sector to retire technology-based carbon removal credits, it announced Wednesday.

Coalition - The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has launched an initiative aimed at creating nature-based carbon sinks, according to a statement released this week. TWSE said it will join hands with government agencies like the environment and agriculture ministries to promote locally-created carbon sinks and biodiversity conservation, encouraging listed companies to pursue sustainability. No specific credit purchase targets were given in the release.