New Zealand’s ETS settings will still need to accord with the country’s domestic emissions budgets and long-term goals, the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) said, in an attempt to improve sentiment after weeks of volatility.

A coalition of organisations and businesses have written to the European Commission on Friday urging them not to water down the EU's carbon border fee before it kicks in financially next year, amid increasing pressure from some companies and countries to do so.

The Brazilian COP30 presidency is passing the negotiations on the four big issues - finance, climate and trade, the gap in ambition, and transparency reporting - over to ministers on Monday, Andre Correa do Lago announced at the closing of the first week of talks. 

Developed countries met the $100 billion annual climate finance target in 2023, though eight contributors failed to deliver their fair share, according to a new analysis released Sunday.

The cost of deploying clean cooking projects has jumped as developers face tougher monitoring requirements and slower investment flows, cookstove developers said at a COP30 side-event in Belem on Saturday, warning the sector risks being priced out of climate finance.

Japan is accelerating work to promote its bilateral Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), as the development of the country's emissions trading scheme should drive demand for international carbon credits, an official said.

An Article 6.8 text on ‘non-market approaches’ will be punted from a technical body to negotiators – “held hostage” by the same countries seeking to codify nature-based solutions (NbS) within the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM), an observer told Carbon Pulse.

Australia’s position choosing not to participate in Article 6 markets is a missed opportunity if it wants to lead climate negotiators at COP31 next year, according to some experts, while others are urging it to focus on other efforts to reduce emissions at home and abroad.

Multiple European countries have called for carbon pricing signals to be included in a potential roadmap to transition the world away from fossil fuels, which is gaining traction at the UN climate summit in Belem, as sources also warned of pressure to weaken language in a cover decision the Brazilian presidency is said to be preparing.

Brazil opened at COP30 its new international forum for addressing climate-related trade issues, receiving support from several countries and organisations as it seeks to alleviate tensions around the incoming proliferation of global carbon tariffs.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) on Saturday announced plans for 14 new 'country platforms', adding to pre-existing initiatives with Brazil and the Caribbean, and embodying a nationally-led, programmatic approach to climate finance, according to an expert at a UK-based think tank.

Demand for Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6 should hit around 200 million tonnes by the end of the decade, according to a policy expert, based on submitted 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Indonesia plans to launch an international roadshow to showcase its forestry credits to potential investors and buyers before the end of the year, a senior forestry official told Carbon Pulse, in a move that he said could operationalise the export of the country's offsets.

Demand for carbon credits that qualify under emerging compliance schemes is outpacing limited supply, putting pressure on the voluntary market as countries ramp up Paris Agreement Article 6 activity, according to a project developer.

Carbon pricing and markets are a significant part of the solution to keeping global warming to Paris Agreement limits, a senior member of the International Energy Agency (IEA) told a side event at COP30 on Saturday.

Brazil officially initiated its new coalition on compliance carbon markets on Saturday at COP30 as six new countries joined the initiative.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced plans to invest up to $2.5 billion in Azerbaijan over the next five years as part of a new partnership strategy running from 2025 to 2029, which includes spending on energy transition solutions in the country.

Ethiopia intends to show that Africa is more than just a victim of climate change, but a source of solutions when it hosts the COP32 climate talks in 2027, the country's planning minister said at COP30 in Belem on Saturday.

The Global Clean Power Alliance (GCPA) has launched Saturday a new international mission aimed at strengthening the supply chains that underpin the shift to clean energy.

Some of the world’s largest oil and gas producers are urging major reforms to the voluntary carbon market, arguing that the use of "high-quality" credits is now essential for meeting global climate goals and should be used more widely and flexibly by companies.

South Korea has officially released a five-year emissions allowance allocation plan that will determine the sentiment in the national carbon market towards 2030.

Day 6 at COP30 in Belem. The summit is edging towards clarity on the negotiations side as talks hit half-time. Plenaries and press conferences across the day are expected to provide detail on what exactly Brazil wants to achieve over these two weeks, with finance and transition away from fossil fuels among the priority topics being discussed in closed-door meetings between the presidency and parties. 

An India-based enhanced rock weathering (ERW) start-up on Saturday claimed to have issued Asia’s largest batch of ERW removal credits to a Japanese shipping major.

Hope is quietly building up in Belem that COP30 will end with a decision to begin work on a roadmap for shifting out fossil fuels, in a move that would bypass the recent opposition from a few oil- and gas-heavy countries. 

Researchers have produced an AI-powered global 2020 natural forest map, offering a consistent probabilistic baseline that can be applied directly to monitoring needs under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and other conservation frameworks, the authors said. 

Going for grids – The COP30 presidency has formally mandated the Green Grids Initiative (GGI) to establish a council to coordinate the drive forward of plans to expand and improve resilience of power grids, the UK and Australian-led initiative said in a press release on Friday. The new body will coordinate international assistance for grids, including technical support. GGI’s Climate Finance Principles – also endorsed by the Brazilian COP30 presidency – aim to help unlock investment for grid infrastructure in emerging economies and have been developed in consultation with global banks. The grid expansion plans are a core pillar of the COP30 Action Agenda, the GGI added, and the group will also up its advocacy efforts for the Global Energy Storage and Grids Pledge through to COP31.

The city-state of Singapore is engaging with industry and academic partners as a “student” of marine carbon removal (mCDR), as part of its consideration of several decarbonisation pathways to net zero, a government official shared on the sidelines of COP30.

