Governments must foster investable environments for gas flaring capture and reduction projects, which could offer a quick win for emissions reduction while incentivising the hard-to-abate oil and gas sector with boosted revenues, according to a recent report.

Global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) demand is set to reach around 2 million tonnes in 2025, but reliance on limited feedstocks could constrain growth beyond 2030 unless alternative production pathways are rapidly scaled, according to a market outlook released Thursday.

Microsoft continued to support the engineered carbon removal (CDR) market in May, accounting for lion’s share of the 3.48 million tonnes of forward purchase agreements, according to data platform CDR.fyi.

The carbon removal sector is in the midst of a crisis despite record offtake volumes this year, driven in part by the scramble to secure venture capital to scale nascent technologies — but there is now clear movement towards sovereign backing of the industry, experts told an event on Thursday.

Project developers are stepping up their campaign to tone down cookstove methodology requirements by calling on the UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism’s (CDM) Board to review outdated science that could lead to under-crediting.

A large voluntary carbon project developer has called for greater alignment among the buyers of credits for new schemes to help unlock high-quality supply.

Despite the steep decline seen in voluntary carbon trading, some observers maintain that if the political will is there, carbon markets can deliver significant amounts of climate finance – potentially over half of the needed invested to meet long-term climate objectives.

A UK-headquartered carbon capture developer announced Thursday it has partnered with a Japanese supplier of floating production to develop and scale ship-based carbon capture systems.

China biochar - Another China-based biochar project has been officially registered under carbon standard Puro.earth, according to audit firm Earthood, following the registration of MioTech's Nanjing Nian'da biochar initiative. The Jiaxing Tongao Biochar Project, developed by Climate Future, collects agricultural waste such as crop straws and garden waste to produce biochar. No CO₂ Removal Certificates (CORCs) from the Jiaxing Tongao facility have been certified so far, the Puro platform showed.

Stakes are high for efforts to tackle the marine biodiversity crisis when France next week hosts the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC).

Tech companies around the world saw their operational emissions rise by 1.4% between 2023 and 2024 as data centres continued to eat up electricity — despite more companies setting reduction targets, according to a report published on Thursday.

A Singaporean exchange has stolen a march on its rivals in the fiercely competitive market for benchmarking carbon prices, after reporting an offer for CO2 tonnes on a floating price basis versus its Phase 1 CORSIA index.

Australia's Northern Territory (NT) savannas are facing unprecedented threats primarily due to human impacts, with market-based solutions like biodiversity credits seen as a valid tool to mobilise funding towards their protection, a report released this week said.

The Article 6.4 Methodological Expert Panel (MEP) has launched a call for public consultation of the first proposed methodology under the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), it announced Thursday.

Biodiversity and nature-based carbon credit markets are projected to reach $48.7 billion by 2034, backed by growing investor interest in natural capital and ongoing efforts to meet international policy targets, according to a report released this week.

Classifying excess CO2 as a noxious gas — on par with other industrial pollutants like ammonia and carbon monoxide — could push companies beyond incremental emissions tracking and into more decisive climate action, the founder and CEO of an ESG assurance firm has told Carbon Pulse.

Not in the weeds - Indonesia, which is working towards a B50 biofuel that is a 50-50 mix of bio- and fossil fuel, is now looking to seaweed to make a portion, suggesting it could be a third generation biofuel, according to the Indonesia Business Post. Using seaweed would also contribute to a blue carbon economy and reduce emissions. Indonesia is already one of the world’s largest producers of seaweed and plans to develop a $12-bln industry from its coastline. It has been included on its list of 28 products that are part of its expanded downstream agenda.

Gaining ground - European carbon removals accelerator Remove has partnered with Indian think tank, the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) to support carbon removals startups and cultivate CDR ecosystems in India as well as globally, Remove announced on LinkedIn. The accelerator marked its entry into the Indian market last year when it selected the first cohort of startups. While India has great potential to supply removals credits globally, it lacked local demand, Marian Krueger, co-founder of Remove, told Carbon Pulse at the time.

We can work on it - SustainCERT on Thursday said it has been officially approved as a validation & verification body (VVB) under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) between Japan and Indonesia, providing services for carbon mitigation projects related to energy industries and transport. It is also seeking to expand its accreditation under ISO 14065:2020 for waste disposal, afforestation and reforestation, and agriculture. Almost 60 Indonesia-based projects have registered under the bilateral mechanism, according to official data.

Network expansion - Project developer ByWill, which aims to contribute to carbon neutrality in all 47 prefectures in Japan, on Thursday said it has concluded a collaboration agreement with the government of Gifu prefecture's Wanouchi town and Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank to create and sell environmental values, including domestically issued J-Credits. A similar agreement has also been signed between ByWill, the bank, and the government of Ibigawa town.

Global economies and societies are linked to forests in a deeper way than previously thought, meaning governments need to have a long-term approach to ensuring their survival, according to a global report by scientists.

Woodside Energy’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) hopes took another step forward this week after the consortium it leads signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with listed miner and energy startup NH3.

The Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) on Thursday announced it is beginning work to design an independent review mechanism for voluntary biodiversity credit markets.

CCS on FPSO for IMO - Shipbuilder MODEC and Carbon Clean Solutions have signed an MoU to further develop CCS aboard floating storage and production offloading (FPSO) vessels, taking the CO2 from what is burned for power and sequestering it, they announced in a statement. FPSOs are oil production vessels moored in place. The partners hope the work will help meet International Maritime Organization regulations on ships’ emissions. They also hope that if the work is successful, it will enable post-combustion CCS to become a standard offering on future FPSO projects.  

