Striking back at the Empire - A coalition of fishermen and offshore wind opponents sued the Trump administration Tuesday, seeking to stop construction of Empire Wind 1 - a 54-turbine project just south of Long Island, New York, that is set to begin installation soon. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate a stop work order issued by US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in April, claiming he failed to adhere to the Administrative Procedure Act when lifting the order in May. The suit, filed in US District Court District for New Jersey, argues federal regulators illegally approved the project’s permit, and that Empire Wind would permanently damage fisheries and the marine environment. (E&E News)

Traders said they expected the Q2 sale on Wednesday to clear within a $1-2 range of front-month Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs), while most analysts projected the potential for a higher settle that would release reserve volumes.

A majority of the traders expected the Q2 RGGI carbon permit auction on Wednesday to clear close to secondary market levels, with few anticipating a discount, as observers considered a mix of federal threats, regulatory delays, and programme fundamentals that could shape the outcome.

The Oklahoma legislature has given the green light for the state to prepare an application to have permitting and enforcement authority over the state’s Class VI carbon injection wells.

New materials are poised to gain market share over conventional gas separation membranes for biomethane production and carbon capture applications, according to a global research group.

Last week, the ministries of environment of Peru and Chile announced state-led frameworks to regulate emerging biodiversity credit markets, one official detailed to Carbon Pulse.

Methane madness - Danone has cut methane emissions from its fresh milk supply chain by over 25% since 2020, moving closer to its 2030 target of a 30% reduction, aligned with its Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) commitments under the Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) framework. Milk production accounts for 51% of Danone’s agricultural carbon footprint and over 70% of its methane emissions. To achieve these cuts, Danone has implemented herd, feed, and manure management practices, improved data collection, and supported farmer livelihoods. It is also advancing biogas solutions, recently partnering with Sistema.bio to roll out 6,500 biodigesters by 2030, initially in Mexico, Morocco, and India, targeting smallholder farmers. Danone is among the few major dairy producers to show verifiable progress on methane reduction, according to the Changing Markets Foundation, which found most companies unresponsive or lacking specific targets. Methane must be cut by 40-45% by 2030 globally to meet 1.5C climate goals, according to the UN Environment Programme. (edie)

The US Department of Labor (DOL) could axe a Biden-era rule allowing retirement funds to weigh climate change impacts in investments, as part of a growing trend in both the Trump administration and larger financial sector to disregard environmental factors.  

Two Democratic US senators are proposing a bill that would create a tax credit for biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) projects in order to reduce wildfire risks while driving down emissions.

Just add seawater - After discovering a method for producing clean hydrogen using soda cans, seawater, and caffeine, MIT researchers have completed a cradle-to-grave lifecycle analysis (LCA) to determine the method’s carbon footprint. In a study published Tuesday in the Cell Reports Sustainability journal, the LCA determined that the process would generate 1.45 kilogramme of CO2 for every kilogramme of hydrogen produced. By comparison, 1 kg of blue hydrogen produces 1-9 kg of CO2, depending on any upstream methane leakage and a facility’s carbon capture rate. The method involves dunking aluminium in seawater, which creates a reaction that generates hydrogen. When the process is combined with imidazole, an ingredient in caffeine, the reaction speeds up and produces hydrogen within five minutes versus two hours.

Canadian PM Mark Carney is keen to export decarbonised fossil fuels beyond US markets, securing support from provincial and territorial leaders Monday, though Alberta pushed for federal backing of a major carbon capture and storage project in need of billions in investment.

Experts have issued a stark warning about the proliferation of unsustainable "zombie" biochar companies, highlighting critical challenges facing the emerging carbon removals technology.

Carbon removal credit offtakers must think before they buy to avoid leaving startup founders stuck "between a rock and hard place", while those on the supply side must also be careful before committing to long-term sales agreements, according to a senior member of a carbon removal venture capital firm.

Afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) activities need to achieve carbon credit sales at a price nearly 10 times higher than the current market value to scale and make a worthy return on financing, an investor told an industry event Tuesday.

