A Brazilian bank formed a partnership with one of the biggest orange juice producers in the world to convert degraded land in Brazil into orange plantations and generate carbon credits, an executive said on Monday during an event in Sao Paulo.

National and subnational Latin American governments last week promoted policies that encourage the generation and commercialisation of voluntary carbon emission reductions and removals.

No coal – New Zealand’s environment ministry has rejected an application for a 144 ha coal mine in the South Island, which was seeking approval under the government’s controversial fast-track process, RNZ reported on Tuesday. The Te Kuha Coal Project would have extracted 4 mln tonnes of coking coal, used in steel manufacturing, over 16 years. It had already been rejected multiple times in the past, including by the Supreme Court in 2020 and the Environment Court in 2023. The ministry said it rejected the latest application as it was incomplete, including a failure to explain why it needed to go via the fast-track process rather than normal procedures. It added that when applications are denied due to being incomplete, the proponents are able to resubmit a completed application, but it would be treated as an entirely new submission and would thus be liable for the NZ$12,000 ($7,125) application fee again.

Two Texas congressmen filed legislation last week that would require the US EPA to rule on states’ Class VI primacy applications within 180 days, a measure aimed at expediting the permit approval process for CO2 storage wells.

Mexico rain slows gas imports – Rainfall in Mexico has increased the nation’s hydroelectric generation this year, which has contributed to the slowdown of US-Mexico pipeline flow of natural gas. In its August report, WoodMac says that momentum in Mexico’s gas and power market has been losing steam, upending previous forecasts of solid growth. US-to-Mexico gas exports from South Texas and West Texas have recorded month-on-month declines of 2% and 9% respectively. Meanwhile, rainfall in many areas has exceeded the 30-year average by more than 150%, which has reduced cooling demand and refilled reservoirs, making more hydroelectric power available. By March, hydro generation quickly ramped up to displace a portion of gas-fired power output.

Coal and steady – The US Interior Department has approved the expansion of the Antelope Mine in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, adding 857 acres of public land and authorising extraction of 14.5 mln more tonnes of federally owned coal through 2037, E&E News reported. Operated by Navajo Transitional Energy Co. since the 1980s, the mine has a permitted capacity of 42 mln tonnes annually, supplying coal to over 30 US power plants. The approval follows an environmental assessment by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

Mining more time – Arizona Public Service (APS) will delay the planned 2031 retirement of the coal-fired Four Corners power plant in northwestern New Mexico, extending operations at the 1,540 MW facility until at least 2038 to address electricity reliability concerns in the western US, E&E News reported. The plant, located on Navajo Nation land and partly owned by the Nation, is considered by APS as both a key element of its energy mix and a significant economic contributor to the community.

A California-based carbon removal company announced the close of an $11.6 million funding round Monday to advance its CDR technology, which produces carbon-negative hydrogen, to commercial scale.

Plaintiffs in a proposed class action lawsuit have urged a California federal court to reject the tech giant’s attempt to dismiss claims that it misled consumers with “carbon neutral” marketing for certain Apple Watch models and its corporate operations.

Upcoming methods for managing fires in Australia’s savannas could trigger a surge in the supply of carbon credits, potentially depressing prices and creating long-term market risks, analysts said Tuesday.

Brazil has started laying the groundwork for its engagement with Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement, an official from the Ministry of Environment (MMA) said in Sao Paulo on Monday.

EU carbon prices weakened on Monday as selling interest was said to pick up after Friday's robust rally, though EUA demand was also described as resilient, while energy markets were mixed, with natural gas prices rising as higher temperatures in Asia increased competition for LNG cargoes.

UK chemicals at risk - Higher energy prices and carbon taxes have been lethal to Britain's largest chemical plant - the Olefins and Polymers (O&P) facility at Grangemouth in Scotland - its owner Ineos has warned. The plant, which manufactures products used by hundreds of UK plastic companies, has been unprofitable for several years and unless there is a significant turnaround in the next couple of years, Ineos will have to decide on its future. Such a closure would be a fresh blow to Ineos, which earlier this year shut a separate oil refinery with thousands of jobs lost in its supply chain and contractors. The Grangemouth plant emits about 1 mln tonnes of CO2 annually from burning gas and employs 900 people directly, plus thousands more in the supply chain. (the Telegraph)

Voluntary carbon credit prices and retirement levels dropped in the first week of August to reflect a typical seasonal trend during the summer holidays, as two ratings agencies announced separate advances into carbon removal and Article 6 project assessments.

