Global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions have lost momentum, with wide gaps persisting between countries and across sectors, and 2030 pledges still far from meeting the Paris Agreement goals, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a report released Thursday. 

Central and Eastern European countries should avoid over-committing to liquified natural gas (LNG) purchases, as it is likely gas demand will continue to fall and the deals may prove to be poor value for money, according to new analysis. 

Emissions trading schemes (ETS) often limit the role of carbon removals to 10% or less of compliance obligations, a survey reported Wednesday. 

A number of countries are contributing to Brazil’s Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), including Norway with $3 billion and Indonesia with $1 bln, they announced in Belem on Thursday.

World leaders agreed Thursday to commit to collectively recognising 160 million hectares of land by 2030 in tropical forest countries as belonging to Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

€700 mln for Spanish clean tech – The European Commission on Thursday approved a €700 million Spanish state aid scheme to boost clean technology manufacturing. The direct grants, available until the end of 2028, aim to expand capacity for producing net-zero technologies such as batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. The Commission judged the measure necessary and proportionate to speed the shift to a net-zero economy. The Spanish aid was cleared under the EU’s ‘Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework’ (CISAF), unveiled in June.

Kenya Article 6.4 submission – Kenya has formally submitted its host party participation requirements for Article 6.4 projects under the Paris Agreement, with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) confirming its role as the Designated National Authority overseeing project approvals. The framework prioritises renewable energy, electric mobility, agroforestry, waste-to-energy, and industrial efficiency among eligible sectors, and aligns with Kenya’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2030, the document said. It also embeds social and environmental safeguards, including benefit-sharing and free, prior and informed consent for community-based activities. Kenya published its new 2035 NDC earlier this year, setting a goal to cut GHG emissions by 35% or 75.25 MtCO2e, by 2035, compared to a business-as-usual scenario.

EU carbon allowances posted a second sizeable loss in a row on Thursday with the drop coming to a halt at a key technical support, amid what many sources called a correction after the market's recent run-up to 10-month highs and as the December options contract began to exert an influence on the market, while energy markets also weakened amid forecasts for higher wind output.

COP30 should help to both accelerate the energy transition and protect nature in order to effectively tackle global warming, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at the opening of the two-day Leaders' Summit on Thursday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on the international leaders to make COP30 in Belem a “turning point” on implementation for achieving the global community's emission goal.

Austria suggested - and a majority of intervening countries supported - a stop-the-clock mechanism for the EU’s much-debated anti-deforestation regulation during a meeting of the bloc’s Environment Council this week.

Per mile EV charges - UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to unveil plans for per mile road charges for drivers of electric cars in the country's upcoming Budget on Nov. 26. This would be to offset a forecasted sharp decline in fuel taxes, accorded to people familiar reported by the FT. The plans may involve introducing EV road charges from 2028 following a public consultation, and could raise about £1.8 bln annually by the early 2030s for the Treasury. One proposal under consideration would see EV drivers face charges of 3p per mile on top of other road taxes. The average EV driver would pay an extra £250/year, compared to the average owner of a petrol or diesel car who currently pays about £600/yr in fuel duty. Drivers would face yearly payments based on estimates of how many miles they expect to drive. The move will likely be controversial with many motorists as well as politicians as Reeves strives to plug the fiscal hole estimated at £20-30 bln by the end of parliament.

Silver lining - ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, reported better-than-expected 3Q profit on Thursday helped by strong performance in Europe, and also gave a positive outlook for 2026. The Luxembourg-based company recorded a $1.51 bln core profit in the quarter, 3% above the $1.46 bln seen in company-provided consensus, whilst earnings in Europe rose 27% compared to the same period last year. Still, overall demand remained weak in the quarter and there were no restocking signals as customers maintain a "wait and see" approach, the company said. Western steelmakers have long pointed to global overcapacity and pressure from cheaper imported steel from Asia as dampening their business. (Reuters)  

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has proposed significant changes to how companies may use carbon removals and Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) as part of their climate goals, in a new, revised draft of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard (Version 2), now open for consultation.

Guinea aims to nearly halve its emissions by 2035, as long as it receives international support, and to host Article 6 projects that can help achieve its goal, according to the country's new Paris Agreement commitment. 

The Italian government has yet to deliver on its two-year-old pledge to provide €100 million to a UN fund compensating developing countries for losses and damages caused by climate change, a delay that NGOs say risks undermining the country’s international credibility.

More forestry projects under the UN-backed REDD framework have issued credits under a now deactivated methodology and may need to reimburse credits because of an earlier over-estimation of how much carbon they saved, standard body Verra said.

European steelmakers using the low-carbon electric arc furnace (EAF) production route have issued a joint statement rejecting the proposed sliding-scale system for labelling green steel at EU level – a model promoted by the German government and developed by its own industry.

October saw voluntary carbon credit issuances fall by around 40% compared to September's bumper month, with retirements rising by nearly 1.4 million over the same period, as data from an analytics firm shows that the oil majors have returned as a major demand source in the VCM. 

Deadly plastic pollution - Pollution from Ineos's Antwerp plastic plant could cause more deaths than permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday. Research submitted to the court suggests air pollution from the €4 bln petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs Ineos claims it will create. Lawyers, community members, and financial experts are taking court action in Belgium's council for permit disputes to halt the facility that would transform ethane from fracked US shale gas into ethylene - the raw material for plastic. Client Earth is leading the case and said carbon emissions of the project would vastly exceed Ineos's own estimates, which failed to calculate full lifecycle emissions. Data Desk estimates full supply chain emissions of the plant could reach 3.8 MtCO2e annually - around five times Ineos's estimate. (the Guardian)

If implemented as currently designed, the delayed Net-Zero Framework (NZF) under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) would reduce shipping emissions by just 8–10% by 2030, far below the 45% cut needed to align the sector with the Paris Agreement, a report published Thursday said.

The EU cut its emissions by 2.5% last year and remains on track to hit its 55% goal by 2030, although reductions outside of the EU ETS are lagging, according to a progress report published on Thursday. 

An international survey has found that while most institutional investors now recognise climate and environmental risks as financially relevant, persistent gaps in ambition, target-setting, and transparency could undermine global progress.

Institutional investors face a growing challenge of how to reconcile their long-term climate commitments with exposure to the rapidly expanding asset class of energy-intensive data centres powering the AI revolution, said analysts in a new study.

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) will use the COP30 summit next week to showcase a new Indigenous-led strategy aimed at reshaping how carbon projects engage with local communities, sources told Carbon Pulse.

From complicated and pricey travel logistics, to hostile and unwieldy geopolitics, to a bleak reality that emissions just keep rising – Brazil's COP30 summit is already promising to be a distinctly challenging summit. 

Delayed level playing field - This week's decision to delay EU ETS2 for transport and buildings by one year to 2028 has been critiqued by German business associations. Due to the country's existing national carbon price for fuels in these sectors, the delay means an extra year of disadvantages for smaller industrial companies, said industry association BDI. It calls on the German government to level the playing field for German businesses and those in the EU in the interim. The decision to delay the ETS2 start date to 2028 is still subject to negotiations with the European Parliament, with strong concern from Eastern European countries in particular about the socio-economic impact. Environment minister Schneider said Germany's national carbon price would remain in place in 2027, with the government still to decide whether it would stay fixed or become tradable. (Clean Energy Wire)

UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael Bloomberg has announced a new $100 million investment to accelerate global efforts to cut methane emissions, one of the most potent greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

The European Parliament and the Council of EU member states have reached a political agreement on the CountEmissionsEU proposal, introducing a single EU-wide method for calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger and freight transport services across the bloc.