The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is back in office as the federal government reopens, but it will not be up-to-date on its weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) reports until the end of January.

Efficiency erasure escalates - A US House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is preparing to advance seven Republican-backed bills that would roll back Biden-era energy efficiency regulations, a move GOP lawmakers argue will reduce appliance and utility costs, E&E News reported. The post-shutdown markup, led by Energy Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-OH), is expected to revive partisan debate, with Democrats maintaining that efficiency standards cut consumer expenses and lower overall energy demand.

A carbon management advisory firm expects a new exchange-backed platform to help unlock supply of high-durability carbon dioxide removal (CDR) by bringing buyers and suppliers together in the fragmented voluntary carbon market.

The Delaware Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit between Anew Ventures II and two Terra Global affiliates, ruling that the dispute must be resolved through arbitration.

Despite strong interest in building up Article 6 supply, there are only a handful of sovereign buyers actively looking to procure credits for the period running to 2030, yet capacity building needs among host countries remains an even greater challenge for the near-term scaling of the market, experts and government officials told Carbon Pulse at COP30.

A G20-backed model aimed at harmonising data infrastructures of voluntary and international carbon markets will incorporate Article 6.4's Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) registry requirements when they are released, the developers said.

A US appeals court has temporarily blocked California’s new climate-risk reporting law while allowing the state’s high-profile corporate emissions disclosure rule to move forward, handing industry groups a partial win.

Development of credits for sale into the UN’s international aviation offsetting scheme (CORSIA) can doubly support countries’ achievement of their climate targets while raising carbon finance, according to an industry brief seen by Carbon Pulse, as part of a COP30 push for Paris Agreement parties to develop fresh supply.

Compared to fossil fuel phaseout, deforestation targets enshrined in the COP28 Global Stock Take (GST) have been relegated to a secondary role, according to observers at Brazil's 'mutirao' dialogues.

A Canadian investment fund and a US forest carbon project developer announced a partnership on Tuesday to help scale improved forest management (IFM) and afforestation projects in the US.

Japan and Malaysia have signed an industry-led letter calling for host countries to expedite regulation to operationalise the Paris Agreement's Article 6, issue Letters of Authorisation (LoAs), and enable the release of CORSIA-Eligible Emissions Units (EEUs), in an effort to avoid a potential patchwork of measures enacted by jurisdictions frustrated with slow progress or perceived weak ambition within the ICAO international aviation offsetting scheme.

None of the world's largest emitting governments are compliant with the goals of the Paris Agreement, but Denmark was once again a standout performer, according to annual rankings published on Tuesday at COP30.

An initiative aimed at unlocking financing for peatland conservation and restoration has launched pilots in Peru and Uganda, it announced on Monday.

France and Brazil announced on Tuesday they are in favour of an ocean taskforce to help raise national efforts to conserve and restore marine habitats.

Peru’s national carbon registry, which has approved nine methodologies to date, will include several more by February spanning waste, land use, and durable carbon removal (CDR).

Large-scale tree planting in Canada’s northwestern boreal region could remove around 3.9 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2100 under realistic deployment assumptions, research published last week has found.

A UK-based standard is seeking feedback on a new avoided deforestation methodology designed for smallholder farmers, while also announcing the delay of a methodology to treat algae.

Suriname has reiterated plans to sell UN-verified REDD+ results under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement as Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), while exploring alternative climate finance measures, according to its third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

Fifteen governments formally committed this week to recognise 160 million hectares of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community land.

A London-based carbon data company on Tuesday launched a biomass data platform at COP30 aimed at improving forest carbon measurement accuracy and credit integrity across both voluntary and compliance markets.

A provision in the latest iteration of an Article 6.2 negotiating text, published Tuesday, would ban trading Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) associated with reports flagged during the Technical Expert Review (TER) process – while every report to date has come back with identified inconsistencies.

Day 8 at COP30 in Belem. The Brazilian presidency is advancing fast on plans for an outcome at the summit, opening up two core goals, the first being a Belem Package, which will see a showdown on Wednesday on some of the most contentious issues at stake: finance, trade measures, and a lack of ambition in climate plans.

An NGO coalition has announced a three-year programme seeking to curb deforestation risk across the supply chains in over 30 landscapes.

Winding up markets in Brazil – Carbon market standard the Global Carbon Council (GCC) has signed a strategic MoU with Associacao Brasileira de Energia Eólica e Novas Tecnologias (ABEEolica). The partnership with Brazil’s wind energy association aims to strengthen the country’s carbon market, and in particular its readiness for international cooperation under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.2, GCC said in a press release. This will include capacity building on things such as MRV systems and registry infrastructure, and will see ABEEolica support the recognition of GCC as an approved programme under Brazil’s ETS and for Article 6.2 initiatives.

RGGI Allowance (RGA) futures tumbled nearly 4% last week, falling below $26 over the on the back of diminished trading activity.