Reversal of positions - Since the start of October and through 2Q 2025, equity-focused hedge funds have on average been mostly short oil stocks, in a reversal of bets that have dominated since 2021, according to Bloomberg analysis. The same period saw them unwind short bets against solar stocks, while staying net long wind in the period. Growing skepticism towards the oil sector is being driven by an economic slowdown in the US and China, and an expected rise in global oil inventories.

CO2 shadow price - Germany should include climate-relevant public procurement criteria in planned government investment to make its buildings and transport more sustainable, according to the foundation Bertelsmann Stiftung. Think tank Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft found that using a CO2 shadow price in public procurement law to evaluate cost efficiency was mandatory at the national level in theory, but barely used in practice due to a lack of enforcement. (Clean Energy Wire)

Carbon markets can deliver a fairer outcome for Africa if more of the market infrastructure, such as registries, are set up on the continent, and if benefits are shared equally with lower income citizens and women, according to regional experts.

A decision made at a key Article 6 meeting last week, concerning the fraction of non-renewable biomass (fNRB) in clean cooking projects, will likely lead to a tighter market and bring the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) closer to the stance taken by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM).

Devil in the documents - The Article 6.4 Mechanism Registry Procedure, published by the UNFCCC on Monday, establishes the rules for operating the registry that tracks emission reductions under the Paris Agreement. The rules govern the issuance, transfer, retirement, and cancellation of A6.4ERs, and also set out how the registry interacts with other systems and how it reports information. Parties and authorised entities can open accounts via the UNFCCC interface, subject to verification processes and applicable fees, the document states. When the Supervisory Body (SBM) approves an issuance, units are placed in a pending account. A total 5% of the units are forwarded to the adaptation account and 2% to the OMGE cancellation account, unless the host party qualifies for an exemption, it adds. The remaining units are distributed according to participant instructions. The procedure also sets out rules for transfers, including the “first transfer” which triggers accounting adjustments. It also covers retirement for NDC use and various cancellation types. The registry connects with CARP, the international registry, the CDM registry, and national registries to ensure interoperability and prevent double counting. Public real-time data and monthly party reports are required. Transaction fees are also included in the document. The UNFCCC is also expected to open a tender process in weeks to procure an entity to operate the Article 6 international registry.

Five financial backers have stumped up additional funds for heat pump rollout in Europe, a startup based in Stockholm announced on Monday.

Set for a rebound - Corporate demand for high-quality carbon credits is set to rebound, according to analysis by GlobalData, which found 47 of the 100 largest companies by market cap globally are still buying carbon credits. It identified a shift towards high-quality, removals credits, with strong growth from tech giants to meet their 2030 net zero targets. Advancements in monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) and integration of credits into emissions trading frameworks were seen to potentially bolster demand, as was the establishment of consensus on global cross-border trading. The voluntary carbon market was worth around $1.4 bln in 2024 - well below its $1.7 bln peak in 2022, having suffered from scandals about project quality. (Business Green)

The Kenyan government has collaborated with the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) and others in an initiative to transition over 40,000 public schools in the country to fuel efficient, metered cooking technologies by 2030.

Battery bonanza - The global energy storage market will be worth $204.8 bln by the end of 2033 after growing at 14.8% on average every year from 2024 to meet the rising demand for intermittent clean power and more electricity, predicts a report by Dimension Market Research. The US Energy Storage Market is expected to hit $70.7 bln in 2033 after compound annual growth of 13.9%. The development of the next-generation storage technologies solid-state batteries and flow batteries assures further acceleration in the pace of market growth, the report said. “These technologies have more storage capacity and are also safer, which makes them a probable game changer in the energy storage industry during the forecast period.”