A major agricultural lender in Japan has teamed up with a Tokyo-headquartered project developer to utilise carbon crediting mechanisms, it announced Thursday.

A drop in New Zealand’s gas reserves could see an increase in coal-burn for power generation and industrial processes in the short term, market experts have warned, leading to a rise in emissions and stronger demand for carbon allowances.

Coal shoulder - India’s coal-fired power generation fell 9.5% year-on-year in May 2025, the sharpest drop since the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, as overall electricity demand declined and renewable energy hit a record high, Reuters reported. Total power output fell 5.3%, while peak demand dropped 8% on a milder than expected summer so far. At the same time, renewable energy generation surged, now making up 15.4% of the power mix, the highest share since 2018. Coal's share dropped to 70.7%, and gas-fired power fell 46.5% amid high prices and lower demand. This comes as an IEA report today said that India looks set to reach its 2030 target of 50% non-fossil generation capacity ahead of schedule.

Singapore and the Philippines are working to finalise a legally binding deal to operationalise a carbon credits partnership under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said this week.

Energy sector spending is now two-to-one favouring renewables and nuclear over fossil fuels, and capital spend will rise 2% this year to $3.3 trillion, but this is driven more by energy security concerns than emissions reduction ambitions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday.

COP commitment - The South Australian government has committed A$8.4 mln ($5.1 mln) over two years to support the state's preparation for Adelaide to host COP31 in Nov. 2026, should the federal government be successful in its bid, according to its state budget. The budget papers note the annual meeting will bring together world leaders to assess progress on climate change. The state government spending comes on top of the A$75 mln that was committed by the federal government in March. Australia is looking to host UN talks in partnership with the Pacific, however, Turkiye is still competing to secure the bid.

A surge in new, cheap distributed solar power capacity in Pakistan is leaving parts of the country's Chinese-funded coal-fired power plant fleet obsolete with some running at just 4% capacity while millions of tonnes of CO2 are being avoided, a report said Thursday.

Green fee - Papua New Guinea's Climate Change Development Authority has signed an agreement with the National Airports Corporation to introduce its green tourist tax at Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby, it announced on Facebook. The fee is designed to offset tourists carbon footprint by generating revenue to go towards climate mitigation and adaptation work, and has been set at K50 ($12.14) per person and will commence from July 1.

Cancellations of Kyoto-era carbon credits fell slightly in Australia’s national accounts, according to data from the Clean Energy Regulator, as buyers are looking to purchase fewer, but more high quality units to meet their ESG strategies, according to a supplier CEO.

On the right track - Mumbai’s metro operator has secured over 85,000 carbon offset units for two of the city’s metro corridors and is now seeking registration under the Verra carbon registry for seven upcoming lines, Times of India reported. Offsets came from Universal Carbon Registry for Lines 2A and 7, covering the period from Jan. 2023 to Dec. 2024. The offsets were awarded under a “modal shift” methodology, recognising avoided emissions from commuters shifting from personal vehicles to metro transit. The certification followed a third-party audit verifying carbon neutrality for the two corridors under the PAS 2060:2014 international standard, according to a statement from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. Earlier this year, India unveiled methodologies for its domestic offset market, which allowed transportation to generate credits under Phase 1 of the scheme.

Batteries up - China’s Envision Energy and a renewable energy subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mar announced a collaboration on storage technologies across Southeast Asia, Australia, and India Thursday. Sinar Mas’ SUNTerra will work with the Chinese energy giant to enhance global supply chains, and improve local manufacturing in addition to the roll out of storage. The partnership, they said, will cover the full value chain to speed storage uptake across their three key markets.

Critical year - The year 2025 could be a crucial year in China’s energy transition, but the progress will depend on whether the government continues to approve new coal power capacity, according to new research from Greenpeace East Asia. China approved 11.29 GW of new coal power capacity in Q1 2025, meaning total coal capacity approved during the current five-year plan period (2021-25) now stands at 289 GW, doubling the approved 145 GW during the previous period (2015-20). Both eastern and western provinces have accelerated approvals since 2021, placing China "at a critical crossroads", the non-profit said.  Meanwhile, China’s installed capacity of wind and solar reached 1,482 GW by the end of March, surpassing that of thermal power for the first time. If the trend continues, renewables could meet all of China’s new electricity demand, putting the power sector on track to peak carbon emissions this year, according to Greenpeace. The non-profit said there is already enough existing capacity to meet today’s peak demand. Approving a new wave of large-scale coal projects risks creating overcapacity, stranded assets, and higher transition costs, it added.

Advertising emissions metrics – A new partnership aims to help advertisers track the emissions associated with their digital campaigns, said Integral Ad Science in an emailed press release on Thursday. The media measurement platform’s tie up with sustainable advertising tech provider Impact Plus will provide advertisers with campaign-specific emissions data. IAS pointed to regulations in the EU and California requiring companies to report on their environmental impact as a driver for the move to incorporate emissions metrics into its overall media measurement platform.

Experts apply here – New Zealand’s Climate Change Commission is looking for experts in climate change adaptation research to review its progress on the 2026 National Climate Change Risk Assessment. The assessment is focusing on the risks the physical impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels and more frequent and intense storms, pose to the country’s economy, society, environment, and ecology. The Commission is looking for experts to reviews its risk identification and analysis across six areas: built environment; economy and financial system; governance; natural environment; people, health, and communities; and sectors relying on the natural environment. The deadline for applications is June 22, and the work will take place from July to October.