California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices barely edged higher over the last week as the market awaits the results of Wednesday's Q4 auction, while Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) continued to creep towards all-time highs approaching $70.

The Trump administration on Wednesday urged a federal judge to invalidate New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act, alleging the state is attempting to hold fossil fuel companies liable for global GHG emissions under New York law in violation of federal authority.

An Amsterdam-based carbon removal (CDR) developer is gearing up to launch a new direct air capture (DAC) testing facility to accelerate sector technologies.

Methane madness – The US Senate rejected a Democratic effort to overturn a Trump administration rule delaying state compliance with Biden-era methane limits, with a Congressional Review Act resolution from Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) failing 46-51 after only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), backed it, E&E News reported. Supporters argued the US EPA’s delay undermines methane-cutting efforts and contradicts federal investments that help companies address leaks, while Republicans, led by Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), said the rule provides necessary relief from Biden-era regulations. The vote came as GOP lawmakers and the White House continue using the Congressional Review Act to reverse multiple environmental rules issued under the previous administration.

Unpunctual repeal – The final US EPA rule that will repeal the endangerment finding won’t be released until early 2026, at least three months after the agency was originally expected to release the rule, according to several sources who spoke with E&E News. Industry advocates and former EPA officials said that the final rule will likely land in January, at which point the decision is likely to end up in court. In September, the agency collected hundreds of thousands of public comments on the draft rule as it rushed to finalise it before the weeks-long government shutdown. However, the reason for the delay is unclear, as EPA rulemaking staff were not furloughed during the shutdown – although work stoppages at the White House or elsewhere in the administration may have contributed.

A Colorado-based carbon removal (CDR) startup aiming to remedy pit lakes left behind by mining operations could generate billions of dollars in credit revenue with just one large-scale project, according to its founder.  

British Columbia has finalised a refrigerants offset protocol that tightens eligibility rules, clarifies hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) destruction requirements, and confirms conservative baseline assumptions, a move the province took after stakeholders raised technical and safety concerns during a consultation.

The COP30 climate summit in Belem was forced to evacuate on Thursday when a blaze erupted near the Africa Pavilion, triggering a full evacuation and bringing negotiations to a halt.

The Council of EU Member States’ position to delay the bloc’s increasingly precarious anti-deforestation law is likely to be echoed by the European Parliament when it convenes next week, an NGO said.

A new guide for developing high-integrity carbon projects in the Brazilian Amazon has been launched to support developers in navigating Brazil’s evolving carbon governance landscape and producing higher-quality nature-based projects that can attract stronger market demand.

The first compliance phase of the CORSIA international aviation offsetting scheme could swing between a chronic shortage of credits to a hefty surplus, depending on the readiness of trade under the Paris Agreement's Article 6 over the next two years, according to analysts.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres threw his weight behind a new goal to triple finance for adaptation to climate change by 2030 on Thursday, as negotiators waited for the Brazilian presidency's latest, and possibly final, proposals for a COP30 deal.

Airlines are struggling with market uncertainty and procedural challenges in planning for their compliance under UN international aviation sector offsetting scheme CORSIA, an industry representative said during panels at COP30.

Attempts to reopen standards adopted by the Supervisory Body for the new Article 6 carbon crediting mechanism, or revisit COP29 decisions on international trading to bolster transparency and reporting rules, look to have been quashed as clean and uncontroversial decision texts landed Thursday that would also see nearly $30 million channelled from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) towards operationalising Paris Agreement markets.

Access to high integrity carbon market finance could reduce emissions from HFLD regions; prompt decisions can accelerate progress.

Day 10 at COP30 in Belem. Article 6 (should) also be cleaned up and pushed on Thursday, with overnight decision texts looking and uncontroversial, sources said. After this, the real battled in Belem will pivot to the meaty package Brazil wants to deliver, with the presidency now convening "shuttle diplomacy" to try bridge the unbridgeable gaps on climate finance and fossil fuel language.

Global progress on energy efficiency is expected to rise slightly to 1.8% in 2025 but remains far short of the pace needed to meet the global pledge to double the rate of improvements by 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in its latest report.

New hires - Direct air capture (DAC) developer Spiritus has appointed Mayur Sathe, previously at LanzaTech as senior director of process engineering, and Matt Arcy previously at Chevron as project development advisor, both effective immediately, it said in an emailed statement Thursday. The hires come as the company advances towards commercial-scale deployment of its Carbon Orchard DAC and sequestration site in Wyoming, which seeks to store 2 mln tonnes of CO2 annually. Sathe previously led efficiency improvements for carbon capture and recycling technology at LanzaTech, whilst Arcy previously managed billions of dollars of natural gas and LNG projects for Chevron. Their combined expertise is expected to boost the company's growing technical team across materials science, chemical engineering, and project development.

A US-based carbon removal (CDR) startup has secured a $250,000 prepurchase agreement for 450 tonnes of durable carbon removal from the Frontier buyers club, following a completed technical due diligence review, the firm said Thursday.

Germany will invest €1 billion in the forest fund proposed by the Brazilian government, it announced on Wednesday.

COP30 negotiations on metrics for measuring global efforts to adapt to climate change are now tied up with a call from developing countries to financial aid over the next five years, and potentially work to develop institutional support.

The ongoing UN climate conference is the first of its kind to mention carbon removal in the action agenda, according to the trade association that helped organise the first CDR pavilion at COP.