CRCF critique - Carbon Market Watch (CMW) critiques the permanent carbon removal methods (DACCS, BECCS, and biochar) under the EU's Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework in a new briefing, highlighting four main concerns. Firstly, it says additionality criteria are lacking - ignoring any potential future state level removals policy. Secondly, all biomass is wrongly deemed carbon neutral, which could lead to ecosystem degradation through demand for new land and biomass resources. Thirdly, long-term MRV is severely lacking from the biochar sections of the draft delegated act. And fourthly, there is a lack of use cases for any units issued by certified projects, with no permanent removals target yet set by the EU in its Climate Law. The non-profit's views are further discussed in this article.

Money for nothing - Operators of wind turbines in Scotland were paid to switch their turbines off 37% of the time over the first half of the year, the Financial Times has reported, an amount equal to 4 TWh.  The report noted that the amount curtailed from wind turbines in Scotland accounted for 86% of the total curtailment across Britain over the six months from January to June. It added that this represented a 15% increase on last year’s first-half curtailment. Wind turbines are sometimes paid to switch off, not because they are broken, but because the electricity grid cannot handle the amount of power they are generating, especially when there is a strong wind. In the financial year 2024-25, Britain’s National Energy System Operator had to pay a total of £2.7 bln in balancing costs.

Cocoa to biochar - AirSmat has been awarded a contract by the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) to lead a carbon project with cocoa growers in Cote d'Ivoire. The project will see agricultural waste transformed into biochar, generating carbon credits, with the process overseen by AirSmart's digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) technology. The climate tech company's AnyFarm dMRV platform is certified by Carbon Standards International for full value chain transparency. It builds on AirSmat's work with over 1 mln smallholder farmers in Nigeria to produce biochar and generate carbon credits. (the Nation)

I'm putting together a team - In late March, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright personally contacted a small group of scientists known for questioning mainstream climate science - including Roy Spencer, Judith Curry, John Christy, Steven Koonin, and Ross McKitrick - to produce a Department of Energy (DOE) report reassessing climate science. According to E&E News, all had histories of working with conservative groups or fossil fuel interests and of challenging the consensus on human-driven global warming. The resulting 141-page study, released last month, disputed core elements of climate research, such as climate model reliability, the severity of sea-level rise, and links between fossil fuel use and extreme weather. The report has been heavily cited - 16 times - by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its proposal to rescind the endangerment finding that underpins US greenhouse gas regulations. Critics argue the study cherry-picked evidence to downplay climate risks, with some scientists calling it political advocacy rather than genuine scientific review. Wright, a former fracking services executive who has long argued that fossil fuels’ benefits outweigh their costs, said he wanted to foster open debate and reject "cancel culture". He has also framed global energy poverty as a greater threat to humanity than climate change. The study’s coordination was led by Travis Fisher of the libertarian Cato Institute, with Wright said to have exerted close involvement in recruiting and guiding contributors. Climate scientists have disputed the study’s conclusions and accused its authors of omitting relevant research, with one saying his work was misrepresented to suggest climate models overestimate emissions. The DOE team rejected claims of cherry-picking and denied being directed to target the endangerment finding, though Curry acknowledged they knew EPA was interested in their work and timed publication to align with the agency’s proposal. This comes amid broader efforts from the Trump administration to scale back climate science programmes, reduce research funding, and remove government climate assessments from public websites.

EBA's ESG guidance - The European Banking Authority (EBA) last week published a so-called no-action letter, which formalises the guidance it has already provided on changes to its ESG disclosure framework, it said in a statement. Specifically, the no-action letter refers to the ESG Pillar 3 disclosure requirements, under the bank's disclosure Implementing Technical Standards. The guidance includes recommendations for competent authorities, and is aimed at ensuring that the new requirements are implemented smoothly. The EBA also updated its ESG risk dashboard, which maps the long-term view of climate-related risks and pace of change in banking portfolios across the EU and EEA.

Danish renewables giant Orsted posted strong half-year earnings on Monday and announced plans for a DKK 60 billion (€8 bln) rights issue to bolster its balance sheet as it pushes the pipeline ahead.

A carbon removal certification body has added a new module concerning biochar storage in the built environment.

