Disclosure FAQ - California regulator ARB published guidance last week on how companies can comply with two climate disclosure laws - SB 253 and SB 261 - reported ESG Dive. ARB said it is currently in the “informal, information-gathering stage” for implementing both laws and reiterated its aim to develop a regulation by the end of the year. Regarding SB 261, the agency said it will post a public docket on Dec. 1 for covered entities to post a public link to their first climate-related financial risk report. Obligated entities are expected to submit their reports by Jan. 1, 2026.

Climate cuts - A US House appropriations proposal released Monday by Republicans would all but zero out funding to implement the Montreal Protocol, the major international treaty protecting the ozone layer, reported E&E News. The US is not expected to withdraw from the agreement, but the country has provided significant funding in recent decades to help enforce the standards in developing countries, according to the outlet.

The latest Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) report from Environmental and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) found falling prices and an increasing supply that favours the creation of credits on imported fuels.

CCS initiated - US hydrogen and nitrogen manufacturer CF Industries announced Monday the start-up of a CO2 dehydration and compression facility at its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana. The facility aims to enable the transportation and permanent geological sequestration of up to 2 MtCO2. ExxonMobil, the CCS partner for the project, will be transporting and permanently storing the CO2. On an interim basis, the oil major is storing CO2 from the Donaldsonville Complex in permanent geologic sites via enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, upon receiving its applicable permits, ExxonMobil plans to transition to dedicated permanent storage, starting with its Rose CCS project.

ESG lawsuit - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced Monday his office has launched an investigation into and launched lawsuits against two proxy advisor firms - Glass Lewis and International Stakeholder Services (ISS) - aiming to ensure compliance with demands for information related to their promotion of ESG. Bailey's office claimed these two firms "wield outsized influence" over the direction of US corporate governance, and have advanced "radical" ESG agendas that run counter to shareholder value.

An independent research group is projecting that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will increase emissions by at least 315 million tonnes of CO2e in 2035 compared to the previous status quo, mostly thanks to the repeal of power sector decarbonisation policies.

The Para state government in Brazil has signed the contract for the country's first concession tender for restoration in public areas, and announced its first investor.

David and Goliath - A lawsuit filed by a youth coalition against the Trump administration has attracted the interest of several Republican state attorneys general (AGs) all of whom are siding with the administration against the youth. In May, a group of 22 youth from across the US filed a constitutional lawsuit alleging that a number of executive orders designed to expand fossil fuel development and remove climate protections violate their fundamental rights. Now, 18 Republican state AGs are filing as intervenors in the case claiming that it could “threaten their economies, the use of their properties, and their state budgets". According to the brief filed, if allowed to join the lawsuit, the AGs will file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by Aug. 4. (Daily Montanan)

More tropical data – Embrapa, Brazil’s leading agricultural research institution, has announced a partnership with Regrow Ag to adapt the DNDC (DeNitrification-DeComposition) model from the US agricultural resilience platform provider to tropical soils and climate conditions in Brazil. The tool is intended to support the country in enhancing GHG emissions reduction and carbon sequestration efforts in the region, and aims at providing the technical foundations needed for high-integrity carbon programmes in the national agricultural sector. DNDC is a globally recognised biogeochemical model that simulates carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soils, according to Regrow.

Climate negotiators cut – The Trump administration said it plans to cut 1,300 positions from the US State Department, which include dozens of officials working on international climate efforts. Combined with early retirements and deferred resignations, the department will lay off a total of nearly 3,000 staff of its workforce of 18,000 staff, according to E&E News. Under the Biden administration, state department negotiators were key delegates representing US interests at COPs.

Participation in California’s five most recent cap-and-trade auctions underperformed by nearly $3 billion in potential revenue, a report published on Monday claimed.

A multinational commodity trader already active in Brazil's carbon market is studying and in discussions for investments in two further jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) systems in the country, a director told Carbon Pulse.

A San Francisco-based climate non-profit is suing the US Treasury for what it calls its role in failing to publicly disclose GHG impact avoidance analyses for its investments.

NIMBY Hoosiers - Indiana residents neighbouring a forthcoming West Terre Haute project are rallying against CO2 storage regulations, according to The Journal Gazette. The outlet reported two dozen Hoosiers protested the pilot project by Wabash Valley Resources intending to pipe and inject nearly 1.7 million tCO2 to produce low-carbon ammonia fertiliser at a former coal plan in Vigo County.

Oil offsetting – Argentinian oil producer Vista Energy published its 2024 Sustainability Report last week. In the previous year, it released 222 MtCO2e of Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, with an intensity of 8.8 kgCO2e/boe. The report outlined the company’s target of reducing emission intensity to 7 kgCO2e/boe by 2026, and of offsetting all residual emissions – though without specifying quantities – through NbS carbon credits by the same year. Vista Energy’s subsidiary, Aike, is currently executing 13 Verra-certified NBS projects across 43,000 has in Argentina. These include initiatives in regenerative agriculture and livestock, mixed ARR, forest conservation, and IFM. Six projects are scheduled to undergo validation or CCB certification this year.

Voluntary carbon credit prices drifted sideways and retirements slid lower amid the summer holidays, while new Carbon Pulse analysis revealed the impact of up-and-coming registries in driving the sector towards retirement growth.

Ocean farming using large algae could contribute significantly to global CO2 removal, with current technologies falling short of what is needed to stabilise the climate, according to a policy paper released Monday.

Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress have reintroduced two bills intended to address shipping industry GHG emissions via the imposition of carbon pricing obligations.

The G20's financial stability watchdog released a new strategy for approaching climate risks on Monday, but has paused further policy work amid the US retreat on climate action and at the request from some of its members.

The Frontier coalition has arranged the purchase of $1.75 million worth of carbon removal credits from three early-stage companies, it announced Monday.

Brazil is working to boost the number of domestic and international flights landing in the Amazonian city of Belem this year, to accommodate the tens of thousands expected to descend for November's COP30 climate change summit, the organisers announced on Monday.

Gold Standard has opened a consultation on its new criteria for setting activity baselines that are aligned with the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), as the organisation aims to align its voluntary carbon market instruments with the provisions of the Article 6.4 system.

California lawmakers last week scrapped amendments that would have established a price cap for credits within the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) programme.