The UK has thrown support behind Morocco's plan for ending a long territorial conflict in Western Sahara, at a time when the desert region may be on the verge of becoming a green hydrogen hub and a renewable energy exporter.

The second half of 2025 will see higher prices across European energy markets, as well as EUAs, despite increases in gas production, uncertainty due to US tariffs, and weaker-than-expected demand, a consultancy forecast in a report circulated this week.

Environmental justice huddle - US House Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) announced the launch of an Environmental Justice Caucus, a more formal group for House members to address the environmental impacts of pollution on vulnerable communities. Lee has not provided further details on the timeline of the launch, but the caucus would be formed in the wake of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut environmental justice-related programmes, funding, and initiatives. President Donald Trump ordered an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes upon taking office. US EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a number of changes at the agency in March, including termination of its Environmental Justice and DEI arms. (E&E News)

FERC appointment - The White House nominated energy attorney Laura Swett on Monday to replace Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chair Mark Christie, a Republican commissioner whose term expires on June 30. The independent US federal agency oversees interstate electricity, natural gas, and oil services, reviewing proposals for natural gas pipelines. While at Vinson & Elkins, Swett represented the largest US pipeline system for refined oil before FERC, and worked with oil pipelines to navigate FERC-regulated transportation service agreements and tariffs.  If approved, the Vinson & Elkins attorney would join Commissioner Lindsay See as the two Republicans on FERC. The five-member agency would still have one vacancy, along with two Democrat commissioners. (Utility Dive)

The European Commission on Tuesday published draft rules to promote harmonised third-party verification under the bloc's Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) regulation – ensuring EU-sanctioned CO2 sequestration certificates meet high quality standards.

Biofuel expansion - Australian miner Rio Tinto is progressing its biofuel plans with new pongamia plantings in the Northern Territory and Queensland, with 8,000 planted in the former and a planned 750,000 trees in the latter, ABC reported. Midway is overseeing the plantings. Biofuel is one way the miner is planning to decarbonise operations, although diesel use in the Pilbara where the company mines iron ore runs into billions of litres. (ABC)

The European Union must tread carefully on international carbon credits for its upcoming 2040 climate target plan, with experts warning about the "Pandora's box" of offset mechanisms and their environmental integrity.

EU carbon prices advanced for a second session on Tuesday, shrugging off a lack of early support from natural gas and responding to technical and some fundamental signals to close at the day's high, even as traders continued to bemoan the lack of intrinsic drivers in the EU ETS, while UKAs were unmoved after the market regulator offered little news on the process to link the UK and EU markets.

Thinking ahead - Boosting funding for climate adaptation and resilience is one of the smartest development investments available today, according to a new study by the World Resources Institute (WRI). Every $1 invested in adaptation and resilience generates more than $10 in benefits over 10 years, found the study that analysed 320 adaptation and resilience investments across 12 countries totaling $133 bln. Some sectors such as health and disaster risk management record even greater returns due to the high benefits of protecting lives from climate-related impacts like heats stress and safeguarding infrastructure.

Buyers should build a strong defence against any potentially negative brand impact of investing in poor-quality carbon projects by using risk mitigation tools such as due diligence, using qualified intermediaries, and ratings agencies, experts said on a webinar Tuesday.

Newsom could lose some - Steve Hilton, California's Republican gubernatorial candidate, said he would dismantle several of the state’s climate programmes as part of his energy platform to lower prices, published on Monday. Hilton would end the state’s net-zero by 2045 emissions goal, repeal LCFS, lower the state gas tax, and has advocated to scrap the cap-and-trade programme. California's gubernatorial election will take place on Nov. 3, 2026. (Politico)

A European futures exchange will add new shorter-dated contracts for EU ETS2 futures from the end of this month, matching its competitor's soon-to-be launched offering to target early compliance interest in the bloc's new cap-and-trade system for emissions from the heating and transport sectors.