Popular backing - Britain's clean energy expansion is backed by a huge majority, including most right-leaning supporters of the Reform and Conservative parties. The new YouGov survey found eight in 10 Brits would support the UK generating more homegrown energy by expanding renewables, including 65% of Reform supporters. Approval from Conservative supporters was at 83% - suggesting that party leader Kemi Badenoch’s climate backtrack is out of step with voters. 76% of Brits would support the renewable energy industry using more UK-made components, and expanding training and jobs in green industries was also very popular. Almost 80% of people backed polluters, including fossil fuel companies, paying more to help fund environmental action.

An independent taskforce commissioned by the UK government is calling for radical reform to tear down the regulatory barriers holding back faster nuclear projects in the UK.

EV grants - As many as 13 more electric car models are eligible for new UK government grants with the discount applied at the point of sale. Drivers can save £1,500 with the purchase of certain Nissan, Renault, and Vauxhall models, and more models are expected to be approved in coming weeks. The new £650 mln electric car grant scheme allows drivers buying some new electric cars costing up to £37,000 to save either £1,500 or £3,750, depending on the vehicle’s green credentials. All models so far assessed are eligible for the lower amount. Marketplace Auto Trader said there has been a spike in electric car interest since the grant was announced. The government has pledged to ban sales of new fully petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030. (the Independent)

Fewer companies reporting sustainability data, as mandated by the EU’s bureaucracy-slashing regulation, will lead to a drop in investment in those organisations that would help deliver the EU’s clean industrial deal objectives, an investor group told Carbon Pulse. 

Biomethane all'Italiana - Renewable energy investors Quercus Real Assets and Elionia have closed the financing on three greenfield biomethane plants to be built in northern Italy, totalling €76 mln, they announced on Monday. The three plants are the first of 20 planned for development in the region, and will be built over the next 10 months. They will use agricultural bi-products and animal manure as feedstock. The transaction was completed through their joint venture vehicle QMG, arranged through a pool of three banks - BNL BNP Paribas, Banco BPM, and Mediocredito Centrale. Italy's state-controlled insurance and financial group SACE will guarantee half of the facility.

Research into the health and carbon sequestration of global soil has improved over the past decade but remains heavily concentrated in a handful of affluent countries, leaving vast swathes of environmentally vulnerable regions with “blind spots” in little local scientific capacity to address worsening land degradation.

Carbon farming - India’s Asvata Climate Solutions, has partnered with project developer Equilibrium to scale a $2 mln regenerative agriculture project in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with an aim to restore 8,000 ha of farmland and sequester 30,000 tCO2e annually. The initiative is expected to benefit over 40,000 livelihoods, including 10,000 smallholder farmers, promote climate-smart practices such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), direct seeded rice (DSR), and reduced tillage, thereby, reducing the use of water by up to 30% and generate new incomes stream via carbon markets. The project is expected to expand to 25,000 ha by 2027, the partners said in a statement.

CCUS facility -  A large-scale CO2 utilisation and storage base has been established in China's Inner Mongolia, Xinhua reported. The CCUS project of the Bayan Oilfield, which has over 300 production wells with deep crude oil deposits, recently injected over 70,000 tonnes of CO2 into oil reservoirs. At least 126 CCUS projects have been planned for operation across China, according to a roadmap released by the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21.    

Taiwan has released a set of guidelines for offset project developers to utilise idle public lands for the creation of forest-based carbon credits. 

Warm seas - Seas around the UK are warming to record levels. In the first seven months of 2025, the average surface temperature of UK waters was more than 0.2C higher than any year since 1980, according to BBC analysis of Met Office data. Species are responding, with species uncommon to UK waters including octopus, bluefin tuna, and mauve stinger jellyfish becoming more common, while the UK's cold-adapted species like cod and wolf-fish are being pushed to their limits. Warmer waters can amplify land heatwaves and can also bring heavier rainfall, and hotter seas are also less able to absorb atmospheric CO2.

Kazakhstan must integrate carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) into a reformed emissions trading system (ETS) if the country is to meet its net zero goal of 2060, according to a recently published analysis.

Australia may not be on track to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of an emissions reduction of 43% over 2005 levels by 2030, a report said Monday.