New evergreen deal – The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has signed an MoU with the Global EverGreening Alliance (GEA) to advance nature-based solutions, climate resilience, and sustainable landscapes, the Seoul-based intergovernmental organisation said on Friday. The projects will deliver climate and biodiversity outcomes, as well as improving livelihoods, it added, and seek to strengthen enabling conditions for voluntary carbon market efforts. The two partners will cooperate on GEA’s Restore Africa programme, which is aiming to restore 1.8 mln ha across the continent, as well as its Green Up to Cool Down initiative, which is aiming to capture 20 MtCO2e per year by 2050. GGGI added that the two are also already cooperating on an initiative in the Philippines to restore 137,000 ha and unlock $5 mln for agroforestry and bamboo-based value chains.

A coalition of Asian and Global South groups on Friday called on Japan to withdraw its promotion of co-firing and carbon storage projects under the Tokyo-led Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC), which could lock countries into dependence on fossil fuels.

A lack of penalties or public accountability for Article 6.2 reporting flagged by the UNFCCC for inconsistencies compromises market integrity and is unlikely to be rectified anytime soon, sources close to COP30 negotiations have told Carbon Pulse.

Rules around crediting projects under the new Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) represent the "biggest fear" for many forest carbon developers, one supplier told a side event at COP30, who continue to worry about being shut out of Article 6 by what they see as overly stringent rules on land-based activities.

Carbon removal (CDR) credits are becoming a vital financial lever for deploying carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects in economies that lack robust carbon pricing mechanisms or public subsidies, industry experts said Friday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched a fund this week, targeting about $30 million for three pilot projects that aim to connect displaced communities in Uganda and Rwanda with revenue from global carbon markets.

Germany is unlikely to announce funding for the Brazilian-led tropical forest fund during COP30, as it needs more time to finalise financing details, the country’s state secretary told Carbon Pulse on Friday on the sidelines of the conference in Belem.

Prices in China's national emissions market over the past week climbed to RMB 60 ($8.44), the highest since mid-September, amid growing demand for permits.

Guidance on bilateral sovereign carbon credit agreements under Article 6.2 could once again be on the negotiating table at COP30 this year, should select parties have their way, sources told Carbon Pulse.

A draft decision text on Article 6.4, published Friday at COP30, contains provisions that would see parties reopen a baseline standard for crediting Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) activities to avoid discouraging nature-based carbon project development, which negotiators and observers expect to now be heavily contested as talks heat up in Belem.

Reforestation projects planting numerous, native species in the correct order will hold more carbon than monocultures in the long term and bounce back better after disturbances, according to a scientist at an international forestry company.

Heavy rains and prolonged dry spells during India’s 2025 monsoon season disrupted biochar field trials in Maharashtra, limiting effectiveness in some plots but demonstrating benefits in others, a Denmark-based project developer said Friday.

Malaysia should introduce a fixed-rate carbon tax as an initial step before transitioning to an emissions trading system, according to a white paper published on Friday. 

Industry groups in China and the EU have signed agreements at COP30 with a global certification body to align carbon accounting and classification methodologies, in a move that could ease trade in low-emission steel between two of the world’s biggest producers.

Day 5 at COP30 in Belem. Nature and carbon are firmly on Friday's agenda across side events at the summit, and negotiators on Article 6 were also said to have enjoyed calmer talks on Thursday, though after a new text on crediting Paris projects landed overnight, it now seems reopening adopted work on the new crediting mechanism may be back on the table at the conference.

Governments have pledged more than $234 million to a new World Bank initiative that was set up after COP28 to tackle flaring from natural gas production and rising methane emissions.

A coalition of forestry companies has advanced its efforts to create a unified approach for valuing nature, identifying a specific set of ecosystem services that will be prioritised under this initiative.

India’s leading carbon credit developer and supplier, EKI Energy Services, has reported another steep quarterly loss as a collapse in carbon credit trading and weak project generation revenues continued to weigh on the company’s financial performance.

A volatile day of trading in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme saw prices trade in a wide NZ$10 ($5.68) band on Friday, before closing the day up 9%, with some attributing the lift to comments from the country’s climate minister late on Thursday.

More than 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists have been accredited for the COP30 climate talks in Belem, giving the sector the largest presence it has held at any UN climate summit, according to an analysis published Friday.

Turkish delight – The Asian Development Bank has agreed $3 bln of project financing for Turkiye in 2026 and 2027, it said in a press release on Thursday. The cash will be used to support Turkiye’s national development agenda, said the bank. The ADB will also expand its support for the country’s private sector, including to accelerate green growth, it said.

NGOs have urged countries to implement national measures to reduce emissions from shipping, following the US-led postponement in adopting a global carbon pricing mechanism for the maritime sector.

Governments are prioritising large-scale tree plantings for carbon removals at the expense of preserving forests and halting deforestation, a report warned – with more than 1 billion hectares pledged for removals.

Obtaining a renewed commitment to cap the increase in global temperatures to 1.5C would be an achievement at COP30, said a representative from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat, with oceans, the just transition, and securing COP31 for the region among its other top priorities.

The main driver of carbon credit demand next year will be the aviation sector’s CORSIA scheme, as airlines face a tightening compliance timeline and begin treating their obligations with greater seriousness, according to a ratings agency policy chief.

Australia’s buying season is in full swing, with traded daily Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) spot volumes reaching a 14-month high, as prices have traded lower, partly due to the New Zealand ETS collapse.