Not so NYISO - New York’s grid operator (NYISO) said that carbon-free power sources aren’t coming online fast enough to meet growing energy demand and it will repower and retrofit fossil fuel plants to ensure reliability, in a report published Monday. Such higher-emitting assets should be evaluated as a bridge to a lower-carbon future, said Rich Dewey, President and CEO of NYISO.

Large carbon removal (CDR) transactions are being made behind the scenes despite a more challenging narrative around corporate climate action, but capital must continue to flow into the sector to avoid a supply-side collapse over the next few years, an industry conference heard Tuesday.

The Nordic countries of Europe have launched a carbon removal association, which combines policymakers and industry in a bid to scale the demand side of the market.

US carbon capture permitting slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2025, even as regulatory developments continued to advance throughout the country, according to a recent report from a Canada-based energy sector research firm.

On the Clean Industrial Deal - Members of the European Parliament's committee on Industry, Research, and Energy (ITRE) gave their opinion on the European Commission's plan to decarbonise and boost the EU's clean technology sector and industries, the Clean Industrial Deal (CID). They called for regulatory simplification and accelerated permitting procedures, ramp up of permanent carbon removals, and the need to have different approaches for different sectors. In the resolution, they also said the Industrial Decarbonisation Bank is needed to help energy-intensive industries, as well as the need for the Action Plan for Affordable Energy to reduce costs for consumers and businesses. The resolution has no legally binding force.

The French Development Agency (AFD) and state-owned Banco do Brasil (BB) have signed a Letter of Intent to raise €250 million for sustainable projects focused on bioeconomy, recovery of degraded areas, low-carbon agriculture, reforestation, and biofuels.

The first credits from an activity transitioning to the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) are expected to be issued towards the end of this year, a UNFCCC official said Tuesday.

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement to renew their project development assistance programme, with a tripled budget under the EU Innovation Fund, which uses revenues from the bloc's Emissions Trading System (ETS).

Efforts to roll out carbon pricing in Central Asia risk being undercut by fossil fuel subsidies that make polluting energy sources artificially cheap and weaken climate policy signals, experts warned at a World Bank-hosted workshop in Almaty on Tuesday.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) should be formally recognised as a compliance option under the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), with environmental safeguards to avoid increasing the pressure on Europe’s forest carbon sink, a Brussels-based think tank recommends.

Additional marine protected areas (MPAs) totalling over 18 million square kilometres, an expanse greater than the size of Russia, are needed to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030, according to a study released this week.

Russian fertilisers – The Russian carbon registry opened a public consultation on Monday on the methodology for climate projects related to "Replacing Synthetic Fertilisers with Livestock Byproducts". The Russian Agrochemical Service (FGBAU) developed the methodology for such projects in collaboration with the Yu. A. Izrael Institute of global climate and ecology. Interested stakeholders may submit comments on the methodology via online forms provided here.

Nature credits should be integrated into the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and into member states' national environmental strategies, according to draft recommendations prepared by the European Committee of the Regions.

Total solar - French energy major TotalEnergies said on Tuesday it has acquired a portfolio of solar and battery storage projects in the UK with a combined capacity of 435 MW from renewables developer Low Carbon. The transaction covers eight solar projects totalling 350 MW and two battery storage projects with a capacity of 85 MW. The assets are at an advanced stage of development and could become operational by 2028, TotalEnergies said. Once online, the plants are expected to generate over 350 GWh of electricity annually, enough to power around 100,000 UK households. The acquisition will complement TotalEnergies’ UK integrated power portfolio, which includes 1.1 GW of gross installed offshore wind capacity, a 1.3 GW combined cycle gas turbine, and more than 600 MW of solar projects under development. As of the end of March 2025, TotalEnergies has 28 GW of installed gross renewable electricity generation capacity worldwide and aims to reach 35 GW by the end of 2025, and more than 100 TWh of net electricity production by 2030.