Ocean-safe - Gigablue, a US-based marine carbon removal company, has disclosed the results of a third-party environmental assessment conducted by New Zealand’s Cawthron Institute, which found that its proprietary substrate had no significant impact on ocean microbial ecosystems. The analysis included over 11 mln DNA sequences from 10 water samples, identifying 8,803 unique amplicon variants across 76 phyla. Results showed no detectable shifts in microbial community composition, no variance in biodiversity metrics, and no increase in harmful or pathogenic species, confirming the substrate’s environmental compatibility during controlled deployment, the company added.

Carbon capital – Data platform Allied Offsets has partnered with Calculus Carbon, a Temasek-backed investment bank focused on nature-based solutions (NbS) in the Global South, to strengthen due diligence and transparency in NbS transactions, the partners recently announced. Under the collaboration, Allied Offsets will provide project-level benchmarking, risk mapping, and regulatory analysis to support Calculus Carbon’s equity, structured debt, and project finance mandates with institutional sponsors. On the macro-front, the partners will also be involved in sharing data for Article 6 transactions and updates, Calculus Carbon told Carbon Pulse. Data integration will help de-risk high-integrity NbS assets and improve underwriting quality, the firms said.

Mining giant BHP is conducting an industry-led study on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) hubs across Asia in partnership with steelmakers and energy firms, it said Monday.

Direct air capture (DAC) can play a more prominent role in achieving net zero emissions, but policy pushes to boost short-term capacity are crucial, according to a recent study.

Indigenous credits - Climate tech company Co2carboncredit Technology, in partnership with the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), has launched Nigeria’s first large-scale voluntary carbon market project, The Street Journal reported. The project aims to conserve 3 mln indigenous fruit trees (IFTs) with the objective of generating 300,000 carbon credits. It generated 1,000 units in the first batch, the developer said. The credits will be registered on the developer’s proprietary digital tree numbering and carbon verification registry and will be traded on an upcoming carbon exchange platform, it added. The firm signed an MoU with FUNAAB, the federal government-owned university, in March.

Clean it up - An alliance of environment groups and Australian unions has called for Western Australia to become an oil and gas decommissioning hub given the large amount of offshore infrastructure coming to the end of its life in the state. The alliance estimates that 89% of Australia’s 5.7 mln tonnes of offshore oil and gas infrastructure is in WA waters with Greenpeace alleging the oil and gas industry has treated the oceans “like a dump”. It follows calls last week for gas company Santos to get working on dismantling seabed pipelines associated with its Reindeer field, which it plans to turn into a CCS hub.

Tick of approval - Provaris said Monday it had received development approval from its partner, Malaysia’s Yinson, to begin engineering design of its large-scale, low-pressure liquid CO2 tank that will integrate with the ship company’s Floating Storage Injection Unit (FSIU). The Australian junior plans to transport both CO2 and hydrogen. The former would be injected deep beneath the seabed for permanent storage by Yinson. Provaris was originally planning to only build ships for compressed hydrogen transport, and before that spent years developing compressed natural gas transport systems.

Accuracy is key - Tokyo Gas, Japan's biggest city-gas supplier, has started a research project for a simple measurement and visualisation method for methane concentrations in natural environments, using its laser-based methane detection technology and fluid simulation technology, the company said in a recent statement. Tokyo Gas said it aims to improve the efficiency and accuracy of measuring methane emissions, which will enable the broad application of carbon credit methodologies, including alternate wetting and drying (AWD).  

To market - Australian clean cement junior Green360 Technologies told the local bourse Monday morning it had raised A$4 mln ($2.6 mln) from institutional investors to develop its low-carbon cement, looking to a wider market rollout. It offered 181 mln shares at 2.2c each. It is one of several low-carbon cement hopefuls on the Australian Securities Exchange trying to decarbonise cement production. Cement and concrete have roughly the same carbon footprint as steel, around 8% each of total global emissions. Over the weekend, SGH CEO Ryan Stokes called for an Australian Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to prevent heavy emitters from leaving. SGH owns the majority of major cement maker Boral whose CEO has been clear on the need for an Australian CBAM for years.