The future of forest carbon accounting and the effort to rebuild market confidence hinge on digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV), speakers at a recent online event suggested.

Full implementation of countries' updated climate commitments could reduce global CO2 emissions by 25% from current levels by 2035, according to an analysis by an energy research firm.

China has declined to invest in Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), while talks with India have faltered, dealing a blow to the recently launched conservation fund aimed at protecting global forests, according to media reports.

Nearly 1 million people have lost their lives to about 10,000 extreme weather events over the past three decades, with damages totalling $4.5 trillion, according to a report launched at COP30.  

Passive hit - Morningstar Sustainalytics reported that European climate-focused funds saw heavy investor withdrawals in the first half of 2025, even as the overall sustainable investment universe grew. Total assets in European climate-themed funds, including mutual funds and ETFs, rose 8% to $553 bln. However, investors pulled $13 bln from the sector amid economic pressures and regulatory uncertainty. ETFs and index funds, representing 53% ($316 bln) of total climate assets, suffered the largest blow, accounting for $8.3 bln in outflows between January and June. The biggest losses came from the 'low-carbon' category, which saw $5.5 bln in redemptions as investors shifted towards more sophisticated climate transition strategies. Three ETFs alone – iShares Environment & Low Carbon Tilt Real Estate Index Fund-UK (-$3 bln), Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG ETF (-$1.3 bln), and Xtrackers MSCI World ESG ETF (-1.1 bln) – accounted for over $5.5 bln in withdrawals. Despite the broader sell-off, investors continued allocating to climate transition strategies, which attracted $1.6 bln in new money. UBS’s Equities World ex CH Climate Aware NSL and Global Equity Climate Transition funds led inflows, collectively raising $1.7 bln. The move reflects a preference for active management: while passive transition ETFs lost $2 bln in H1 2025 (up from $600 mln in all of 2024), active transition funds drew nearly $2 bln. Morningstar attributed outflows from Paris-aligned benchmark trackers (-$1.7 bln globally) to tracking errors, fossil-fuel exclusions, portfolio turnover, and growing competition from bespoke transition strategies. The 'clean energy/tech' category rebounded strongly in performance, averaging 11.8% returns versus 9.9% for the Morningstar Global Index, but still lost $2.9 bln in investor redemptions. Assets in this segment fell 1.8%, as sentiment remained weak. Product development also slowed sharply, with only 25 European launches in the first half of 2025 compared to 62 a year earlier, and just 20% of these were passive. Morningstar described this as a historical low but said it reflected a normalisation after years of rapid expansion. The firm cited the ongoing review of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR 2.0) - potentially delayed until early 2026 - as a major factor behind the slowdown. Managers have adopted a wait-and-see stance amid uncertainty over whether the current Article 8 and 9 fund classifications will be replaced with new 'sustainable' and 'transition' labels. (Citywire)

Stakeholders remain cautiously optimistic about the long-term expansion of global carbon markets, but note that growing geopolitical tensions are impacting integration timelines and climate policy design, according to a new survey.

A European private equity firm on Tuesday announced it has received over €100 million in commitments for its nature-based solutions (NbS) strategy, predominantly targeting restoration projects in emerging economies.

A global non-profit announced a four-year, $1.4-billion commitment at COP30 on Friday to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to worsening climate impacts and expand access to innovations that boost food security and resilience.

Cooling-related greenhouse gas emissions could almost double by mid-century as global demand for inefficient methods surges, according to a report launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Tuesday at COP30 in Belem. 

Finished the move - All 176.6 million active and previously cancelled Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) have been successfully moved to the new Unit and Certificate Registry, the Clean Energy Regulator announced. The regulator said the move represents a key achievement in its multi-year transformation programme to modernise core technology and data systems. As well as holding ACCUs, the registry holds Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs), and will eventually hold certificates from the Nature Repair Market and Guarantee of Origin schemes. The new registry was set up using Trovio's CorTenX service.