EU ETS support for green jet fuels – The European Commission on June 2 announced the publication detailed guidelines on how to calculate the price difference between kerosene and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) eligible for EU support. The revised EU ETS Directive introduced a new system to speed up the use of SAF by providing free EU ETS allowances for the uplift of these fuels. This is meant to cover all or part of the price difference between fossil kerosene and eligible SAF used by airlines. To ensure transparent and uniform computations across all 27 EU member states, the Commission publishes, on an annual basis, the average prices of relevant aviation fuels for the preceding year. With details now available, competent authorities are tasked with calculating allowance allocations for their commercial aircraft operators, the European Commission said.

Biochar first credits - CapChar, a UK-based biochar standard and developer, has issued and retired the first 8.6 tonnes of CO2 removals as part of a 50-tonne forward agreement between architectural firm Bennetts Associates and project developer Restord that was concluded at £200 per credit. In January, CapChar launched its methodology for the quantification of biochar carbon sequestered from UK-based projects. The standard issues biochar carbon units (BCUs) for each tonne of CO2 sequestered.

EU-German “dialogue” on 2040 target – EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra and the new German government coalition have been in close dialogue about the bloc’s upcoming 2040 climate target, Politico reported, saying this was ultimately reflected in the German coalition deal unveiled in April. According to the news outlet, Hoekstra managed to convince a reluctant left-wing SPD party of supporting the use of international carbon credits to meet the EU’s mooted 90% emissions reduction target for 2040 – a move strongly supported by Hoekstra’s right-wing European People’s Party (EPP). “I worked with Wopke Hoekstra to address the SPD’s concerns about international carbon credits,” confirmed Peter Liese, a German MEP from the EPP group in the European Parliament. “He had to think along those lines because otherwise there won’t be sufficient support for the 2040 target," Liese said. “Influenced is the wrong word,” added Andreas Jung, a German lawmaker who negotiated the climate chapter of the coalition agreement on behalf of the Christian Democratic party (CDU). “It was important to us that the coalition agreement on the 2040 climate target was compatible with the Commission's thoughts on this. That's why we sought dialogue.” (Politico)

A US-headquartered carbon credit ratings agency has made its analysis-based platform accessible to the public, including sharing access to its GHG Integrity and SDG impact ratings.

The four-party Dutch coalition collapsed on Tuesday morning over an immigration dispute, hours before the Parliament was due to debate a new package of climate measures that an NGO-led study released on the same day deemed entirely inadequate.

A London-headquartered fintech company announced Tuesday it will commit £500,000 to support nature-based (NbS) and hybrid carbon removal (CDR) solutions in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

A new dynamic scorecard was launched Tuesday to enable do-it-yourself carbon credit risk assessment.

A wide range of government agencies, corporations, NGOs, and academic institutions in South Korea on Tuesday launched the 30x30 Alliance, set up to help ensure the country meets its 2030 biodiversity targets, with initial focus set to be on creating and expanding other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs).

Mounting costs, technical challenges, and growing scrutiny are fuelling doubts over whether direct air capture (DAC) can deliver on its carbon removal promise, raising concerns that policymakers may be placing too much faith in a technology still in its infancy.

Not enough - Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC should scale up direct investments in renewables to meet its rising power demand, rather than depending on renewable energy certificates (RECs), Greenpeace has urged. Electricity demand from Taiwan's AI chipmaking sector surged by more than 350% between 2023 and 2024, according to a recent Greenpeace report. However, TSMC is lagging behind international peers like Google and Microsoft, which have been increasing their renewable production capacity, the non-profit said. TSMC’s worldwide renewable ratio only reached around 14% last year, company data showed.

