The voluntary carbon market is shifting toward higher integrity through the adoption of the Core Carbon Principles, but project developers - especially in nature-based solutions - face challenges in aligning with these standards and call for clearer guidance, greater feasibility, and stronger collaboration to scale adoption.

Activist demands - Malaysian climate activists this week urged their government to include a national forest audit under the 13th Malaysia Plan, among five key demands submitted to members of parliament, local media reported. The memorandum, backed by nine NGOs, also called for a protected forest registry, a national monitoring hub, and direct forest funding for indigenous communities.

Several stakeholders, including the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), have taken aim at a new draft permanence standard that forms part of the governance process for the new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), arguing that the text is so strict it may deter interest in Article 6.

Vietnam will launch the pilot phase of its emissions trading scheme this year, taking a step towards meeting climate commitments and navigating trade pressures from carbon regulations abroad, but faces steep challenges in readiness, infrastructure, and balancing its economic competitiveness, according to experts.

A new carbon standard has launched an updated version of its Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation (ARR) methodology for crediting forest restoration projects, in a bid to rival Verra’s dominance of the sector.

July was one of the biggest months in purchase history for durable carbon removals (CDR) with over 8 million tonnes contracted, according to an industry marketplace report circulated this week.

Canadian-grown rapeseed, wheat, and peas have significantly lower carbon footprints than equivalent crops produced in major exporting countries such as Germany, France, the US, and Australia, a new study has found, even when factoring in transoceanic shipping emissions.

Greening transport - Indian transport and logistics company Greenline Mobility is planning to invest INR 4 bln ($45.7 mln) in order to boost its electric truck supply for mining company Hindustan Zinc, thereby replacing the diesel vehicles which the latter uses for its mines and smelters, Reuters reported. The investments will also be used for scaling battery-swapping infrastructure commercially and doubling Hindustan Zinc’s LNG-powered truck fleet for the transport of  long-haul finished goods. In April, Greenline had invested $275 mln to accelerate decarbonisation of heavy trucks.

South Korea's petrochemical industry would likely need around KRW 2.9 trillion ($2.08 billion) in short-term investment and stronger policy support to drive its low-carbon transformation, according to a report released this week.

Local initiative - A disctrict in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya has signed a 40-year agreement with agroforestry company Earth-Tree to restore degraded land through forest regeneration by planting timber and fruit-bearing trees, with an aim to generate carbon credits, local media Syllad reported. The project hopes to start earning credits in five years, with estimated earnings of INR 15,000 ($170) per ha.

India’s leading carbon credit developer and supplier, EKI Energy Services, has reported a net consolidated loss of INR 12.8 million ($150,000) in the quarter ending June 30.

Cooked - The Great Barrier Reef has suffered its worst annual decline on record, a report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said Tuesday. It follows a mass bleaching event last year, driven primarily by warmer seas. Despite the devastation, the reef, which is off the northeastern coast of Australia, remains the largest in the world. But researchers warned of a fast approaching tipping point if disturbances continue to outpace recovery.

Tipping the scale – Fiji’s government is shifting its focus from small-scale projects to large-scale, investment-ready initiatives that can attract funding from multiple sources, FBC news reported Minister for Environment and Climate Change Mosese Bulitavu as saying. This is part of the country’s new course to unlock climate finance from both domestic and international sources, he said. Bulitavu pointed to the Rural Electrification Trust Fund and the funds it has mobilised – including from Australia and the UNDP – as an example, and said the government also plans new green and blue bond issuances.

Fill in the gaps – New Zealand companies’ climate disclosures have improved, but some still need more work, particularly around climate-related risks and opportunities, the Financial Markets Authority said in a report on Monday. The regulator’s review of 109 disclosures found that some had improved their reporting since the FMA’s last assessment, but there is still room for improvement around specifying risks or opportunities, and some omitted or obscured material information. Around 170 entities in New Zealand are required to produce climate disclosure reports, including insurers with assets in excess of NZ$1 bln ($592 mln) or annual gross revenue in excess of NZ$250 mln, registered banks with NZ$1 bln or more of assets, and  investment managers with assets under management (AUM) greater than NZ$1 bln, among others.

Citizens for climate – Nauru has awarded the first citizenships under its Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program, it said in a press release distributed via Carbon News. The applicants are a family of four from Germany living in Dubai who were looking for an alternative citizenship, given current geopolitical uncertainty, said the programme’s CEO Edward Clark. The citizenship by investment programme, launched at COP29 last year, is designed to raise funds to invest in sustainable development and climate resilience initiatives in the Pacific Island nation. This includes its Higher Ground initiative to relocate coastal communities and essential infrastructure.

Australia's green hydrogen sector has seen a bloodbath over the past 18 months, but some smaller startups have survived, protected by newer technologies, specialised focus, and ambitions smaller than gigawatt-scale clean production of the universe’s most abundant element.

Initial progress – Japan Airlines (JAL) has completed the first phase of its world-first initiative to promote the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which focused on pilot testing a trading platform for Scope 3 emission reductions associated with SAF use, according to a recent company statement. Companies participating in the first phase include Itochu, Eneos, and Mizuho Bank. The second phase of demonstration testing will involve participants, and the project partners will consider approaches ahead of the full-scale implementation of the scheme, JAL said.  

Oil and gas majors are using CO2 removal (CDR) as a tool to continue fossil fuel development, hedge against climate policy, and delay decarbonisation, according to new research.