The first day of Indonesia’s carbon credit dealmaking at COP30 in Brazil saw less than 15,000 units change hands, however international transactions are expected in the coming days.

Two large global standard setters have welcomed the COP30 Action Agenda’s emphasis on harmonising carbon accounting frameworks.

Clearing up accounting questions will now be key to potential integration of carbon markets, and in particular Article 6, into the new global climate finance goal, agreed last November in Azerbaijan, according to experts.

Forty-four governments, representing roughly 40% of the world’s mangrove coverage, have endorsed an initiative that seeks to generate finance to protect and restore the important ecosystem for climate and biodiversity.

A new facility that claims to be the next generation for commercial scale production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is set to be built in Singapore.

The South Korean government has approved a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 53-61% from 2018 levels by 2035, slightly higher than the government's initial proposal of a 50-60% cut.

Day 2 at COP in Belem. Activity and anticipation are picking up as attendees continue to shuffle in more and more following the first day of negotiations. In our daily running blog, Carbon Pulse will report relevant or useful updates throughout the day. Timestamps are in local time (GMT-3).

A new UK- and UAE-based carbon consultancy has launched with the aim of connecting early-stage regenerative agriculture and reforestation projects to corporate buyers and investors, its managing director announced last week.

An Asian multilateral development bank has approved a $1 billion loan to support Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan across natural infrastructure, sustainable finance, and the energy transition.

Around one-third of Asia’s coal-fired power plants could qualify to generate transition carbon credits, according to a report by a Singapore-led initiative, though it said more pilot projects will be needed and that systemic impacts will take time to materialise.

Making lower-carbon choices generated collective savings of more than $54 billion for companies last year, according to disclosure data released by an international non-profit on Tuesday.

There has been a large uptick in the use of misleading narratives around the affordability and national security benefits of fossil fuels, likely in response to outcomes of the Global Stocktake (GST), according to analysis published Tuesday.

A decision last week from the New Zealand government to de-link its Emissions Trading System (ETS) from its international climate targets has raised questions about the future purpose of the trading programme and the country’s plans to meet its Paris Agreement goals.

Solar boost – The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed up to A$25.3 mln ($16.7 mln) to support Australian innovator SunDrive’s commercialisation of its copper metallisation solar cell technology – a move designed to scale a new production tool at its Kurnell facility in New South Wales and accelerate deployment of lower-cost and higher-efficiency modules.

New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment (MfE), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy Aotearoa New Zealand (TNC NZ), has published the development of country’s first comprehensive dataset on carbon stocks and greenhouse gases from coastal wetlands.

A new study by climate governance experts has set out a practical method for assessing whether governments’ climate pledges genuinely reflect the 'highest possible ambition' required under the Paris Agreement — a term long criticised for its vagueness and uneven application across countries.

Dot to dot – ASX-listed clean tech company Dotz has successfully completed scaling up production of its CO2 capture sorbent materials, it said in an announcement to the bourse on Tuesday. It said the kilogram-scale capacity will enable near-term supply to customers, as well as clearing a pathway to cost reductions due to production efficiencies. In September, Dotz signed a deal to supply its amine-modified polymer (AMP) sorbent for use in DAC from Konnect VW Group Innovation, part of the German car giant.

One of Australia’s Big Four banks has smashed its own target for climate finance in the 2025 financial year, it said on Monday.

Canada, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Peru, Switzerland, and Zambia have officially endorsed principles promoted by a Singapore-led coalition to grow carbon markets, even as their motivations and perceptions of quality appear to differ.

China’s CO2 emissions have now been flat or falling for 18 months with the rapid expansion of renewables, but the world's largest emitting country is set to miss its 2025 target to cut carbon intensity, a report has found.

Over half of the 85 countries analysed by a UK-based research institution have renewable energy pipelines exceeding their current fossil fuel capacities, a paper published Tuesday said.