Austria off track – Austria is set to miss its climate objectives under the EU’s Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), which establishes binding annual emissions targets for EU member states in the areas of transport, buildings and small industries for the period 2021-30. Depending on the scenarios, this could cost the Austrian state up to €5.9 bln, according to a report by Kommunalkredit Public Consulting (KPC) for the Austrian Ministry of Finance, reports Der Standard. Austria could bridge the gap pre-emptively, either by trading Annual Emission Allocation (AEA) with other EU countries that have exceeded their target, or using EU ETS allowances to make up for the shortfall. The first option is the one that could carry a €5.9 bln price tag, while the second is limited to a group of 13 countries from which Austria is excluded because its GDP per capita is higher than the EU’s average. According to carbon expert Jos Cozijnsen, Austria will have to compete with Germany and France to access a limited pool of surplus AEAs to compensate the shortfall. (Der Standard)

Battery breakthrough - A new fuel cell could enable electric aviation, claim researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A laboratory breakthrough in  lithium-air or sodium-air batteries could pack three times as much energy per pound as today’s best EV batteries, offering a lightweight option for powering trucks, planes, or ships, the researchers claim. Instead of a closed battery which releases stored energy, the new concept is a kind of fuel cell, which can be quickly refuelled with liquid sodium metal rather than recharged. The other side of the cell is just ordinary air, which serves as a source of oxygen atoms. In between, a layer of solid ceramic material serves as the electrolyte, allowing sodium ions to pass freely through, and a porous air-facing electrode helps the sodium to chemically react with oxygen and produce electricity. Tests using an air stream with a controlled humidity level produced more than 1,500 watt-hours per kilogram at the level of an individual “stack,” which would translate to over 1,000 watt-hours at the full system level, according to the researchers. “The threshold that you really need for realistic electric aviation is about 1,000 watt-hours per kilogram,” said professor of materials science and engineering Yet-Ming Chiang, one of the authors of the paper. “Today’s electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries top out at about 300 watt-hours per kilogram — nowhere near what’s needed.” Getting to 1,000 watts per kilogram would be an enabling technology for regional electric aviation, although not long haul, Chiang added. The technology could be an enabler for other sectors as well, including marine and rail transportation. “They all require very high energy density, and they all require low cost,” he says. “And that’s what attracted us to sodium metal.” The new fuel cell could even be carbon negative, the researchers claim as sodium oxide emissions would soak up carbon from the atmosphere.

Sworn in - Papua New Guinea's Climate Change Development Authority has sworn in its first 11-person board of directors, The National reported. The board will oversee the implementation of the country's carbon market framework, climate finance strategies, and its commitments under the Paris Agreement. It follows the government lifting the moratorium on new voluntary REDD+ projects in the country in April.

Tax your fuel - The World Bank has recommended introduction of a carbon tax in Azerbaijan as a first step in the nation’s carbon pricing strategy, Azernews reported. According to Yasemin Orucu, head of the World Bank’s office in Azerbaijan, introduction of a carbon tax on the carbon content of fuel types would be a good starting point for the country to adopt carbon pricing tools. A tax should be applied at the point where fuel enters the economy – either when it is imported or produced domestically, she said. As well, the tax could cover around 60% of the country’s total carbon emissions in its initial phase. In the later stages, Azerbaijan could expand the scope of a tax and transition to an ETS, she added.

Winds of change - The Australian government has offered a feasibility licence to Bunbury Offshore Wind Farm in Western Australia, it announced Tuesday. If progressed, the project would deliver 1.5 GW to customers. A feasibility licence gives the developer the opportunity to investigate their proposed project before applying for a commercial licence to begin construction. Additionally, the government shortlisted two WA projects for a preliminary feasibility licence. A committee made up of the companies, government, First Nations groups, local industry, and unions will be established to oversee projects and ensure local benefits. Offshore wind does not yet exist in Australia, with the government working with the emerging industry to reduce barriers for development, as part of its efforts to reduce emissions.

Trusted data - Sustainable certification company Atmen has raised a €5 million seed funding round, led by Project A, with participation from existing investors Revent and Vireo Ventures, alongside angel investors including former TÜV SUD CEO Axel Stepken, bringing its total funding to to €6.3 mln, stated the release on Tuesday. Atmen's technology is layered on top of industrial supply chains, to document and certify product characteristics. The solution enables effective climate action in industry through trusted data and is already in use across industrial sites in nine countries, the release said. The funding round will allow Atmen to expand beyond hydrogen, renewable, and low-carbon fuels to certify a wider range of energy-intensive goods, including steel, chemicals, and fertilisers.

