While some real estate managers are taking climate action, only one of those surveyed in a recent study has concrete plans to strip fossil fuel infrastructure from its buildings, according to new research from a UK non-profit.

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the most promising carbon removal pathway to limit global warming to 1.5C and avoid the early closure of young coal plants by retrofitting them with the technology, a new report has found.

The fast-rising industry of carbon accountants is looking to professionalise itself, bringing international best practices, technical alignment, and regulation to a role that is still largely taught on the job – much like a game of ‘Chinese whispers’.

Charging ahead - New South Wales raised its 2030 renewable energy target to 16 GW of wind and solar, up from 12 GW, and lifted its 2034 long-duration storage goal to 42 GWh from 28 GWh, according to its infrastructure roadmap published Tuesday. The state, Australia’s biggest coal power producer, plans larger and more frequent tenders, including four in 2026-27 offering about 2.5 GW each, as coal plants are expected to shutter by 2034. Long-duration storage auctions will target 9.6 GWh by 2030. The roadmap claims it will deliver A$6.8 bln ($4.4 bln) in benefits to consumers over 20 years.

Carbon credits issued under the new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) are to be formally considered for CORSIA, after an expert Article 6 body requested ICAO to clarify how new UNFCCC units may be integrated into the international aviation offsetting scheme.

Australia will need to ramp up both land-based CO2 sequestration and engineered carbon removal technologies from the next decade to offset hard-to-abate emissions and meet its net zero target, a study published in journal Nature this week said.

A climate tech startup has become the first Indian company to secure Gold Standard-certified carbon credits for sustainable rice farming across thousands of farms in the state of Telangana.

New policy - The Malaysian state of Sarawak on Tuesday launched an energy transition policy, aiming to add MYR 550 bln ($129.9 bln) to GDP and attract up to MYR 700 bln in investment by 2050, Borneo Post reported. The policy is anchored on renewables, hydrogen , CCUS, and low-carbon transport. Premier Abang Johari said the state may use blended finance to de-risk early-stage clean energy and infrastructure projects. The state is also working on a dedicated carbon market plan and launched a sustainability blueprint in May.

CBAM pressure - The EU's CBAM could hit Thailand's exports of worth over THB 300 bln ($9.3 bln) annually, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). The warning came as FTI and the Thai Bankers’ Association launched a THB 5 bln transition finance scheme to help businesses, particularly SMEs, invest in clean technologies and cut emissions.

A group of farmers facing increasing climate-related losses have filed a lawsuit against Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), a historic first for the East Asian country.

Human rights considered - A group of Japanese companies have developed a framework that incorporates human rights impacts in the quality assessments of carbon credits, according to a statement released Tuesday by Tokyo Gas. The framework was jointly formulated by the gas supplier, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, and Nippon Koei. Tokyo Gas said it will add the new criteria to its internal assessments of carbon credits to improve the offset reliability.  

A construction materials producer covered by Australia's Safeguard Mechanism reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by almost 10% year-on-year (YoY) in FY2024-5, it said on Tuesday.

Pump for the future – Accelerating the uptake of heat pumps for residential heating would help free up gas for industrial users, said a report by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) on Tuesday. Replacing gas and inefficient electric heaters with heat pumps could avoid the use of 48 petajoules of gas per year, or around 40% of current production, said the group. It would deliver net electricity savings of up to 4,000 GWh and cut household energy bills by around NZ$1.5 bln ($891 mln) per year. The report noted that demand will soon outstrip supply, in the absence any policy actions to reduce demand. It also noted that there has not been any new commercial gas fields found in the country since 2000, and that exploration drilling had ceased by 2015 – before the now-repealed exploration ban came into force in 2018. Among its policy recommendations, NZGBC called for the government to subsidise heat pumps and hot water heat pumps, phase out gas hot water systems, and require new buildings to be fully electric.

Not having a gas – Manufacturers in New Zealand are at risk of a deindustrialisation crisis if the gas shortage persists, BusinessNZ Energy Council executive director Tina Schirr warned. Her comments came as a survey of businesses relying on gas by the consultancy Optima found that half of the respondents had reduced headcount, increased costs, and reduced production due to a more than doubling of gas prices over the past five years, RNZ reported on Tuesday. Around 40% of businesses can switch to biomass or other alternative fuels, but an equal amount also said there is no commercially available options in the short term, Schirr said. Biogas is another option, although neither potential developers nor users are willing to financially commit to the fuel, she said. Resources minister Shane Jones last week was seeking advice on where the power system could use more coal and free up gas for industry. Both industrials and power generators have been increasingly turning to biomass in New Zealand, while the country’s gas reserves are dropping faster than expected. The government repealed the 2018 ban on new oil and gas exploration at the end of July.