The most urgent reforms to address issues underlying the reporting of Australian coal mine methane emissions could also be adopted the quickest, according to one expert, however industry pushback is expected.

The Indian government is planning to update its shipping rules in order to align with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) zero emissions regulations in an effort to decarbonise the industry, according to local media reports.

An international body should manage efforts to advance carbon removal development and deployment under the Global Stocktake (GST), researchers in a new paper said, lamenting the current lack of coordinated action. 

Singapore could become a regional hub for energy by importing and exporting renewable power, cutting its emissions by 13 million tonnes of CO2e a year in the process, a consultancy said Tuesday.

The CCS+ initiative has built a modular approach to CO2 accounting for carbon capture and storage projects, which backers hope will help standardise the voluntary market thanks to a free-to-use, open source methodology developed by Verra.

Following its latest meeting, the Article 6.4 Methodological Expert Panel (MEP) has begun more intense work on how crediting carbon removals will be carried out under the new UN mechanism.

Benin is in talks with a number of countries about bilateral Article 6 deals, following its first with Norway last year, as the West African country seeks to lure in carbon market developers and drive economic growth, a government official told Carbon Pulse. 

Potential cooperation - Officials from South Korea and Tajikistan last week exchanged views on how to advance the two countries' cooperation on climate change, according to a government release. Chung Keeyong, ambassador and deputy minister for climate change at South Korea's foreign affairs ministry, on Saturday met with Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister Homiddin Sharifzoda to discuss topics about climate change and carbon market mechanisms based on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The two sides agreed to explore "mutually beneficial projects" through the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the statement said.  

Investments in climate-friendly technologies inched up by 1.5% in 2023 year-on-year across the public and private sectors, leaving a deficit of €344 billion that needs to be filled annually to meet the EU’s 2030 climate target, according to estimates published on Tuesday.

One of Japan's major trading companies has agreed to source green ammonia from a Chinese supplier, it announced Tuesday.

Sweet credits soon - Kenyan climate tech company Tera, which converts byproducts from sugarcane production into biochar, has become the first African developer to be independently validated and listed on the Riverse registry, it announced Tuesday. Tera combines digital MRV with nature-based solutions to remove carbon, restore soil, increase yields and farm productivity, and boost rural economies. With third-party validation now secured, it is issuing high-integrity carbon credits, the company said in an email. By 2030, Tera aims to produce 450,000 tonnes of biochar, permanently sequester 1 MtCO2e, and restore 900,000 ha of degraded farmlands.

EU member states have a number of options for how to implement the bloc's Nature Restoration Law, and should in the short term focus on strategic decisions and mechanisms to incentivise land-owners, a Brussels-based think tank said in a paper published Tuesday.

More cookstove credits could qualify for the Core Carbon Principles (CCP) quality seal after the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) on Tuesday approved earlier versions of a Gold Standard methodology – but only under additional conditions.

Electrification - Inpex, Japan’s largest oil exploration and production company, on Tuesday announced a joint final investment decision to sanction the Sangachal Terminal Electrification (STEL) project. The STEL project, costing roughly $230 mln, is expected to reduce the Azerbaijan-based gas terminal’s GHG emissions by around 50%, according to a company statement. It will be developed and managed by BP, the operator of the terminal. Investors of the Sangachal facility include MOL, ExxonMobil, Itochu, and TotalEnergies.    

Uncool - Australia is bringing in new rules to reduce emissions from air conditioners from next month via changing import rules on parts and equipment with small multi head split systems using hydrofluorocarbons with what the government calls high global warming potential (GWP). Manufacturing them locally will also be illegal. Air conditioning equipment and equipment designed to use refrigerants over 750 GWP is banned, it said. International Energy Agency (IEA) reports frequently put air conditioning and rising demand for cooling as one of the biggest drivers of energy demand, and emissions.